Cost of living comparison

Bangkok, Thailand

compared to

Kuching, Malaysia

Kuching vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Kuching is 21.0% cheaper than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 5.5% more in Kuching
Groceries: pay 18.3% less in Kuching
Transportation: pay 41.9% less in Kuching
Housing: pay 11.7% less in Kuching
Childcare: pay 73.7% less in Kuching
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.5% less in Kuching
Clothing: pay 6.6% more in Kuching

The cost of clothing and restaurants in Kuching are more expensive than in Bangkok. Expenses including childcare, transportation, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in Kuching.

Kuching vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuching instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.5% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Kuching
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.91 THB95.30	$2.50 MYR10.64	-14.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.83 THB190.60	$4.54 MYR19.34	-22.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB20.14	$0.72 MYR3.06	+16.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 THB9.54	$0.41 MYR1.76	+41.4%
Average			+5.5%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.3% less for groceries

	Bangkok	Kuching
Bread 1 loaf	$1.52 THB49.80	$1.04 MYR4.45	-31.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.74 THB384.07	$5.47 MYR23.30	-53.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 THB239.43	$6.12 MYR26.06	-16.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 THB74.34	$1.89 MYR8.04	-16.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.31 THB43.01	$1.53 MYR6.52	+16.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.47 THB48.14	$1.36 MYR5.78	-7.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 THB23.77	$0.51 MYR2.18	-29.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 THB33.87	$1.24 MYR5.26	+19.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 THB26.32	$0.76 MYR3.24	-5.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB23.31	$0.35 MYR1.48	-51.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB20.36	$0.46 MYR1.96	-26.1%
Average			-18.3%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.9% less for transportation

	Bangkok	Kuching
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.47 THB146.08	$1.76 MYR7.50	-60.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.32 THB1,286.53	$6.81 MYR29.01	-82.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,345.18 THB1,810,671.72	$43,725.16 MYR186,116.13	-21.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.34 THB338.31	$9.99 MYR42.54	-3.4%
Average			-41.9%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.7% less for housing

	Bangkok	Kuching
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.36 THB502.52	$28.05 MYR119.40	+82.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$571.31 THB18,690.80	$286.77 MYR1,220.63	-49.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.88 THB9,876.39	$195.91 MYR833.90	-35.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$67.33 THB2,202.79	$37.48 MYR159.51	-44.3%
Average			-11.7%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 73.7% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Kuching
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$632.63 THB20,697.22	$130.99 MYR557.54	-79.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,191.37 THB431,568.47	$4,202.16 MYR17,886.48	-68.1%
Average			-73.7%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Kuching
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.33 THB76.24	$2.73 MYR11.60	+17.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.58 THB84.53	$2.31 MYR9.83	-10.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.20 THB137.47	$4.09 MYR17.40	-2.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.58 THB1,785.58	$36.34 MYR154.69	-33.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.28 THB238.25	$4.54 MYR19.34	-37.6%
Average			-13.5%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.6% more for clothing

	Bangkok	Kuching
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.27 THB1,808.16	$73.29 MYR311.97	+32.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.84 THB1,139.79	$47.40 MYR201.75	+36.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.10 THB3,176.59	$79.58 MYR338.72	-18.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.12 THB3,013.82	$69.66 MYR296.50	-24.4%
Average			+6.6%

Bangkok vs. Kuching - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2025

More cost comparisons

Bangkok vs.

Dodoma

Bangkok vs.

Algiers

Bangkok vs.

Moscow

Bangkok vs.

Phnom Penh

Bangkok vs.

Dublin

Bangkok vs.

Paris

Bangkok vs.

Quito

Bangkok vs.

Manila

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Thailand vs. Malaysia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Thailand and Malaysia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Bangkok

Add prices for Kuching

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Kuching or Bangkok. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.