Cost of living comparison

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

compared to

Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok vs. Johor Bahru Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 63.8% more expensive than Johor Bahru.

Restaurants: pay 5.4% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 28.3% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 2.6 times more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 26.8% more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.3% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 55.8% more in Bangkok

The cost of transportation, childcare, clothing, groceries, housing, and entertainment and sports in Bangkok are more expensive than in Johor Bahru. Notably, transportation and childcare are significantly more expensive in Bangkok.

Bangkok vs. Johor Bahru Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bangkok instead of Johor Bahru, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.4% less for restaurants

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.95 MYR13.13	$2.91 THB97.61	-1.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.54 MYR20.20	$5.83 THB195.22	+28.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 MYR3.20	$0.62 THB20.63	-14.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 MYR1.95	$0.29 THB9.78	-33.6%
Average			-5.4%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.3% more for groceries

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 MYR4.13	$1.52 THB51.01	+64.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.15 MYR27.35	$11.74 THB393.39	+90.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.75 MYR30.01	$7.32 THB245.24	+8.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.95 MYR8.68	$2.27 THB76.14	+16.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.37 MYR6.10	$1.31 THB44.05	-4.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 MYR5.27	$1.47 THB49.30	+24.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.63	$0.73 THB24.34	+22.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.10 MYR4.89	$1.04 THB34.69	-5.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 MYR2.40	$0.80 THB26.96	+49.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 MYR2.26	$0.71 THB23.88	+40.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.64	$0.62 THB20.86	+4.7%
Average			+28.3%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.6 times more for transportation

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.78 MYR7.92	$4.47 THB149.63	+150.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.36 MYR50.50	$39.32 THB1,317.74	+246.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,257.24 MYR121,199.32	$55,345.18 THB1,854,601.90	+103.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.98 MYR17.67	$10.34 THB346.52	+160.1%
Average			+165.0%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.8% more for housing

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.11 MYR107.19	$15.36 THB514.71	-36.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.32 MYR1,797.79	$571.31 THB19,144.28	+41.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$363.43 MYR1,615.99	$301.88 THB10,116.01	-16.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$30.75 MYR136.74	$67.33 THB2,256.24	+118.9%
Average			+26.8%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$180.77 MYR803.79	$632.63 THB21,199.37	+250.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,555.74 MYR38,043.12	$13,191.37 THB442,039.11	+54.2%
Average			+152.1%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.09 MYR18.18	$2.33 THB78.09	-43.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MYR12.95	$2.58 THB86.58	-11.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.08 MYR18.13	$4.20 THB140.80	+3.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.34 MYR152.71	$54.58 THB1,828.90	+58.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.41 MYR15.15	$7.28 THB244.03	+113.7%
Average			+24.3%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 55.8% more for clothing

	Johor Bahru	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.05 MYR209.21	$55.27 THB1,852.02	+17.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.12 MYR116.15	$34.84 THB1,167.44	+33.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$53.54 MYR238.07	$97.10 THB3,253.66	+81.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$48.27 MYR214.62	$92.12 THB3,086.94	+90.9%
Average			+55.8%

Johor Bahru vs. Bangkok - Cost of clothing

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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: March 2025

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