Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok vs. Malaysia Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 59.9% more expensive than Malaysia overall.

Restaurants: pay 0.7% more in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 25.0% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 45.4% more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.2% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 31.9% more in Bangkok

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

Bangkok vs. Malaysia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 0.7% more for restaurants

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.98 MYR13.17	$2.91 THB98.21	-2.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.23 MYR18.70	$5.83 THB196.42	+37.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 MYR3.00	$0.62 THB20.76	-9.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 MYR1.69	$0.29 THB9.84	-23.7%
Average			+0.7%

Malaysia vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.0% more for groceries

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 MYR4.04	$1.52 THB51.32	+66.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.65 MYR33.84	$11.74 THB395.81	+53.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.39 MYR28.25	$7.32 THB246.75	+14.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.97 MYR8.72	$2.27 THB76.61	+15.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.83 MYR8.10	$1.31 THB44.32	-28.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MYR5.19	$1.47 THB49.61	+25.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.52	$0.73 THB24.49	+27.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.21 MYR5.37	$1.04 THB34.90	-14.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 MYR2.80	$0.80 THB27.13	+27.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.43 MYR1.91	$0.71 THB24.02	+65.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 MYR2.25	$0.62 THB20.98	+22.3%
Average			+25.0%

Malaysia vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.77 MYR7.83	$4.47 THB150.55	+152.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.69 MYR69.38	$39.32 THB1,325.83	+150.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,330.57 MYR151,844.13	$55,345.18 THB1,865,988.62	+61.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.94 MYR30.68	$10.34 THB348.65	+49.1%
Average			+103.3%

Malaysia vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.4% more for housing

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.31 MYR116.39	$15.36 THB517.87	-41.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$322.80 MYR1,427.76	$571.31 THB19,261.82	+77.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.35 MYR939.22	$301.88 THB10,178.12	+42.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$33.00 MYR145.96	$67.33 THB2,270.09	+104.0%
Average			+45.4%

Malaysia vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$163.68 MYR723.95	$632.63 THB21,329.53	+286.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,626.64 MYR29,309.63	$13,191.37 THB444,753.10	+99.1%
Average			+192.8%

Malaysia vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.66 MYR16.18	$2.33 THB78.57	-36.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.54 MYR11.23	$2.58 THB87.11	+1.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.07 MYR17.98	$4.20 THB141.67	+3.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.32 MYR160.65	$54.58 THB1,840.13	+50.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.00 MYR17.68	$7.28 THB245.52	+82.2%
Average			+20.2%

Malaysia vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.9% more for clothing

	Malaysia	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.15 MYR235.08	$55.27 THB1,863.40	+4.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.13 MYR133.25	$34.84 THB1,174.61	+15.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.18 MYR288.28	$97.10 THB3,273.63	+49.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$57.93 MYR256.25	$92.12 THB3,105.89	+59.0%
Average			+31.9%

Malaysia 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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