Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 42.0% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 63.9% more in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 34.9% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 4.7% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 83.7% more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 61.6% more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.0% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 28.6% less in Tokyo

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

Planning a move to Japan? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Tokyo vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 63.9% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB98.83	$7.59 ¥1,200	+155.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB232.24	$5.06 ¥800	-27.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.64	$1.64 ¥259	+152.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.72	$0.89 ¥140	+151.3%
Average			+63.9%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 34.9% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.16	$1.71 ¥270	+15.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB287.02	$5.29 ¥836	-38.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB241.89	$5.75 ¥909	-20.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB85.32	$2.26 ¥358	-11.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.28	$3.08 ¥487	+88.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB58.85	$2.15 ¥340	+21.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB26.83	$1.07 ¥170	+33.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.35	$1.96 ¥309	+57.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.09	$2.39 ¥377	+173.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.00	$1.53 ¥241	+95.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.01	$1.46 ¥231	+111.2%
Average			+34.9%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.7% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB176.90	$4.08 ¥645	-23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,163.67	$63.27 ¥9,997	+80.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-30.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB350.83	$28.47 ¥4,499	+169.9%
Average			+4.7%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 83.7% more for housing

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB594.63	$30.33 ¥4,793	+69.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,480.48	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+89.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,513.16	$692.48 ¥109K	+100.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,728.64	$113.45 ¥17,926	+38.3%
Average			+83.7%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 61.6% more for childcare

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB18,904.94	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+136.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB549K	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+10.6%
Average			+61.6%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB88.94	$3.80 ¥600	+42.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB92.95	$3.56 ¥563	+27.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB153.18	$3.92 ¥620	-14.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,943.57	$66.31 ¥10,478	+13.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB252.00	$12.65 ¥1,999	+67.0%
Average			+30.0%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.6% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,353.53	$55.50 ¥8,770	-21.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,428.36	$32.95 ¥5,207	-23.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,228.30	$65.04 ¥10,278	-33.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,656.54	$70.74 ¥11,178	-35.6%
Average			-28.6%

Bangkok vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Bangkok vs. Tokyo

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Tokyo?

Size Comparison · See true size

Bangkok is about 2.5 times bigger than Tokyo.

More cost comparisons

Bangkok vs.

Stara Zagora

Bangkok vs.

Canberra

Bangkok vs.

Rome

Bangkok vs.

London

Bangkok vs.

Dublin

Bangkok vs.

Warsaw

Bangkok vs.

Moscow

Bangkok vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Tokyo

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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