Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Thailand

Bangkok vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 53.9% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 11.2% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 30.6% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 60.4% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 28.3% more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 14.3 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 59.2% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Bangkok

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

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Bangkok vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.2% less for restaurants

	Colombo	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$2.97 THB98.83	-22.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$6.98 THB232.24	-7.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$0.65 THB21.64	-7.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.35 THB11.72	+34.2%
Average			-11.2%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.6% more for groceries

	Colombo	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$1.48 THB49.16	+169.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$8.63 THB287.02	+25.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$7.27 THB241.89	+20.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$2.56 THB85.32	+56.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$1.63 THB54.28	-26.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$1.77 THB58.85	-42.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.81 THB26.83	+117.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$1.24 THB41.35	-38.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$0.87 THB29.09	+54.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.78 THB26.00	+71.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.69 THB23.01	+96.1%
Average			+30.6%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.4% more for transportation

	Colombo	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.32 THB176.90	+3.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$34.98 THB1,163.67	+386.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$31,193.83 THB1M	-15.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$10.55 THB350.83	+220.1%
Average			+60.4%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.3% more for housing

	Colombo	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$17.88 THB594.63	-14.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$675.80 THB22,480.48	+14.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$346.10 THB11,513.16	+28.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$82.03 THB2,728.64	+99.4%
Average			+28.3%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 14.3 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$568.31 THB18,904.94	+1404.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$16,500.59 THB549K	+1264.8%
Average			+1332.8%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 59.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$2.67 THB88.94	+21.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$2.79 THB92.95	+11.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$4.60 THB153.18	-55.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$58.43 THB1,943.57	+317.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$7.58 THB252.00	+67.1%
Average			+59.2%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$70.75 THB2,353.53	+290.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$42.94 THB1,428.36	+158.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$97.05 THB3,228.30	+22.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$109.92 THB3,656.54	+163.2%
Average			+138.8%

Colombo vs. Bangkok - Cost of clothing

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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

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