Cost of living comparison

compared to

Thailand vs. Johor Bahru Cost of Living Summary

Thailand is 34.6% more expensive than Johor Bahru.

Restaurants: pay 1.8% less in Thailand
Groceries: pay 10.0% more in Thailand
Transportation: pay 85.6% more in Thailand
Housing: pay 2.1% more in Thailand
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Thailand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5% more in Thailand
Clothing: pay 38.0% more in Thailand

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

Thailand vs. Johor Bahru Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.8% less for restaurants

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.55 MYR14.49	$2.67 THB84.17	-24.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 MYR19.32	$6.99 THB220.32	+47.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 MYR3.20	$0.73 THB23.14	-6.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 MYR1.92	$0.36 THB11.34	-23.6%
Average			-1.8%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.0% more for groceries

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 MYR3.99	$1.41 THB44.37	+43.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 MYR21.74	$7.88 THB248.32	+47.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.01 MYR28.59	$7.17 THB225.72	+2.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 MYR7.59	$2.07 THB65.21	+11.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 MYR8.97	$1.41 THB44.48	-35.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 MYR5.04	$1.33 THB41.84	+7.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 MYR2.76	$0.59 THB18.67	-12.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.15 MYR4.68	$0.90 THB28.29	-21.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 MYR2.29	$0.75 THB23.73	+33.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MYR2.16	$0.71 THB22.43	+34.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.53	$0.62 THB19.43	-0.5%
Average			+10.0%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries

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pay 85.6% more for transportation

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.84 MYR7.51	$4.83 THB152.21	+162.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.85 MYR48.31	$28.12 THB885.78	+137.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,545.02 MYR144,917.06	$30,471.21 THB959,841.01	-14.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.69 MYR27.29	$10.53 THB331.67	+57.3%
Average			+85.6%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1% more for housing

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.15 MYR122.94	$18.52 THB583.44	-38.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$494.94 MYR2,017.89	$414.60 THB13,059.95	-16.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$375.20 MYR1,529.68	$266.86 THB8,406.05	-28.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.51 MYR128.48	$60.46 THB1,904.49	+91.9%
Average			+2.1%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$153.04 MYR623.95	$359.13 THB11,312.55	+134.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,279.62 MYR25,602.01	$11,104.31 THB349,785.03	+76.8%
Average			+105.8%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.55 MYR14.49	$2.15 THB67.86	-39.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MYR11.85	$1.97 THB62.08	-32.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.25 MYR17.34	$4.31 THB135.90	+1.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.36 MYR140.09	$53.45 THB1,683.79	+55.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MYR20.29	$6.32 THB198.99	+26.9%
Average			+2.5%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.0% more for clothing

	Johor Bahru	Thailand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.76 MYR202.88	$37.08 THB1,168.03	-25.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.59 MYR67.63	$29.48 THB928.61	+77.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.09 MYR289.83	$91.15 THB2,871.22	+28.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.23 MYR164.00	$69.13 THB2,177.45	+71.8%
Average			+38.0%

Johor Bahru vs. Thailand - 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: December 2025

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