Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Thailand

Bangkok vs. Kuching Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 42.6% more expensive than Kuching.

Restaurants: pay 3.9% more in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 14.0% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 41.4% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 71.8% more in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.5% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 23.5% more in Bangkok

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

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Bangkok vs. Kuching Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.9% more for restaurants

	Kuching	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.43 MYR14.00	$2.97 THB99.93	-13.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.99	$6.98 THB234.83	+42.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 MYR3.17	$0.65 THB21.88	-16.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 MYR1.50	$0.35 THB11.85	-4.0%
Average			+3.9%

Kuching vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.0% more for groceries

	Kuching	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.23 MYR5.04	$1.48 THB49.71	+19.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.44 MYR22.24	$8.63 THB290.22	+58.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.83 MYR36.06	$7.27 THB244.58	-17.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 MYR9.95	$2.56 THB86.28	+5.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.98 MYR8.08	$1.63 THB54.88	-17.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.47 MYR6.00	$1.77 THB59.51	+20.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.52	$0.81 THB27.13	+30.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.11 MYR4.53	$1.24 THB41.81	+12.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.87 THB29.41	+6.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.53	$0.78 THB26.29	+26.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MYR2.16	$0.69 THB23.27	+30.9%
Average			+14.0%

Kuching vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.4% more for transportation

	Kuching	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.24 MYR13.25	$5.32 THB178.88	+64.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.98	$34.98 THB1,176.64	+185.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR171K	$31,193.83 THB1M	-25.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.77 MYR43.99	$10.55 THB354.74	-2.0%
Average			+41.4%

Kuching vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.8% more for housing

	Kuching	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.53 MYR104.30	$17.88 THB601.26	-30.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$364.12 MYR1,487.53	$675.80 THB22,731.05	+85.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$240.79 MYR983.69	$346.10 THB11,641.49	+43.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.04 MYR110.46	$82.03 THB2,759.05	+203.4%
Average			+71.8%

Kuching vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Kuching	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$133.36 MYR544.83	$568.31 THB19,115.66	+326.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,014.80 MYR28,657.55	$16,500.59 THB555K	+135.2%
Average			+216.6%

Kuching vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuching	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.65 MYR18.99	$2.67 THB89.93	-42.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.23 MYR13.21	$2.79 THB93.99	-13.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.64 MYR18.94	$4.60 THB154.89	-0.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.98 MYR122.46	$58.43 THB1,965.23	+94.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.89 MYR19.99	$7.58 THB254.81	+54.8%
Average			+14.5%

Kuching vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.5% more for clothing

	Kuching	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.95 MYR257.17	$70.75 THB2,379.76	+12.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.19 MYR151.95	$42.94 THB1,444.28	+15.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.85 MYR371.13	$97.05 THB3,264.28	+6.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$65.40 MYR267.16	$109.92 THB3,697.30	+68.1%
Average			+23.5%

Kuching 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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