Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bangkok vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary
Bangkok is 53.0% more expensive than Lilongwe.
Bangkok vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bangkok instead of Lilongwe, you would:
pay 38.3% less for restaurants
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$5.00
MWK8,683.00
|
$2.97
THB98.83
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.25
MWK17,800.16
|
$6.98
THB232.24
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.26
MWK2,182.36
|
$0.65
THB21.64
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.57
MWK984.76
|
$0.35
THB11.72
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.4% more for groceries
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.82
MWK3,155.26
|
$1.48
THB49.16
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.88
MWK13,683.33
|
$8.63
THB287.02
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.73
MWK8,212.45
|
$7.27
THB241.89
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.90
MWK5,041.67
|
$2.56
THB85.32
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.38
MWK4,131.01
|
$1.63
THB54.28
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
MWK2,026.12
|
$1.77
THB58.85
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.56
MWK979.47
|
$0.81
THB26.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.68
MWK1,181.56
|
$1.24
THB41.35
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.03
MWK1,786.72
|
$0.87
THB29.09
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
MWK1,593.81
|
$0.78
THB26.00
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.45
MWK787.71
|
$0.69
THB23.01
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries
pay 2.2 times more for transportation
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.03
MWK10,463.30
|
$5.32
THB176.90
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$4.32
MWK7,505.49
|
$34.98
THB1,163.67
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$31,193.83
THB1M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$10.55
THB350.83
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation
pay 2.1 times more for housing
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.21
MWK106K
|
$17.88
THB594.63
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$540.71
MWK939K
|
$675.80
THB22,480.48
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$85.13
MWK148K
|
$346.10
THB11,513.16
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$34.63
MWK60,134.34
|
$82.03
THB2,728.64
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing
pay 62.4% more for childcare
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$350.00
MWK608K
|
$568.31
THB18,904.94
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$16,500.59
THB549K
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare
pay 36.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.20
MWK3,823.26
|
$2.67
THB88.94
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.21
MWK5,580.44
|
$2.79
THB92.95
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.43
MWK4,223.25
|
$4.60
THB153.18
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$30.85
MWK53,568.54
|
$58.43
THB1,943.57
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$7.58
THB252.00
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Lilongwe
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$70.75
THB2,353.53
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$42.94
THB1,428.36
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$97.05
THB3,228.30
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$109.92
THB3,656.54
|
Lilongwe vs. Bangkok - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Lilongwe vs. Bangkok
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