Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bangkok vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 26.5% more expensive than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.2% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 6.3% less in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 10.2% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 48.9% less in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 3.7 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.7% less in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 24.0% more in Bangkok

The cost of childcare, clothing, and transportation in Bangkok are more expensive than in Maldives. Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries are lower in Bangkok. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Bangkok.

Bangkok vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.2% less for restaurants

	Maldives	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MVR85.56	$3.10 THB98.65	-44.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.80 MVR150.98	$6.20 THB197.30	-36.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.45 MVR22.29	$0.79 THB25.19	-45.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 MVR4.70	$0.33 THB10.61	+9.3%
Average			-29.2%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.3% less for groceries

	Maldives	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.59 MVR24.49	$1.44 THB45.81	-9.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.58 MVR70.46	$8.50 THB270.59	+85.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 MVR107.00	$7.23 THB230.01	+4.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.67 MVR25.67	$2.28 THB72.68	+37.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.82 MVR43.37	$1.38 THB43.91	-51.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.84 MVR28.31	$1.59 THB50.61	-13.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.73 MVR26.63	$0.82 THB25.98	-52.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 MVR30.25	$1.02 THB32.56	-47.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 MVR22.83	$0.85 THB27.13	-42.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 MVR10.77	$0.72 THB22.92	+3.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 MVR8.45	$0.65 THB20.65	+18.4%
Average			-6.3%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.2% more for transportation

	Maldives	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.54 MVR54.53	$4.69 THB149.30	+32.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.91 MVR445.28	$37.21 THB1,183.78	+28.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,679.74 MVR503,267.97	$37,206.42 THB1,183,775.25	+13.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.65 MVR271.76	$11.63 THB369.93	-34.1%
Average			+10.2%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.9% less for housing

	Maldives	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.82 MVR952.02	$16.91 THB537.90	-72.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,136.53 MVR17,502.54	$675.06 THB21,477.90	-40.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$731.21 MVR11,260.62	$321.97 THB10,243.81	-56.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$93.30 MVR1,436.78	$68.69 THB2,185.37	-26.4%
Average			-48.9%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 3.7 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$164.38 MVR2,531.44	$609.37 THB19,388.11	+270.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,587.42 MVR55,246.24	$13,346.39 THB424,634.53	+272.0%
Average			+271.4%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.74 MVR72.97	$2.79 THB88.78	-41.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.31 MVR50.96	$2.54 THB80.83	-23.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.07 MVR201.31	$4.40 THB139.83	-66.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.98 MVR1,123.97	$51.03 THB1,623.73	-30.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.80 MVR150.98	$8.06 THB256.48	-17.8%
Average			-35.7%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 24.0% more for clothing

	Maldives	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.03 MVR662.64	$58.81 THB1,870.97	+36.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.86 MVR875.69	$38.03 THB1,210.07	-33.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.20 MVR1,389.02	$104.24 THB3,316.45	+15.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$51.74 MVR796.84	$91.47 THB2,910.11	+76.8%
Average			+24.0%

Maldives vs. Bangkok - 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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