Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Thailand

Thailand vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Thailand is 32.2% cheaper than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 39.1% less in Thailand
Groceries: pay 18.8% less in Thailand
Transportation: pay 3.7% more in Thailand
Housing: pay 59.3% less in Thailand
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Thailand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.6% less in Thailand
Clothing: pay 1.4% more in Thailand

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

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Thailand vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.1% less for restaurants

	Maldives	Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.80	$2.89 THB96.05	-51.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.57 MVR147.98	$6.99 THB232.42	-27.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.14	$0.75 THB24.81	-54.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$0.37 THB12.19	+23.3%
Average			-39.1%

Maldives vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.8% less for groceries

	Maldives	Thailand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.58	$1.34 THB44.43	-19.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.48 MVR53.78	$7.95 THB264.36	+128.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 MVR105.59	$7.12 THB236.74	+4.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 MVR28.90	$2.06 THB68.55	+10.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.76 MVR42.75	$1.37 THB45.52	-50.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.85	$1.35 THB44.98	-24.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.41	$0.57 THB18.99	-58.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 MVR24.57	$0.93 THB31.07	-41.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.85	$0.82 THB27.38	-32.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MVR11.64	$0.72 THB24.01	-4.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 MVR10.64	$0.57 THB18.88	-17.5%
Average			-18.8%

Maldives vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7% more for transportation

	Maldives	Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.84	$5.07 THB168.49	+33.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.54	$32.87 THB1,093.53	+6.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR502K	$29,201.01 THB971K	-10.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.88	$10.77 THB358.41	-38.5%
Average			+3.7%

Maldives vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.3% less for housing

	Maldives	Thailand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	$19.17 THB637.71	-73.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,043.39 MVR16,130.74	$407.64 THB13,560.34	-60.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$739.32 MVR11,429.82	$268.13 THB8,919.39	-63.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.19 MVR1,317.00	$60.86 THB2,024.59	-28.6%
Average			-59.3%

Maldives vs. Thailand - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.92 MVR2,858.87	$515.68 THB17,154.28	+178.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,003.87 MVR46,439.89	$11,528.28 THB383K	+283.8%
Average			+227.1%

Maldives vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.24	$2.10 THB69.86	-56.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.86	$2.00 THB66.47	-43.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.95 MVR215.70	$4.15 THB138.07	-70.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	$50.07 THB1,665.52	-29.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.49	$6.05 THB201.30	-37.8%
Average			-45.6%

Maldives vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.4% more for clothing

	Maldives	Thailand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.80	$44.30 THB1,473.73	+12.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.63 MVR767.27	$32.84 THB1,092.57	-33.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.11 MVR1,346.76	$83.65 THB2,782.57	-4.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 MVR811.70	$77.91 THB2,591.55	+48.4%
Average			+1.4%

Maldives vs. Thailand - 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

Compare further: Maldives vs. Thailand

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Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Maldives is about 1,722 times smaller than Thailand.

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