Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Thailand

Bangkok vs. Male Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 16.7% cheaper than Male.

Restaurants: pay 39.8% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 13.6% less in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 9.0% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 39.6% less in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 4.1 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.7% less in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 37.9% more in Bangkok

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

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Bangkok vs. Male Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.8% less for restaurants

	Male	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.80	$2.97 THB98.83	-50.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.73 MVR150.49	$6.98 THB232.24	-28.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.14	$0.65 THB21.64	-60.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$0.35 THB11.72	+18.6%
Average			-39.8%

Male vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.6% less for groceries

	Male	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.58	$1.48 THB49.16	-10.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.34 MVR82.48	$8.63 THB287.02	+61.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.69 MVR118.88	$7.27 THB241.89	-5.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.92 MVR29.72	$2.56 THB85.32	+33.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.77 MVR42.75	$1.63 THB54.28	-41.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.85	$1.77 THB58.85	-1.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.42	$0.81 THB26.83	-41.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 MVR28.67	$1.24 THB41.35	-33.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.85	$0.87 THB29.09	-28.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.93 MVR14.41	$0.78 THB26.00	-16.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.86 MVR13.31	$0.69 THB23.01	-19.6%
Average			-13.6%

Male vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.0% more for transportation

	Male	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.85	$5.32 THB176.90	+39.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.54	$34.98 THB1,163.67	+13.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR502K	$31,193.83 THB1M	-3.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.88	$10.55 THB350.83	-39.8%
Average			+9.0%

Male vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.6% less for housing

	Male	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	$17.88 THB594.63	-75.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$951.14 MVR14,704.70	$675.80 THB22,480.48	-28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$699.92 MVR10,820.71	$346.10 THB11,513.16	-50.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$90.98 MVR1,406.51	$82.03 THB2,728.64	-9.8%
Average			-39.6%

Male vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

	Male	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.98 MVR2,859.75	$568.31 THB18,904.94	+207.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,004.83 MVR46,454.64	$16,500.59 THB549K	+449.1%
Average			+310.7%

Male vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Male	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.24	$2.67 THB88.94	-45.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.87	$2.79 THB92.95	-21.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.93 MVR230.75	$4.60 THB153.18	-69.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	$58.43 THB1,943.57	-17.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.49	$7.58 THB252.00	-22.2%
Average			-32.7%

Male vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.9% more for clothing

	Male	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.88	$70.75 THB2,353.53	+79.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.64 MVR767.37	$42.94 THB1,428.36	-13.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.13 MVR1,346.98	$97.05 THB3,228.30	+11.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.52 MVR811.92	$109.92 THB3,656.54	+109.3%
Average			+37.9%

Male 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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