Prices in Palau

I have never considered Palau a holiday destination, until recently a friend of mine came up with this idea influenced by one of his friends who saw some document somewhere. I have done a quick search on basic facts about the island, but I am not happy with the info by far.
My biggest question so far: Could anyone compare a 1-2 week holiday in Palau to the same time in Thailand or Philippines, which were my originally targeted destinations (already been to Thailand)? What are the price tags on everyday things, food, accommodation, transport. I do not want to go on a super budget holiday, but neither am I willing to spend a bank on this trip.
If anyone has been to both, the Philippines and Palau, can you compare a little? Which one do you prefer and why?
I know this a very general question, but I have to start somewhere.
Thanx!

I have only changed planes im Manila and have never been to Thailand, so I can not compare these destinations with Palau. I can tell you that food is fairly reasonable, restaurant meals in the range of US$6-10 for breakfast and lunch and US$15.00 for dinner. Local products, seafood fruits and veggies are less than imported good shipped from USA by container. Lodging from US$35-300.00 depending on ammenities. Airfare is fairly high due to lack of competition, local transportation, taxi's US$2-5.00, boat US$10-20.00 and local air is quite inexpensive. That should give you a start, hopefully others can give comparrisons.

Papa Mike

We did Palau and the Philippines on a tight budget this past Feb/Mar. As Papa Mike said the big expense is getting to Palau - once there it was not too bad. We splurged with a 3 night stay at Carolines Resort(so we could use the facilities at PPR) and then opted for a studio room(with kitchen) at Lehn's Motel. Groceries were not as expensive as expected and took care of most breakfast's and lunches and a couple of dinners. We found eating dinner out to be so cheap($15-$20 for the two of us) we opted to do it most days. Where the major expense comes in is in the activities! We are snorkelers only but it would cost $100+ per person for any of the tours we did. But we knew that and were willing to splurge for a once in a lifetime experience. We felt it was worth every penny we spent in Palau - it was the best snorkeling we have ever done(includes the GBR, Fiji, Thailand, Malaysia, Hawaii,Philippines,etc but have not yet been to Indonesia) and would recommend it highly. Our Philippines part of the trip was our second visit here. We did two weeks in Bohol and Negros. The costs are definitely cheaper for everything, but not by as much as we thought it would be. We did not self cater in the Philippines so it would probably be even cheaper to do so if you went that route. We found Thailand to be in the middle as far as expense wise. We are mainly interested in snorkeling and while the Philippines were pretty good we would head back to Palau if we had the opportunity again. I hope this helps!

Having been to all SE Asian countries and a number of Pacific island nations (though not Palau as yet), I found that even the cheapest Pacific countries tend to cost about 3 times as much on a daily basis than Thailand or the Philippines.
And Palau is not generally considered to be among the cheapest Pacific countries!

Asia definitely has more to offer on the sights and activities front.
I guess Pacific islands mostly have the more laid-back atmosphere and the higher bragging value over Asia.

Having said all that, Micronesia remains very high on my wish list (I keep watching Conti's crazy fares) though I myself certainly put it after Asia and Melanesia.