Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

South Africa

East London vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

East London is 21.7% cheaper than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 75.9% more in East London
Groceries: pay 26.8% less in East London
Transportation: pay 2.8% more in East London
Housing: pay 33.6% less in East London
Childcare: pay 68.0% less in East London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.7% less in East London
Clothing: pay 20.3% less in East London

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

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East London vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in East London instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 75.9% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	East London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB99.74	$9.31 ZAR153.86	+213.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.98 THB234.40	$5.71 ZAR94.30	-18.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 THB21.84	$1.03 ZAR17.04	+58.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 THB11.83	$0.75 ZAR12.31	+111.4%
Average			+75.9%

Bangkok vs. East London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.8% less for groceries

	Bangkok	East London
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 THB49.62	$0.91 ZAR15.10	-38.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.63 THB289.68	$4.31 ZAR71.14	-50.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.27 THB244.13	$4.34 ZAR71.76	-40.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 THB86.12	$2.23 ZAR36.79	-13.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 THB54.78	$2.43 ZAR40.07	+48.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 THB59.40	$0.68 ZAR11.26	-61.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 THB27.08	$0.68 ZAR11.25	-15.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 THB41.73	$0.75 ZAR12.38	-39.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 THB29.36	$0.67 ZAR11.03	-23.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 THB26.24	$0.77 ZAR12.70	-1.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.22	$0.63 ZAR10.47	-8.4%
Average			-26.8%

Bangkok vs. East London - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.8% more for transportation

	Bangkok	East London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32 THB178.55	$5.19 ZAR85.77	-2.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.98 THB1,174.47	$46.57 ZAR769.31	+33.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,193.83 THB1M	$35,391.94 ZAR585K	+13.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.55 THB354.09	$5.05 ZAR83.38	-52.1%
Average			+2.8%

Bangkok vs. East London - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.6% less for housing

	Bangkok	East London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.88 THB600.15	$43.66 ZAR721.33	+144.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.80 THB22,689.17	$285.42 ZAR4,715.13	-57.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$346.10 THB11,620.04	$250.37 ZAR4,136.08	-27.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.03 THB2,753.97	$93.57 ZAR1,545.81	+14.1%
Average			-33.6%

Bangkok vs. East London - Cost of housing

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pay 68.0% less for childcare

	Bangkok	East London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$568.31 THB19,080.44	$177.26 ZAR2,928.35	-68.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,500.59 THB554K	$5,407.94 ZAR89,339.37	-67.2%
Average			-68.0%

Bangkok vs. East London - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	East London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.67 THB89.77	$2.70 ZAR44.67	+1.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 THB93.81	$2.10 ZAR34.74	-24.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.60 THB154.60	$2.88 ZAR47.65	-37.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.43 THB1,961.61	$39.06 ZAR645.23	-33.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.58 THB254.34	$4.66 ZAR76.93	-38.5%
Average			-27.7%

Bangkok vs. East London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.3% less for clothing

	Bangkok	East London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.75 THB2,375.38	$57.05 ZAR942.53	-19.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.94 THB1,441.62	$33.02 ZAR545.47	-23.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.05 THB3,258.27	$72.11 ZAR1,191.19	-25.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.92 THB3,690.49	$96.14 ZAR1,588.26	-12.5%
Average			-20.3%

Bangkok vs. East London - 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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