Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bangkok vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary
Bangkok is 24.0% more expensive than Cape Town.
- Restaurants
-
pay 37.7% less in Bangkok
- Groceries
-
pay 28.6% more in Bangkok
- Transportation
-
pay 28.5% more in Bangkok
- Housing
-
pay 37.0% less in Bangkok
- Childcare
-
pay 2.6 times more in Bangkok
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 17.9% more in Bangkok
- Clothing
-
pay 2.9% more in Bangkok
The cost of childcare, groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Bangkok are more expensive than in Cape Town. Expenses including restaurants and housing are lower in Bangkok. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Bangkok.
Bangkok vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bangkok instead of Cape Town, you would:
pay 37.7% less for restaurants
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$11.47
ZAR194.18
|
$3.10
THB98.65
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.16
ZAR87.38
|
$6.20
THB197.30
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.20
ZAR20.35
|
$0.79
THB25.19
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.92
ZAR15.53
|
$0.33
THB10.61
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants
pay 28.6% more for groceries
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.14
ZAR19.21
|
$1.44
THB45.81
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.37
ZAR73.94
|
$8.50
THB270.59
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.50
ZAR76.09
|
$7.23
THB230.01
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.49
ZAR42.19
|
$2.28
THB72.68
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.43
ZAR41.18
|
$1.38
THB43.91
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.78
ZAR13.27
|
$1.59
THB50.61
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.76
ZAR12.83
|
$0.82
THB25.98
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.74
ZAR12.54
|
$1.02
THB32.56
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.78
ZAR13.19
|
$0.85
THB27.13
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.60
ZAR10.08
|
$0.72
THB22.92
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.62
ZAR10.51
|
$0.65
THB20.65
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries
pay 28.5% more for transportation
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.73
ZAR80.12
|
$4.69
THB149.30
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$28.68
ZAR485.44
|
$37.21
THB1,183.78
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$21,796.50
ZAR368,934.03
|
$37,206.42
THB1,183,775.25
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$10.15
ZAR171.85
|
$11.63
THB369.93
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation
pay 37.0% less for housing
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$42.97
ZAR727.40
|
$16.91
THB537.90
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$838.02
ZAR14,184.54
|
$675.06
THB21,477.90
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$559.94
ZAR9,477.63
|
$321.97
THB10,243.81
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$91.96
ZAR1,556.46
|
$68.69
THB2,185.37
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing
pay 2.6 times more for childcare
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$228.00
ZAR3,859.24
|
$609.37
THB19,388.11
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$5,090.62
ZAR86,165.43
|
$13,346.39
THB424,634.53
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare
pay 17.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.87
ZAR48.54
|
$2.79
THB88.78
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.12
ZAR35.82
|
$2.54
THB80.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$3.15
ZAR53.40
|
$4.40
THB139.83
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$44.05
ZAR745.55
|
$51.03
THB1,623.73
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$6.88
ZAR116.51
|
$8.06
THB256.48
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 2.9% more for clothing
|
Cape Town
|
Bangkok
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.23
ZAR934.82
|
$58.81
THB1,870.97
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$33.91
ZAR573.94
|
$38.03
THB1,210.07
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$117.06
ZAR1,981.48
|
$104.24
THB3,316.45
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$88.13
ZAR1,491.79
|
$91.47
THB2,910.11
|
|
Cape Town vs. Bangkok - Cost of clothing
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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