Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary
Cape Town is 36.2% more expensive than Chiang Mai.
Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cape Town instead of Chiang Mai, you would:
pay 2.6 times more for restaurants
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant | $2.02 THB67.29 | $11.47 ZAR194.88 | |
| Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar | $8.05 THB268.66 | $5.16 ZAR87.70 | |
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) | $0.79 THB26.47 | $1.20 ZAR20.43 | |
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) | $0.34 THB11.34 | $0.92 ZAR15.59 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - Cost of restaurants
pay 0.2% less for groceries
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread 1 loaf | $1.58 THB52.80 | $1.14 ZAR19.28 | |
| Local cheese (8 oz) | $8.36 THB279.30 | $4.37 ZAR74.21 | |
| Milk (1 gallon) | $6.70 THB223.71 | $4.50 ZAR76.37 | |
| Eggs 1 dozen | $2.07 THB69.02 | $2.49 ZAR42.34 | |
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) | $1.36 THB45.45 | $2.43 ZAR41.33 | |
| Apples (1 lb) | $1.33 THB44.48 | $0.78 ZAR13.32 | |
| Bananas (1 lb) | $0.53 THB17.57 | $0.76 ZAR12.88 | |
| Oranges (1 lb) | $0.79 THB26.46 | $0.74 ZAR12.59 | |
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | $0.74 THB24.85 | $0.78 ZAR13.24 | |
| Potatoes (1 lb) | $0.64 THB21.48 | $0.60 ZAR10.12 | |
| Onions (1 lb) | $0.55 THB18.28 | $0.62 ZAR10.54 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - Cost of groceries
pay 7.5% more for transportation
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | $4.83 THB161.29 | $4.73 ZAR80.41 | |
| Monthly public transit pass | $19.14 THB639.18 | $28.68 ZAR487.20 | |
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | $22,478.88 THB751K | $21,796.50 ZAR370K | |
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | $11.94 THB398.59 | $10.15 ZAR172.47 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - Cost of transportation
pay 2.0 times more for housing
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl | $19.34 THB645.70 | $42.97 ZAR730.04 | |
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area | $440.41 THB14,705.47 | $838.02 ZAR14,236.08 | |
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center | $249.32 THB8,324.94 | $559.94 ZAR9,512.06 | |
| Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating | $51.23 THB1,710.70 | $91.96 ZAR1,562.12 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - Cost of housing
pay 65.6% less for childcare
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | $644.65 THB21,525.39 | $228.00 ZAR3,873.27 | |
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | $15,231.38 THB509K | $5,090.62 ZAR86,478.48 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - Cost of childcare
pay 14.2% more for entertainment and sports
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) | $2.25 THB75.06 | $2.87 ZAR48.72 | |
| Cappuccino in mid-range area | $1.90 THB63.60 | $2.12 ZAR35.95 | |
| Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar | $4.34 THB144.94 | $3.15 ZAR53.59 | |
| Monthly membership at local gym | $35.28 THB1,177.90 | $44.05 ZAR748.26 | |
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | $5.12 THB170.82 | $6.88 ZAR116.93 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 29.2% more for clothing
Chiang Mai | Cape Town | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular jeans Levi's brand | $62.01 THB2,070.58 | $55.23 ZAR938.21 | |
| Regular dress from H&M or similar store | $19.90 THB664.31 | $33.91 ZAR576.03 | |
| Running shoes Nike or Adidas | $93.02 THB3,105.87 | $117.06 ZAR1,988.67 | |
| Men's business shoes (leather) | $67.18 THB2,243.13 | $88.13 ZAR1,497.21 | |
Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town - 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: June 2026
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