Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Thailand

Koh Samui vs. Durban Cost of Living Summary

Koh Samui is 7.6% more expensive than Durban.

Restaurants: pay 18.5% less in Koh Samui
Groceries: pay 9.0% more in Koh Samui
Transportation: pay 14.4% more in Koh Samui
Housing: pay 14.4% more in Koh Samui
Childcare: pay 36.6% more in Koh Samui
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.8% less in Koh Samui
Clothing: pay 6.9% less in Koh Samui

The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, and groceries in Koh Samui are more expensive than in Durban. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Koh Samui.

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Koh Samui vs. Durban Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Koh Samui instead of Durban, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.5% less for restaurants

	Durban	Koh Samui
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.81 ZAR128.84	$4.46 THB148.24	-43.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.01 ZAR99.11	$8.62 THB286.59	+43.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.10 ZAR18.20	$0.92 THB30.54	-16.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 ZAR14.37	$0.48 THB15.87	-45.2%
Average			-18.5%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.0% more for groceries

	Durban	Koh Samui
Bread 1 loaf	$0.96 ZAR15.80	$1.42 THB47.33	+48.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.12 ZAR67.89	$9.70 THB322.52	+135.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.55 ZAR75.03	$5.59 THB185.80	+22.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.37 ZAR39.03	$2.13 THB70.84	-10.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.35 ZAR38.81	$1.46 THB48.50	-38.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 ZAR14.47	$1.32 THB43.97	+50.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.86 ZAR14.26	$0.50 THB16.51	-42.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 ZAR14.39	$1.02 THB33.84	+16.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.60	$0.95 THB31.62	+24.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR11.31	$0.62 THB20.62	-9.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.58	$0.61 THB20.32	-4.8%
Average			+9.0%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.4% more for transportation

	Durban	Koh Samui
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.75 ZAR94.88	$5.41 THB180.01	-5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.63 ZAR356.79	$44.56 THB1,482.38	+106.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	$26,737.57 THB889K	-24.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.22 ZAR102.64	$11.29 THB375.54	+81.4%
Average			+14.4%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.4% more for housing

	Durban	Koh Samui
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.31 ZAR648.45	$17.15 THB570.48	-56.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$464.82 ZAR7,666.67	$842.23 THB28,017.01	+81.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$393.52 ZAR6,490.77	$391.56 THB13,025.19	-0.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$111.87 ZAR1,845.13	$74.96 THB2,493.60	-33.0%
Average			+14.4%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - Cost of housing

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pay 36.6% more for childcare

	Durban	Koh Samui
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$310.61 ZAR5,123.20	$555.38 THB18,474.87	+78.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,585.59 ZAR125K	$7,921.52 THB264K	+4.4%
Average			+36.6%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Durban	Koh Samui
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.40 ZAR39.64	$2.38 THB79.06	-1.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.67 ZAR44.02	$2.14 THB71.03	-20.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.61 ZAR59.47	$4.33 THB143.89	+20.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.70 ZAR522.86	$40.11 THB1,334.14	+26.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.21 ZAR118.93	$5.94 THB197.65	-17.6%
Average			-1.8%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.9% less for clothing

	Durban	Koh Samui
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.69 ZAR885.57	$41.59 THB1,383.56	-22.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.14 ZAR497.07	$28.69 THB954.49	-4.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.53 ZAR1,625.08	$95.68 THB3,182.71	-2.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$83.65 ZAR1,379.78	$87.87 THB2,922.95	+5.0%
Average			-6.9%

Durban vs. Koh Samui - 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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