Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bangkok vs. Port Elizabeth Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 37.0% more expensive than Port Elizabeth.

Restaurants: pay 36.1% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 33.1% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 53.5% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 26.4% less in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.9% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 2.7% less in Bangkok

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

Bangkok vs. Port Elizabeth Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bangkok instead of Port Elizabeth, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.1% less for restaurants

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.80 ZAR182.86	$3.10 THB98.65	-71.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.13 ZAR86.80	$6.20 THB197.30	+20.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ZAR19.18	$0.79 THB25.19	-30.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 ZAR15.60	$0.33 THB10.61	-63.8%
Average			-36.1%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.1% more for groceries

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 ZAR17.33	$1.44 THB45.81	+40.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.95 ZAR66.86	$8.50 THB270.59	+115.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.34 ZAR73.52	$7.23 THB230.01	+66.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.86 ZAR48.47	$2.28 THB72.68	-20.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.23 ZAR37.82	$1.38 THB43.91	-38.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 ZAR13.44	$1.59 THB50.61	+100.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR11.70	$0.82 THB25.98	+18.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ZAR12.16	$1.02 THB32.56	+42.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.61	$0.85 THB27.13	+14.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 ZAR12.25	$0.72 THB22.92	-0.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 ZAR8.76	$0.65 THB20.65	+25.5%
Average			+33.1%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 53.5% more for transportation

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ZAR84.76	$4.69 THB149.30	-6.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.86 ZAR590.03	$37.21 THB1,183.78	+6.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,075.49 ZAR272,098.61	$37,206.42 THB1,183,775.25	+131.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.38 ZAR108.01	$11.63 THB369.93	+82.2%
Average			+53.5%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.4% less for housing

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.80 ZAR775.17	$16.91 THB537.90	-63.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$606.14 ZAR10,259.78	$675.06 THB21,477.90	+11.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$455.18 ZAR7,704.58	$321.97 THB10,243.81	-29.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$91.03 ZAR1,540.73	$68.69 THB2,185.37	-24.5%
Average			-26.4%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$169.97 ZAR2,877.03	$609.37 THB19,388.11	+258.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,925.10 ZAR83,363.77	$13,346.39 THB424,634.53	+171.0%
Average			+214.8%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.62 ZAR44.37	$2.79 THB88.78	+6.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 ZAR36.67	$2.54 THB80.83	+17.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 ZAR52.18	$4.40 THB139.83	+42.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.31 ZAR512.99	$51.03 THB1,623.73	+68.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.08 ZAR170.67	$8.06 THB256.48	-20.1%
Average			+22.9%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.7% less for clothing

	Port Elizabeth	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.99 ZAR1,150.81	$58.81 THB1,870.97	-13.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.39 ZAR649.85	$38.03 THB1,210.07	-0.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.87 ZAR1,690.46	$104.24 THB3,316.45	+4.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.19 ZAR1,560.42	$91.47 THB2,910.11	-0.8%
Average			-2.7%

Port Elizabeth vs. Bangkok - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Port Elizabeth vs.

Phnom Penh

Port Elizabeth vs.

Mexico City

Port Elizabeth vs.

Vienna

Port Elizabeth vs.

Cairo

Port Elizabeth vs.

Nairobi

Port Elizabeth vs.

Algiers

Port Elizabeth vs.

Hanoi

Port Elizabeth vs.

Delhi

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in South Africa vs. Thailand. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within South Africa and Thailand.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Port Elizabeth

Add prices for Bangkok

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Bangkok or Port Elizabeth. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.