Cost of living comparison

compared to

Thailand vs. South Africa Cost of Living Summary

Thailand is 17.6% more expensive than South Africa overall.

Restaurants: pay 29.7% less in Thailand
Groceries: pay 27.1% more in Thailand
Transportation: pay 0.9% more in Thailand
Housing: pay 27.0% less in Thailand
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Thailand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% more in Thailand
Clothing: pay 13.9% less in Thailand

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

Thailand vs. South Africa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Thailand instead of South Africa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 29.7% less for restaurants

	South Africa	Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.33 ZAR159.73	$2.67 THB85.43	-71.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR87.49	$6.99 THB223.63	+36.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 ZAR17.65	$0.73 THB23.49	-28.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 ZAR13.74	$0.36 THB11.51	-55.2%
Average			-29.7%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.1% more for groceries

	South Africa	Thailand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZAR17.16	$1.41 THB45.03	+40.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 ZAR66.47	$7.88 THB252.05	+102.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.37 ZAR74.79	$7.17 THB229.11	+64.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ZAR39.93	$2.07 THB66.18	-11.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.13 ZAR36.52	$1.41 THB45.15	-33.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR12.46	$1.33 THB42.47	+82.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 ZAR11.16	$0.59 THB18.95	-9.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR11.70	$0.90 THB28.72	+31.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 ZAR12.14	$0.75 THB24.08	+6.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.02	$0.71 THB22.77	+21.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ZAR10.27	$0.62 THB19.72	+2.8%
Average			+27.1%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.9% more for transportation

	South Africa	Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR84.25	$4.83 THB154.50	-1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$56.18 ZAR961.29	$28.12 THB899.09	-49.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	$30,471.21 THB974,258.89	+42.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.34 ZAR159.79	$10.53 THB336.66	+12.8%
Average			+0.9%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.0% less for housing

	South Africa	Thailand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.36 ZAR673.48	$18.52 THB592.20	-52.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	$414.60 THB13,256.12	+2.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	$266.86 THB8,532.32	-26.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	$60.46 THB1,933.10	-31.4%
Average			-27.0%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	South Africa	Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	$359.13 THB11,482.48	+107.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	$11,104.31 THB355,039.19	+180.3%
Average			+143.7%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% more for entertainment and sports

	South Africa	Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 ZAR37.27	$2.15 THB68.88	-1.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZAR35.06	$1.97 THB63.01	-3.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.96 ZAR50.72	$4.31 THB137.94	+45.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.26 ZAR517.83	$53.45 THB1,709.08	+76.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.85 ZAR117.19	$6.32 THB201.98	-7.8%
Average			+21.9%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.9% less for clothing

	South Africa	Thailand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.74 ZAR868.31	$37.08 THB1,185.58	-26.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.75 ZAR560.46	$29.48 THB942.56	-10.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	$91.15 THB2,914.34	-3.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	$69.13 THB2,210.16	-15.5%
Average			-13.9%

South Africa vs. Thailand - Cost of clothing

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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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