Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 13.0% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 87.7% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 9.1% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 21.3% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 29.6% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 59.4% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.5% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 13.1% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 87.7% more for restaurants

	Thailand	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.89 THB96.05	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+253.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB232.42	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-15.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 THB24.81	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+45.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 THB12.19	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+128.0%
Average			+87.7%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.1% less for groceries

	Thailand	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.34 THB44.43	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-20.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.95 THB264.36	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-48.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 THB236.74	$4.58 ZAR75.49	-35.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 THB68.55	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+24.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.37 THB45.52	$2.31 ZAR38.16	+69.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 THB44.98	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-39.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 THB18.99	$0.74 ZAR12.13	+28.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 THB31.07	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-15.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 THB27.38	$0.77 ZAR12.71	-6.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB24.01	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-10.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 THB18.88	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+15.9%
Average			-9.1%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.3% more for transportation

	Thailand	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 THB168.49	$5.49 ZAR90.53	+8.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.87 THB1,093.53	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+98.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,201.01 THB971K	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	+11.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.77 THB358.41	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-31.8%
Average			+21.3%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.6% more for housing

	Thailand	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.17 THB637.71	$38.93 ZAR642.17	+103.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$407.64 THB13,560.34	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+3.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$268.13 THB8,919.39	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+37.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.86 THB2,024.59	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+73.5%
Average			+29.6%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 59.4% less for childcare

	Thailand	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$515.68 THB17,154.28	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-61.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,528.28 THB383K	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	-57.3%
Average			-59.4%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.10 THB69.86	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+7.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 THB66.47	$2.25 ZAR37.18	+12.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.15 THB138.07	$3.16 ZAR52.13	-23.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.07 THB1,665.52	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-36.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.05 THB201.30	$7.32 ZAR120.70	+20.9%
Average			-5.5%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.1% more for clothing

	Thailand	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.30 THB1,473.73	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+18.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.84 THB1,092.57	$34.13 ZAR562.92	+3.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.65 THB2,782.57	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+19.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.91 THB2,591.55	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+11.2%
Average			+13.1%

Thailand vs. South Africa - 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

Compare further: Thailand vs. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 41.5 times more likely to be unemployed in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Thailand is about 2.4 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Thailand to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

1,054 people born in Thailand live in South Africa.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Bangkok vs Cape Town

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