Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 13.4% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 96.5% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 12.7% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 15.1% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 47.8% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 58.0% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.2% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 17.4% more in South Africa

The cost of restaurants, housing, clothing, and transportation 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.

South Africa vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 96.5% more for restaurants

	Thailand	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 THB85.43	$9.33 ZAR159.73	+249.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.99 THB223.63	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-26.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 THB23.49	$1.03 ZAR17.65	+40.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 THB11.51	$0.80 ZAR13.74	+123.2%
Average			+96.5%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.7% less for groceries

	Thailand	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 THB45.03	$1.00 ZAR17.16	-28.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 THB252.05	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-50.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.17 THB229.11	$4.37 ZAR74.79	-39.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.07 THB66.18	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+12.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 THB45.15	$2.13 ZAR36.52	+51.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.33 THB42.47	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-45.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 THB18.95	$0.65 ZAR11.16	+10.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 THB28.72	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-23.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 THB24.08	$0.71 ZAR12.14	-5.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB22.77	$0.59 ZAR10.02	-17.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB19.72	$0.60 ZAR10.27	-2.7%
Average			-12.7%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.1% more for transportation

	Thailand	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.83 THB154.50	$4.92 ZAR84.25	+1.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.12 THB899.09	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+99.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,471.21 THB974,258.89	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-29.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.53 THB336.66	$9.34 ZAR159.79	-11.3%
Average			+15.1%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.8% more for housing

	Thailand	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.52 THB592.20	$39.36 ZAR673.48	+112.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.60 THB13,256.12	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	-2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$266.86 THB8,532.32	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+35.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.46 THB1,933.10	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	+45.8%
Average			+47.8%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 58.0% less for childcare

	Thailand	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$359.13 THB11,482.48	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	-51.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,104.31 THB355,039.19	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	-64.3%
Average			-58.0%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.15 THB68.88	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+1.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.97 THB63.01	$2.05 ZAR35.06	+4.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.31 THB137.94	$2.96 ZAR50.72	-31.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.45 THB1,709.08	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-43.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.32 THB201.98	$6.85 ZAR117.19	+8.4%
Average			-12.2%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.4% more for clothing

	Thailand	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.08 THB1,185.58	$50.74 ZAR868.31	+36.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.48 THB942.56	$32.75 ZAR560.46	+11.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.15 THB2,914.34	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	+3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.13 THB2,210.16	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	+18.3%
Average			+17.4%

Thailand vs. South Africa - 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

Thailand vs.

Vietnam

Thailand vs.

Peru

Thailand vs.

Germany

Thailand vs.

Spain

Thailand vs.

Canada

Thailand vs.

Austria

Thailand vs.

Ukraine

Thailand vs.

China

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Bangkok vs. Pretoria

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 Thailand

Add prices for South Africa

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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