Cost of living comparison

Cape Town, South Africa

compared to

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Chiang Mai is 10.8% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 32.2% less in Chiang Mai
Groceries: pay 8.9% more in Chiang Mai
Transportation: pay 7.1% less in Chiang Mai
Housing: pay 48.4% less in Chiang Mai
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Chiang Mai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.2% less in Chiang Mai
Clothing: pay 9.2% less in Chiang Mai

The cost of childcare and groceries in Chiang Mai are more expensive than in Cape Town. Expenses including housing, restaurants, clothing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Chiang Mai. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chiang Mai instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 32.2% less for restaurants

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR153.31	$1.75 THB57.18	-79.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR91.99	$7.28 THB238.25	+42.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR17.87	$0.65 THB21.36	-34.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ZAR14.04	$0.33 THB10.85	-57.5%
Average			-32.2%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.9% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.30	$1.47 THB47.97	+36.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 ZAR74.34	$7.16 THB234.20	+73.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 ZAR76.53	$5.98 THB195.75	+40.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 ZAR45.58	$2.02 THB66.06	-20.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 ZAR41.33	$1.25 THB40.87	-45.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.16	$1.19 THB38.80	+62.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.52	$0.52 THB16.90	-25.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.37	$0.57 THB18.64	-17.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.57	$0.68 THB22.33	-2.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR9.88	$0.60 THB19.72	+9.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.69	$0.51 THB16.75	-13.8%
Average			+8.9%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.1% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 ZAR91.60	$4.46 THB146.02	-12.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.60 ZAR766.54	$23.30 THB762.39	-45.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 ZAR357,720.09	$21,118.56 THB690,914.21	+6.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.54 ZAR171.71	$11.72 THB383.58	+22.9%
Average			-7.1%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.4% less for housing

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.29 ZAR778.91	$18.20 THB595.38	-58.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$784.43 ZAR14,114.97	$388.93 THB12,724.35	-50.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$505.72 ZAR9,099.96	$233.89 THB7,651.91	-53.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.33 ZAR1,283.44	$49.06 THB1,605.13	-31.2%
Average			-48.4%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$207.06 ZAR3,725.86	$461.21 THB15,088.93	+122.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,312.73 ZAR77,603.29	$13,232.91 THB432,927.52	+206.8%
Average			+164.8%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.56 ZAR45.99	$2.26 THB73.86	-11.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR38.23	$1.79 THB58.43	-15.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR53.15	$4.37 THB142.95	+47.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.65 ZAR713.55	$34.96 THB1,143.82	-11.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.82 ZAR122.65	$5.83 THB190.60	-14.5%
Average			-1.2%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.2% less for clothing

	Cape Town	Chiang Mai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.53 ZAR963.20	$55.83 THB1,826.55	+4.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.86 ZAR555.25	$30.29 THB991.10	-1.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.97 ZAR1,888.76	$81.56 THB2,668.36	-22.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.06 ZAR1,386.69	$64.08 THB2,096.57	-16.8%
Average			-9.2%

Cape Town vs. Chiang Mai - 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: June 2025

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