Cost of living comparison

Johannesburg, South Africa

compared to

Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok vs. Johannesburg Cost of Living Summary

Bangkok is 25.9% more expensive than Johannesburg.

Restaurants: pay 39.4% less in Bangkok
Groceries: pay 36.6% more in Bangkok
Transportation: pay 21.1% more in Bangkok
Housing: pay 16.8% less in Bangkok
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Bangkok
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.6% more in Bangkok
Clothing: pay 3.7% more in Bangkok

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

Bangkok vs. Johannesburg Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bangkok instead of Johannesburg, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 39.4% less for restaurants

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.36 ZAR204.41	$2.91 THB95.30	-74.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.88 ZAR87.90	$5.83 THB190.60	+19.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 ZAR18.69	$0.62 THB20.14	-40.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 ZAR13.79	$0.29 THB9.54	-61.9%
Average			-39.4%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.6% more for groceries

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.26	$1.52 THB49.80	+42.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.23 ZAR76.04	$11.74 THB384.07	+177.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.27 ZAR76.78	$7.32 THB239.43	+71.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 ZAR43.65	$2.27 THB74.34	-6.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 ZAR37.93	$1.31 THB43.01	-37.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.50	$1.47 THB48.14	+96.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.17	$0.73 THB23.77	-0.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.31	$1.04 THB33.87	+51.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.42	$0.80 THB26.32	+7.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR11.47	$0.71 THB23.31	+11.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.68	$0.62 THB20.36	-11.7%
Average			+36.6%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.1% more for transportation

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR90.00	$4.47 THB146.08	-10.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$78.77 ZAR1,417.47	$39.32 THB1,286.53	-50.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,663.17 ZAR407,800.90	$55,345.18 THB1,810,671.72	+144.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.22 ZAR183.97	$10.34 THB338.31	+1.1%
Average			+21.1%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - Cost of transportation

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pay 16.8% less for housing

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.17 ZAR830.80	$15.36 THB502.52	-66.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$422.94 ZAR7,610.40	$571.31 THB18,690.80	+35.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$366.97 ZAR6,603.22	$301.88 THB9,876.39	-17.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.06 ZAR1,476.55	$67.33 THB2,202.79	-17.9%
Average			-16.8%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$233.11 ZAR4,194.52	$632.63 THB20,697.22	+171.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,705.81 ZAR102,670.31	$13,191.37 THB431,568.47	+131.2%
Average			+151.3%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.27 ZAR40.88	$2.33 THB76.24	+2.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR35.95	$2.58 THB84.53	+29.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.12 ZAR56.21	$4.20 THB137.47	+34.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.20 ZAR615.37	$54.58 THB1,785.58	+59.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.53 ZAR135.42	$7.28 THB238.25	-3.2%
Average			+24.6%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.7% more for clothing

	Johannesburg	Bangkok
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.89 ZAR897.69	$55.27 THB1,808.16	+10.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.01 ZAR683.88	$34.84 THB1,139.79	-8.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.71 ZAR1,650.20	$97.10 THB3,176.59	+5.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$86.75 ZAR1,560.96	$92.12 THB3,013.82	+6.2%
Average			+3.7%

Johannesburg vs. Bangkok - 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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