Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Thailand Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 16.7% more expensive than Thailand overall.

Restaurants: pay 98.6% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 9.4% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 17.9% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 57.6% more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 55.0% less in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.4% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 16.5% 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.

South Africa vs. Thailand Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 98.6% more for restaurants

	Thailand	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.33 THB78.75	$8.97 ZAR163.75	+284.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.02 THB203.21	$4.77 ZAR87.07	-20.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 THB23.79	$0.95 ZAR17.42	+35.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 THB12.81	$0.74 ZAR13.52	+95.3%
Average			+98.6%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.4% less for groceries

	Thailand	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.40 THB47.23	$0.99 ZAR18.08	-29.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.16 THB275.51	$3.67 ZAR67.07	-55.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.68 THB225.63	$4.20 ZAR76.63	-37.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.05 THB69.07	$2.23 ZAR40.65	+8.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.29 THB43.56	$2.03 ZAR37.02	+57.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.23 THB41.55	$0.68 ZAR12.35	-45.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 THB17.57	$0.62 ZAR11.27	+18.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 THB27.52	$0.64 ZAR11.72	-21.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 THB22.23	$0.70 ZAR12.75	+6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 THB23.37	$0.55 ZAR10.10	-20.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 THB18.08	$0.61 ZAR11.11	+13.7%
Average			-9.4%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.9% more for transportation

	Thailand	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.47 THB150.79	$4.99 ZAR91.05	+11.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.43 THB858.48	$52.31 ZAR954.75	+105.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,362.48 THB1,058,622.96	$20,607.77 ZAR376,121.01	-34.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.67 THB326.27	$8.55 ZAR156.03	-11.6%
Average			+17.9%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.6% more for housing

	Thailand	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.13 THB578.37	$41.37 ZAR755.05	+141.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$389.22 THB13,137.90	$382.55 ZAR6,982.15	-1.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$225.23 THB7,602.67	$326.35 ZAR5,956.30	+44.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.17 THB1,862.37	$80.40 ZAR1,467.38	+45.7%
Average			+57.6%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 55.0% less for childcare

	Thailand	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$341.66 THB11,532.48	$174.12 ZAR3,177.87	-49.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,344.18 THB349,161.94	$4,033.53 ZAR73,617.60	-61.0%
Average			-55.0%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Thailand	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 THB74.25	$2.11 ZAR38.47	-4.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.90 THB64.11	$1.88 ZAR34.36	-0.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.85 THB129.86	$2.90 ZAR53.01	-24.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.79 THB1,646.93	$29.50 ZAR538.43	-39.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.42 THB182.98	$6.62 ZAR120.84	+22.1%
Average			-9.4%

Thailand vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.5% more for clothing

	Thailand	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$38.62 THB1,303.52	$47.72 ZAR870.87	+23.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.36 THB991.04	$32.06 ZAR585.12	+9.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$82.78 THB2,794.25	$90.39 ZAR1,649.73	+9.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$65.55 THB2,212.76	$81.37 ZAR1,485.06	+24.1%
Average			+16.5%

Thailand vs. South Africa - 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: March 2025

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