Bangkok vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Bangkok	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$958	$1231
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2465	$2814
🏠 One person rent	$424	$681
🏘️ Family rent	$741	$1180
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$322
🚐 Transport expenses	$152	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$707	$352
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	89	56
😀 Quality of life	75	55
🏙️ Population	5.68M	3.78M

The cost of living in Bangkok is 22% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 5912th and 4637th ($958 vs $1231) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Thailand and South Africa, respectively. Check Thailand vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Bangkok compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs Cape Town ranked 5th in South Africa, while ranked 1890th and 6312th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bangkok vs Cape Town infographic

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Prices in Bangkok vs Cape Town

Prices for goods and services in Bangkok and Cape Town are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Bangkok	Cape Town
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.1	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$30.9	$46.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.12	$5.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.59	$2.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.77	$1.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$611	$761
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$285	$513
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1104	$1355
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$519	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.2	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.6	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16.9	$43.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.78%	11.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5905	$1957
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2775	$1290
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.23	$1.15
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$36.5	$28.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.6	$10.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.88	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.45	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.31	$2.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.5	$8.62
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.07	$5.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$7.75
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$1.73
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.39
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.71
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.27	$1.67
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.9	$5.78
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.8	$1.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.39	$3.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.53	$5.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.19	$3.66
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.95	$2.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.97	$1.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.9	$43.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.03	$7.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.8	$37.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.83	$9.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.4	$56
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$561	$228
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13469	$4978

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bangkok

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Nonthaburi	$737
13 km or 8.4 mi	Lat Luang	$774
14 km or 8.4 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$774
18 km or 11 mi	Pak Kret	$736
28 km or 18 mi	Rangsit	$635
39 km or 25 mi	Tha Khlong	$675
50 km or 31 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$623
86 km or 53 mi	Laem Chabang	$779
87 km or 54 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$770
98 km or 61 mi	Pattaya	$812
103 km or 64 mi	Nong Prue	$787
145 km or 90 mi	Hua Hin	$724
164 km or 102 mi	Klaeng	$718
217 km or 135 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
222 km or 138 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$680
254 km or 158 mi	Myeik	$553
267 km or 166 mi	Serei Saophoan	$623
270 km or 168 mi	Ko Chang	$708
299 km or 186 mi	Battambang	$571
342 km or 212 mi	Phitsanulok	$558
364 km or 226 mi	Siem Reap	$650
388 km or 241 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
416 km or 258 mi	Ko Tao	$812
434 km or 270 mi	Mawlamyine	$567
452 km or 281 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$765
466 km or 290 mi	Hpa-an	$581
473 km or 294 mi	Udon Thani	$578
475 km or 295 mi	Sihanoukville	$763
475 km or 295 mi	Ko Samui	$741
496 km or 308 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$558
519 km or 323 mi	Vientiane	$1152
529 km or 329 mi	Surat Thani	$593
529 km or 329 mi	Kampot	$622
536 km or 333 mi	Phnom Penh	$829
542 km or 337 mi	Phu Quoc	$511
569 km or 354 mi	Kampong Cham	$504
578 km or 359 mi	Yangon	$614
579 km or 360 mi	Prey Veng	$727
584 km or 363 mi	Chiang Mai	$727
587 km or 365 mi	Bago	$571

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1243
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$666
371 km or 231 mi	George	$857
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$946
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1005
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$746
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$814
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$988
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$861
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1304
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$784
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$598
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$650
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$901
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$762
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$948
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$833
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$904
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$637
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$637
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$984
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$668
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$607
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$890
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$985
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$984
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$892
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$927
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$857