Bangkok vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bangkok	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$941	$1071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2857	$2522
🏠 One person rent	$416	$582
🏘️ Family rent	$1154	$1083
🍽️ Food expenses	$276	$273
🚐 Transport expenses	$148	$124
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$753	$1532
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	89	56
😀 Quality of life	74	58
🏙️ Population	5.68M	3.78M

The cost of living in Bangkok is 12% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 5822nd and 5016th ($941 vs $1071) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st 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 0.8 months in Bangkok compared to 1.4 months in Cape Town. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs Cape Town ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 1221st and 5491st 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	$2.97	$8.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.9	$32.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.91	$4.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.69	$2.58
☕ Cappuccino	$2.5	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$1.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$576	$677
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$291	$435
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1879	$1304
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$853	$863
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.9	$59.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81	$93.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.7	$38.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.06%	11.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5781	$1804
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2619	$1180
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.18	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.8	$39
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.5	$8.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.33	$1.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.48
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.19	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.3	$8.33
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$5.42
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$7.24
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$1.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.45
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1.57
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.33
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.33	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$5.48
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.81	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.22	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.46	$4.02
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.63	$3.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.7	$34.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.38	$6.22
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40	$35.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.5	$8.05
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$51
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$579	$204
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13301	$4806

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	$717
13 km or 8.4 mi	Lat Luang	$753
14 km or 8.4 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
18 km or 11 mi	Pak Kret	$715
28 km or 18 mi	Rangsit	$595
39 km or 25 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
50 km or 31 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
86 km or 53 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
87 km or 54 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
98 km or 61 mi	Pattaya	$781
103 km or 64 mi	Nong Prue	$752
145 km or 90 mi	Hua Hin	$656
164 km or 102 mi	Klaeng	$685
217 km or 135 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
222 km or 138 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
254 km or 158 mi	Myeik	$576
267 km or 166 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
270 km or 168 mi	Ko Chang	$677
299 km or 186 mi	Battambang	$573
342 km or 212 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
364 km or 226 mi	Siem Reap	$644
388 km or 241 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
416 km or 258 mi	Ko Tao	$777
434 km or 270 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
452 km or 281 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
466 km or 290 mi	Hpa-an	$610
473 km or 294 mi	Udon Thani	$543
475 km or 295 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
475 km or 295 mi	Ko Samui	$705
496 km or 308 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
519 km or 323 mi	Vientiane	$1163
529 km or 329 mi	Surat Thani	$563
529 km or 329 mi	Kampot	$596
536 km or 333 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
542 km or 337 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
569 km or 354 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
578 km or 359 mi	Yangon	$705
579 km or 360 mi	Prey Veng	$721
584 km or 363 mi	Chiang Mai	$691
587 km or 365 mi	Bago	$650

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740