Bangkok vs Cape Town - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Bangkok	Cape Town
🚶 Cost of living one person	$996	$1386
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2570	$3160
🏠 One person rent	$434	$775
🏘️ Family rent	$753	$1348
🍽️ Food expenses	$308	$359
🚐 Transport expenses	$148	$139
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$635	$405
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	89	55
😀 Quality of life	74	58
🏙️ Population	5.68M	3.78M

The cost of living in Bangkok is 28% less expensive than in Cape Town. Cities ranked 5606th and 4336th ($996 vs $1386) 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 0.6 months in Bangkok compared to 0.3 months in Cape Town. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs Cape Town ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 2044th and 6134th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$3.36	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$36.3	$48.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.01	$6.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$3.03
☕ Cappuccino	$2.94	$2.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.64	$1.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$606	$942
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$294	$591
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1118	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$525	$1075
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.2	$72.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91.9	$112
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.1	$41.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.4%	11.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6402	$2325
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3365	$1508
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.22	$1.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$35	$37.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.9	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.96	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.6	$1.2
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.69	$2.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$8.53
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$6.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$8.45
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$1.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.88
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$1.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$2.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.56
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.78
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.25	$1.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$6.22
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.82	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.61	$3.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.26	$6.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.14	$3.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$2.41
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$1.62
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$61	$49.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.68	$9.14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$37.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.8	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$69.9	$58.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.9	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$533	$272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16017	$6197

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	$761
13 km or 8.4 mi	Lat Luang	$794
14 km or 8.4 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$789
18 km or 11 mi	Pak Kret	$762
28 km or 18 mi	Rangsit	$616
39 km or 25 mi	Tha Khlong	$671
50 km or 31 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$603
86 km or 53 mi	Laem Chabang	$799
87 km or 54 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$784
98 km or 61 mi	Pattaya	$839
103 km or 64 mi	Nong Prue	$809
145 km or 90 mi	Hua Hin	$787
164 km or 102 mi	Klaeng	$724
217 km or 135 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$586
222 km or 138 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$707
254 km or 158 mi	Myeik	$567
267 km or 166 mi	Serei Saophoan	$644
270 km or 168 mi	Ko Chang	$718
299 km or 186 mi	Battambang	$601
342 km or 212 mi	Phitsanulok	$554
364 km or 226 mi	Siem Reap	$679
388 km or 241 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
416 km or 258 mi	Ko Tao	$812
434 km or 270 mi	Mawlamyine	$575
452 km or 281 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$766
466 km or 290 mi	Hpa-an	$601
473 km or 294 mi	Udon Thani	$564
475 km or 295 mi	Sihanoukville	$766
475 km or 295 mi	Ko Samui	$735
496 km or 308 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$543
519 km or 323 mi	Vientiane	$968
529 km or 329 mi	Surat Thani	$582
529 km or 329 mi	Kampot	$582
536 km or 333 mi	Phnom Penh	$893
542 km or 337 mi	Phu Quoc	$518
569 km or 354 mi	Kampong Cham	$518
578 km or 359 mi	Yangon	$656
579 km or 360 mi	Prey Veng	$776
584 km or 363 mi	Chiang Mai	$750
587 km or 365 mi	Bago	$610

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1421
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$763
371 km or 231 mi	George	$877
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$968
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1020
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$796
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$863
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1033
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$904
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1390
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$773
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$611
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$660
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$953
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$811
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$991
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$872
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$903
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$945
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$691
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$691
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$742
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1031
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$994
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$723
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$663
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1204
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$912
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1040
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1104
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$938
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$998
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$893