Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Roodepoort and Chiang Mai

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiang Mai: $936 a month against $1,172 in Roodepoort, rent and utilities included – about $2,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

56

Cost of Living Index in Roodepoort
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Roodepoort Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai Living Index

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Roodepoort

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,172

/mo nomad

Chiang Mai

🇹🇭 Thailand

$936

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Roodepoort and in Chiang Mai

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Roodepoort and in Chiang Mai actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,172 per month in Roodepoort vs $936 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Roodepoort $1,172
Chiang Mai $936

A couple spends around $1,767 per month in Roodepoort vs $1,457 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Roodepoort $1,767
Chiang Mai $1,457

A family of three spends $2,362 per month in Roodepoort vs $1,979 in Chiang Mai, rent included.

Roodepoort $2,362
Chiang Mai $1,979

Roodepoort costs about 25% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both Roodepoort and Chiang Mai are more affordable than the global median – Roodepoort 14% lower, Chiang Mai 31% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.00 R 200

$2.24 ฿75.6

435.71%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.96 R 748

$19.00 ฿641

136.63%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.11 R 118

$5.55 ฿187

28.11%

Cappuccino

$2.43 R 40.47

$1.67 ฿56.5

45.51%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.13 R 18.87

$0.64 ฿21.53

76.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.98 R 16.28

$0.31 ฿10.30

216.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.44 R 40.53

$2.36 ฿79.5

3.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.78 R 46.26

$3.66 ฿124

-24.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.21 R 20.16

$1.95 ฿65.7

-37.95%

White Bread (500g)

$1.15 R 19.12

$1.44 ฿48.45

-20.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.78 R 29.68

$1.33 ฿45.01

33.83%

Eggs

$2.51 R 41.77

$2.28 ฿77.0

10.09%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.79 R 146

$16.45 ฿555

-46.57%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.38 R 89.5

$2.78 ฿93.8

93.53%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.88 R 148

$9.31 ฿314

-4.62%

Apples (1kg)

$1.86 R 30.94

$2.35 ฿79.4

-20.85%

Banana (1kg)

$1.79 R 29.77

$0.97 ฿32.78

84.54%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.73 R 28.78

$1.60 ฿53.9

8.12%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.13 R 35.43

$1.50 ฿50.6

42.00%

Potato (1kg)

$1.72 R 28.58

$1.28 ฿43.10

34.37%

Onion (1kg)

$1.77 R 29.40

$1.10 ฿37.17

60.91%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.21 R 20.18

$0.71 ฿23.81

70.42%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 R 20.91

$0.49 ฿16.36

157.14%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.50 R 58.2

$4.14 ฿140

-15.46%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.85 R 97.3

$17.52 ฿591

-66.61%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.52 R 25.34

$1.61 ฿54.5

-5.59%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.91 R 31.75

$2.78 ฿93.9

-31.29%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.81 R 13.43

$0.87 ฿29.29

-6.90%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$54.1 ฿1,825

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.81 R 13.40

$1.16 ฿39.03

-30.17%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.88 R 14.71

$0.53 ฿17.79

66.04%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$14.69 R 244

$2.42 ฿81.7

507.02%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.56 R 25.91

$1.45 ฿48.87

7.59%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$34.7K R 577.7K

$21.1K ฿710.3K

64.88%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$35.1K R 583.8K

$26.9K ฿908.7K

30.25%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$226 R 3,761

$62.2 ฿2,097

263.66%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$39.16 R 652

$12.17 ฿410

221.77%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$37.33 R 621

$20.12 ฿679

85.54%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$47.68 R 793

$37.31 ฿1,259

27.79%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.77 ฿127

Cinema Ticket

$7.35 R 122

$6.49 ฿219

13.25%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$238 R 3,967

$736 ฿24.8K

-67.61%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,476 R 91.1K

$14.8K ฿498.0K

-62.91%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.1 R 866

$53.4 ฿1,800

-2.45%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.49 R 541

$24.64 ฿831

31.86%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 R 1,822

$91.5 ฿3,086

19.74%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 R 1,471

$71.9 ฿2,426

22.94%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$598 R 9,957

$482 ฿16.3K

24.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$289 R 4,800

$309 ฿10.4K

-6.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,530 R 25.5K

$1,006 ฿33.9K

52.11%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$531 R 8,828

$633 ฿21.4K

-16.23%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,363 ฿79.7K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,589 ฿53.6K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,519 R 25.3K

$590 ฿19.9K

157.56%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.25

5.57

101.97%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Roodepoort: October 24, 2026

Last update for Chiang Mai: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Roodepoort

$303 25.8%

Chiang Mai

$94 10.1% 68.8% $208

Accommodation & Living

Roodepoort

$289 24.6%

Chiang Mai

$309 33% 7.1% $20

Groceries & Markets

Roodepoort

$210 17.9%

Chiang Mai

$234 25.1% 11.6% $24

Eating Out

Roodepoort

$173 14.7%

Chiang Mai

$78 8.3% 55.1% $95

Clothing & Footwear

Roodepoort

$127 10.9%

Chiang Mai

$109 11.6% 14.6% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Roodepoort

$62 5.3%

Chiang Mai

$50 5.4% 19.4% $12

Getting Around

Roodepoort

$8.5 * 0.7%

Chiang Mai

$61 6.6% 625% $53

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $598 in Roodepoort versus $482 in Chiang Mai. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries in Roodepoort are about 2.6 times higher. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $45 in Roodepoort versus $19 in Chiang Mai. Groceries tell a different story – $210 in Roodepoort vs $234 in Chiang Mai – so Roodepoort wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Roodepoort

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

🕒 Local time

15:11 3:11 PM

20:11 8:11 PM

5 h ahead of Roodepoort

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

325,000

127,240

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6.01 USD

100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 16.64 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.01 USD). 1 EUR = 18.57 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 33.73 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.64 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Roodepoort Chiang Mai 9,160 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Roodepoort
Chiang Mai

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Roodepoort vs Chiang Mai: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Roodepoort costs about 25% more than Chiang Mai, and outside of rent the gap comes mainly from eating out. That’s enough to noticeably affect everyday spending and lifestyle for anyone choosing between the two.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,758 per month in Roodepoort and $1,403 in Chiang Mai. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Chiang Mai, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $482 there versus $598 in Roodepoort.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $45 in Roodepoort and $19 in Chiang Mai. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Interestingly, groceries are about 10% cheaper in Roodepoort – one category where the pricier city actually offers better value.

$800 is a stretch for both – monthly costs hit $1,172 in Roodepoort and $936 in Chiang Mai. You’ll need shared housing and careful budgeting no matter which city you pick.

It depends on your priorities. Chiang Mai has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $936 in Chiang Mai to $1,172 in Roodepoort. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.

If budget matters most, go with Chiang Mai. If higher salaries or specific career opportunities are the priority, Roodepoort makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.