Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Roodepoort and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Roodepoort: $1,172 a month against $1,278 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $1,300 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
62

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
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Phuket Living Index

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Roodepoort

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,172

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,278

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Roodepoort and in Phuket

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 Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,172 in Roodepoort versus $1,278 in Phuket.

Roodepoort $1,172
Phuket $1,278

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,767 in Roodepoort versus $2,216 in Phuket.

Roodepoort $1,767
Phuket $2,216

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,362 in Roodepoort versus $3,154 in Phuket.

Roodepoort $2,362
Phuket $3,154

Living in Roodepoort costs roughly 8% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Roodepoort 14% lower, Phuket 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.00 R 200

$4.47 ฿151

168.46%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.96 R 751

$32.41 ฿1,093

38.72%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.11 R 119

$8.81 ฿297

-19.30%

Cappuccino

$2.43 R 40.64

$2.83 ฿95.4

-14.13%

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

$1.13 R 18.95

$0.87 ฿29.41

29.89%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.98 R 16.35

$0.49 ฿16.65

100.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.44 R 40.70

$2.56 ฿86.3

-4.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.78 R 46.45

$3.68 ฿124

-24.46%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.21 R 20.24

$1.66 ฿55.9

-27.11%

White Bread (500g)

$1.15 R 19.20

$1.46 ฿49.31

-21.23%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.78 R 29.81

$1.50 ฿50.5

18.67%

Eggs

$2.51 R 41.95

$2.09 ฿70.5

20.10%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.79 R 147

$19.07 ฿643

-53.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.38 R 89.9

$3.30 ฿111

63.03%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.88 R 148

$10.91 ฿368

-18.61%

Apples (1kg)

$1.86 R 31.07

$2.93 ฿98.9

-36.52%

Banana (1kg)

$1.79 R 29.89

$1.69 ฿57.0

5.92%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.73 R 28.90

$2.25 ฿75.8

-23.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.13 R 35.58

$2.08 ฿70.0

2.40%

Potato (1kg)

$1.72 R 28.70

$1.51 ฿51.0

13.91%

Onion (1kg)

$1.77 R 29.53

$1.38 ฿46.52

28.26%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.21 R 20.26

$1.07 ฿35.96

13.08%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 R 21.00

$0.52 ฿17.51

142.31%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.50 R 58.4

$4.20 ฿142

-16.67%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.85 R 97.7

$18.79 ฿634

-68.87%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.52 R 25.45

$1.82 ฿61.5

-16.48%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.91 R 31.88

$2.84 ฿95.8

-32.75%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.81 R 13.49

$1.45 ฿48.98

-44.14%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$56.7 ฿1,912

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.81 R 13.45

$3.02 ฿102

-73.18%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.88 R 14.77

$1.02 ฿34.33

-13.73%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$14.69 R 245

$3.69 ฿125

298.10%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.56 R 26.02

$1.47 ฿49.76

6.12%

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

$34.7K R 580.1K

$26.8K ฿903.4K

29.67%

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

$35.1K R 586.3K

$26.7K ฿900.5K

31.47%

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

$226 R 3,777

$96.4 ฿3,251

134.65%

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

$39.16 R 654

$11.26 ฿380

247.78%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$37.33 R 624

$16.85 ฿568

121.54%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$47.68 R 797

$67.2 ฿2,268

-29.08%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.73 ฿362

Cinema Ticket

$7.35 R 123

$7.50 ฿253

-2.00%

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

$238 R 3,984

$476 ฿16.1K

-49.90%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,476 R 91.5K

$11.3K ฿380.0K

-51.38%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.1 R 870

$62.4 ฿2,104

-16.52%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.49 R 543

$28.41 ฿958

14.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 R 1,830

$94.3 ฿3,181

16.17%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.4 R 1,478

$85.8 ฿2,895

3.08%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$598 R 9,999

$716 ฿24.2K

-16.40%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$289 R 4,820

$491 ฿16.6K

-41.23%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,530 R 25.6K

$1,927 ฿65.0K

-20.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$531 R 8,865

$1,431 ฿48.3K

-62.91%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,175 ฿140.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,045 ฿102.7K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,519 R 25.4K

$502 ฿16.9K

202.40%

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 Phuket: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Roodepoort

$303 25.8%

Phuket

$124 9.7% 58.9% $178

Accommodation & Living

Roodepoort

$289 24.6%

Phuket

$491 38.4% 70.2% $202

Groceries & Markets

Roodepoort

$210 17.9%

Phuket

$266 20.8% 26.8% $56

Eating Out

Roodepoort

$173 14.7%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 29.5% $51

Clothing & Footwear

Roodepoort

$127 10.9%

Phuket

$122 9.5% 4.1% $5.3

Sport & Entertainment

Roodepoort

$62 5.3%

Phuket

$82 6.4% 31.8% $20

Getting Around

Roodepoort

$8.5 * 0.7%

Phuket

$71 5.5% 734% $62

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

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $598 in Roodepoort and $716 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Roodepoort pays about 3 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $45 in Roodepoort vs $32 in Phuket. Groceries flip the comparison at $210 vs $266, with Roodepoort cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Roodepoort

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

20:04 8:04 PM

01:04 1:04 AM

5 h ahead of Roodepoort

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

325,000

79,308

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 5.99 USD

100 ZAR = 5.36 EUR

100 THB = 2.96 USD

100 THB = 2.65 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 1, 2026: 1 USD = 16.71 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.99 USD). 1 EUR = 18.66 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.36 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 33.74 THB (100 THB = 2.96 USD). 1 EUR = 37.67 THB (100 THB = 2.65 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Roodepoort Phuket 8,490 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Roodepoort
Phuket

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 Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Roodepoort is about 8% cheaper overall, especially in transport, groceries, and leisure. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Roodepoort is about 3 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $598 in Roodepoort versus $716 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $238 in Roodepoort versus $476 in Phuket. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Phuket – a meal for two runs $32 versus $45 in Roodepoort. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $1,500 a month, though Roodepoort gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.