Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 5.5% cheaper than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 0.2% more in Laos
Groceries: pay 2.7% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 3.9% more in Laos
Housing: pay 36.0% more in Laos
Childcare: pay 41.0% less in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.8% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 6.8% less in Laos

The cost of housing, transportation, groceries, and restaurants in Laos are more expensive than in Bangkok. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Laos.

Laos vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.2% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.10 THB102.09	$2.08 LAK45,129	-33.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 THB204.18	$5.54 LAK120K	-10.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 THB26.07	$0.76 LAK16,502	-4.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 THB10.98	$0.50 LAK10,757	+48.6%
Average			+0.2%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 THB47.41	$1.13 LAK24,652	-21.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.50 THB280.03	$13.26 LAK288K	+55.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 THB238.03	$6.91 LAK150K	-4.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 THB75.21	$2.11 LAK45,747	-7.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.38 THB45.44	$2.10 LAK45,533	+51.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.59 THB52.37	$0.76 LAK16,464	-52.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 THB26.89	$0.75 LAK16,296	-8.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 THB33.70	$0.97 LAK21,060	-5.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 THB28.08	$1.30 LAK28,322	+52.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB23.72	$0.70 LAK15,315	-2.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 THB21.38	$0.46 LAK9,943	-29.5%
Average			+2.7%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.9% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.69 THB154.51	$4.72 LAK103K	+0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.21 THB1,225.08	$54.89 LAK1M	+47.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,206.42 THB1M	$28,639.89 LAK622M	-23.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.63 THB382.84	$10.51 LAK228K	-9.6%
Average			+3.9%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.0% more for housing

	Bangkok	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.91 THB556.66	$9.16 LAK199K	-45.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.06 THB22,227.29	$1,004.64 LAK22M	+48.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$321.97 THB10,601.23	$817.42 LAK18M	+153.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.69 THB2,261.62	$59.90 LAK1M	-12.8%
Average			+36.0%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 41.0% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$609.37 THB20,064.59	$296.67 LAK6M	-51.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,346.39 THB439K	$9,267.93 LAK201M	-30.6%
Average			-41.0%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.79 THB91.88	$1.42 LAK30,836	-49.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.54 THB83.65	$1.66 LAK35,977	-34.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 THB144.71	$1.98 LAK43,037	-54.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.03 THB1,680.38	$67.50 LAK1M	+32.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.06 THB265.43	$3.02 LAK65,663	-62.5%
Average			-33.8%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.8% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.81 THB1,936.25	$50.20 LAK1M	-14.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.03 THB1,252.29	$65.21 LAK1M	+71.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.24 THB3,432.16	$66.39 LAK1M	-36.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.47 THB3,011.65	$47.52 LAK1M	-48.0%
Average			-6.8%

Bangkok vs. Laos - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2026

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