Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Chiang Mai Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 7.3% cheaper than Chiang Mai.

Restaurants: pay 13.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 4.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 34.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 14.1% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 5.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.1% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 15.0% more in Ho Chi Minh City

The cost of clothing and housing in Ho Chi Minh City are more expensive than in Chiang Mai. Expenses including entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, childcare, and groceries are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Chiang Mai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Chiang Mai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 13.5% less for restaurants

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 THB74.12	$1.92 ₫49,832	-13.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 THB182.83	$4.62 ₫120K	-16.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 THB22.37	$0.54 ₫13,905	-20.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 THB10.62	$0.33 ₫8,590	+3.9%
Average			-13.5%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.8% less for groceries

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.42 THB47.35	$1.08 ₫27,843	-24.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.32 THB276.85	$6.05 ₫157K	-27.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.60 THB252.83	$6.13 ₫159K	-19.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.24 THB74.42	$1.62 ₫42,008	-27.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 THB41.84	$1.64 ₫42,570	+30.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 THB36.71	$1.36 ₫35,261	+23.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 THB15.10	$0.58 ₫14,953	+27.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB23.82	$0.72 ₫18,715	+1.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 THB22.30	$0.58 ₫14,918	-14.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.10	$0.54 ₫14,104	-5.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.38	$0.53 ₫13,662	+7.1%
Average			-4.8%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.2% less for transportation

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.55 THB184.64	$3.55 ₫91,950	-36.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.48 THB1,778.86	$11.55 ₫299K	-78.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,795.89 THB692K	$30,715.02 ₫795M	+47.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.59 THB185.79	$5.80 ₫150K	+3.9%
Average			-34.2%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.1% more for housing

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.03 THB666.41	$10.46 ₫271K	-47.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.86 THB15,397.00	$585.86 ₫15M	+26.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$302.57 THB10,064.99	$297.81 ₫8M	-1.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,583.05	$79.24 ₫2M	+66.5%
Average			+14.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 5.0% less for childcare

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$781.39 THB25,993.20	$438.36 ₫11M	-43.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,653.84 THB487K	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+60.8%
Average			-5.0%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38 THB79.06	$1.03 ₫26,762	-56.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.70 THB56.63	$1.81 ₫46,978	+6.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.24 THB141.12	$1.23 ₫31,892	-71.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.50 THB1,247.55	$25.91 ₫671K	-30.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.54 THB217.42	$3.46 ₫89,697	-47.0%
Average			-41.1%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.0% more for clothing

	Chiang Mai	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.22 THB1,803.53	$51.59 ₫1M	-4.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.82 THB825.63	$34.61 ₫896K	+39.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.16 THB3,032.29	$91.59 ₫2M	+0.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,396.33	$94.62 ₫2M	+31.4%
Average			+15.0%

Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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