Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Vietnam

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

Ho Chi Minh City is 23.6% more expensive than Chiang Rai.

Restaurants: pay 10.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 3.3% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 15.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 5.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 21.1% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Chiang Rai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.9% less for restaurants

	Chiang Rai	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	$5.35 THB177.89	$4.62 ₫120K	-13.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB20.75	$0.54 ₫13,905	-13.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.28 THB9.29	$0.33 ₫8,590	+18.8%
Average			-10.9%

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

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pay 3.3% more for groceries

	Chiang Rai	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	$1.86 THB61.77	$1.62 ₫42,008	-12.6%
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)	$0.37 THB12.33	$0.58 ₫14,953	+55.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 THB23.82	$0.72 ₫18,715	+1.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 THB13.45	$0.58 ₫14,918	+42.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 THB19.05	$0.54 ₫14,104	-4.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 THB16.38	$0.53 ₫13,662	+7.1%
Average			+3.3%

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

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pay 15.3% less for transportation

	Chiang Rai	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 THB167.54	$3.55 ₫91,950	-29.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.28 THB741.19	$11.55 ₫299K	-48.2%
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			-15.3%

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

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Chiang Rai	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.73 THB456.82	$10.46 ₫271K	-23.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$230.24 THB7,658.97	$585.86 ₫15M	+154.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$153.49 THB5,105.98	$297.81 ₫8M	+94.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.59 THB1,583.05	$79.24 ₫2M	+66.5%
Average			+101.7%

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

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pay 5.0% less for childcare

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

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pay 17.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Chiang Rai	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.63 THB54.35	$1.03 ₫26,762	-36.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.34 THB44.47	$1.81 ₫46,978	+35.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.86 THB128.47	$1.23 ₫31,892	-68.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.65 THB1,185.91	$25.91 ₫671K	-27.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 THB98.83	$3.46 ₫89,697	+16.6%
Average			-17.0%

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

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pay 21.1% more for clothing

	Chiang Rai	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	$74.27 THB2,470.64	$91.59 ₫2M	+23.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.04 THB2,396.33	$94.62 ₫2M	+31.4%
Average			+21.1%

Chiang Rai 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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