Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Thailand

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

Chiang Mai is 7.9% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 15.7% more in Chiang Mai
Groceries: pay 5.1% more in Chiang Mai
Transportation: pay 52.0% more in Chiang Mai
Housing: pay 12.4% less in Chiang Mai
Childcare: pay 5.3% more in Chiang Mai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.7% more in Chiang Mai
Clothing: pay 13.1% less in Chiang Mai

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

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Chiang Mai vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.7% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$2.23 THB74.12	+15.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$5.50 THB182.83	+19.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$0.67 THB22.37	+25.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.32 THB10.62	-3.7%
Average			+15.7%

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

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pay 5.1% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.42 THB47.35	+32.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$8.32 THB276.85	+37.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$7.60 THB252.83	+24.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.24 THB74.42	+37.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$1.26 THB41.84	-23.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$1.10 THB36.71	-19.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.45 THB15.10	-21.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.72 THB23.82	-0.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.67 THB22.30	+16.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.57 THB19.10	+5.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.49 THB16.38	-6.7%
Average			+5.1%

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

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pay 52.0% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.55 THB184.64	+56.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$53.48 THB1,778.86	+363.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$20,795.89 THB692K	-32.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$5.59 THB185.79	-3.7%
Average			+52.0%

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

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pay 12.4% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$20.03 THB666.41	+91.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$462.86 THB15,397.00	-21.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$302.57 THB10,064.99	+1.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$47.59 THB1,583.05	-39.9%
Average			-12.4%

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

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pay 5.3% more for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$781.39 THB25,993.20	+78.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$14,653.84 THB487K	-37.8%
Average			+5.3%

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

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pay 69.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.38 THB79.06	+130.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$1.70 THB56.63	-6.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$4.24 THB141.12	+244.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$37.50 THB1,247.55	+44.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$6.54 THB217.42	+88.7%
Average			+69.7%

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

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pay 13.1% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Chiang Mai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$54.22 THB1,803.53	+5.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$24.82 THB825.63	-28.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$91.16 THB3,032.29	-0.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$72.04 THB2,396.33	-23.9%
Average			-13.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Chiang Mai - 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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