Cost of living comparison

compared to

Thailand vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Thailand is 9.5% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 6.1% more in Thailand
Groceries: pay 0.6% less in Thailand
Transportation: pay 10.0% less in Thailand
Housing: pay 5.7% less in Thailand
Childcare: pay 20.5% more in Thailand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.4% more in Thailand
Clothing: pay 0.5% more in Thailand

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

Thailand vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.1% more for restaurants

	Laos	Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.08 LAK44,969	$2.67 THB85.43	+28.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.54 LAK119,918	$6.99 THB223.63	+26.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 LAK16,444	$0.73 THB23.49	-3.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 LAK10,719	$0.36 THB11.51	-27.3%
Average			+6.1%

Laos vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.6% less for groceries

	Laos	Thailand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.13 LAK24,565	$1.41 THB45.03	+24.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.26 LAK287,052	$7.88 THB252.05	-40.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.91 LAK149,607	$7.17 THB229.11	+3.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.11 LAK45,585	$2.07 THB66.18	-1.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.10 LAK45,372	$1.41 THB45.15	-32.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.76 LAK16,405	$1.33 THB42.47	+75.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 LAK16,239	$0.59 THB18.95	-21.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 LAK20,985	$0.90 THB28.72	-7.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 LAK28,222	$0.75 THB24.08	-42.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 LAK15,261	$0.71 THB22.77	+1.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,907	$0.62 THB19.72	+34.8%
Average			-0.6%

Laos vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.0% less for transportation

	Laos	Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.72 LAK102,231	$4.83 THB154.50	+2.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.89 LAK1,188,115	$28.12 THB899.09	-48.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,639.89 LAK619,954,342	$30,471.21 THB974,258.89	+6.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.51 LAK227,448	$10.53 THB336.66	+0.2%
Average			-10.0%

Laos vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.7% less for housing

	Laos	Thailand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.16 LAK198,197	$18.52 THB592.20	+102.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,004.64 LAK21,746,980	$414.60 THB13,256.12	-58.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$817.42 LAK17,694,410	$266.86 THB8,532.32	-67.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$59.90 LAK1,296,718	$60.46 THB1,933.10	+0.9%
Average			-5.7%

Laos vs. Thailand - Cost of housing

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pay 20.5% more for childcare

	Laos	Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$296.67 LAK6,421,775	$359.13 THB11,482.48	+21.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,267.93 LAK200,618,663	$11,104.31 THB355,039.19	+19.8%
Average			+20.5%

Laos vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.42 LAK30,727	$2.15 THB68.88	+51.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK35,850	$1.97 THB63.01	+19.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.98 LAK42,885	$4.31 THB137.94	+117.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.50 LAK1,461,149	$53.45 THB1,709.08	-20.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.02 LAK65,430	$6.32 THB201.98	+109.0%
Average			+55.4%

Laos vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.5% more for clothing

	Laos	Thailand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.20 LAK1,086,754	$37.08 THB1,185.58	-26.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.21 LAK1,411,532	$29.48 THB942.56	-54.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$66.39 LAK1,437,049	$91.15 THB2,914.34	+37.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$47.52 LAK1,028,728	$69.13 THB2,210.16	+45.5%
Average			+0.5%

Laos vs. Thailand - 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: December 2025

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