Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Bhutan

Thimphu vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 59.4% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 14.2% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 40.3% less in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 60.1% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 75.2% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 93.9% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.7% more in Thimphu
Clothing: pay 27.2% less in Thimphu

Expenses including childcare, housing, transportation, groceries, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Thimphu.

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Thimphu vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Thimphu instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.2% less for restaurants

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$2.58 BTN245.70	-3.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$4.91 BTN466.83	-8.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$0.50 BTN47.50	-29.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.18 BTN17.20	-51.5%
Average			-14.2%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.3% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$1.07 BTN101.96	-6.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$1.88 BTN178.54	-86.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$3.03 BTN288.32	-60.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$1.88 BTN178.87	+0.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$1.79 BTN170.51	-36.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$1.15 BTN109.22	+5.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.69 BTN65.75	+33.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.73 BTN69.10	-38.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.33 BTN31.76	-51.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.26 BTN24.52	-61.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.31 BTN29.53	-36.3%
Average			-40.3%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.1% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$2.79 BTN264.82	-50.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$5.17 BTN491.40	-89.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$16,591.53 BTN2M	-41.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	+55.7%
Average			-60.1%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.2% less for housing

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	+96.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	-80.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	-79.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	-62.7%
Average			-75.2%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

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pay 93.9% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	-92.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	-94.9%
Average			-93.9%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$2.58 BTN245.70	+90.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$1.28 BTN121.21	-28.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$3.88 BTN368.55	+117.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	-2.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$3.10 BTN294.84	-26.7%
Average			+5.7%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.2% less for clothing

	Vientiane	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	+86.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	-62.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	+18.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	-66.0%
Average			-27.2%

Vientiane vs. Thimphu - 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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