Vietnam vs Thailand for a Three-Month Base

Vietnam is cheaper and Thailand is easier. That's the whole comparison in five words, and if you want a longer answer it's mostly about how much you're willing to pay for the "easier" part.

I've based out of both. I've written city-level field reports on Da Nang and Chiang Mai already, so I'm not going to repeat those here. This is the comparison layer: the dimensions that actually decide a three-month stay.

Cost

Approximate, in USD per month, for a developer living comfortably but not extravagantly: a decent studio, mostly local food, some Western meals, a coworking membership.

Da Nang, Vietnam: $900–1,200

	Monthly
Studio apartment	$300–450
Food	$200–300
Transport (scooter, fuel)	$60–90
Coworking	$80–120
Everything else	$200–300

Chiang Mai, Thailand: $800–1,100

	Monthly
Studio apartment	$250–400
Food	$150–250
Transport (scooter)	$60–80
Coworking	$80–130
Everything else	$150–250

Bangkok, Thailand: $1,300–1,900

	Monthly
Condo (studio, near BTS)	$450–800
Food	$250–400
Transport (BTS, Grab)	$80–150
Coworking	$130–200
Everything else	$300–450

Why does Chiang Mai read cheaper than Da Nang when Vietnam is the cheaper country? Chiang Mai is a small northern city with a decade of oversupply in nomad-grade apartments, and Da Nang's rents have climbed hard since 2023. Compare Ho Chi Minh City against Bangkok and Vietnam wins clearly. Compare groceries, beer and a haircut and Vietnam is cheaper everywhere.

The bigger cost variable isn't the country. It's whether you sign a monthly lease or pay nightly. Booking an apartment for 30+ days in person typically costs 40–50% less than the same unit on a nightly platform.

Internet

Both are fine. Vietnam's residential fibre is genuinely excellent and absurdly cheap, and I've had better upload consistency in Da Nang than in most of Europe.

Two differences worth planning around:

Power. Vietnam has more short outages, particularly in summer. In 2023 there were scheduled cuts in parts of the north. A laptop and a phone hotspot means an outage is an inconvenience rather than a lost call; without the hotspot it's a lost call.

Undersea cables. Vietnam's international routing has historically been fragile, and cable faults have degraded international bandwidth for weeks. Domestic speeds stay perfect while your video call to New York degrades, which is a confusing failure mode the first time it happens.

Get a local SIM in either country on day one. Both are cheap, both give you generous data, and it turns every wifi problem into a non-problem.

Food

Both are excellent and I refuse to rank them. The practical differences:

Thailand has more variety, far more English on menus, and a stronger international scene. If you want Japanese, Indian, Mexican and a proper Italian in the same week, Bangkok delivers and Da Nang doesn't.

Vietnam is cheaper per meal, roughly $1.50–2.50 versus $2–3 for equivalent street food, and I find it lighter, which matters when you're eating out three times a day for ninety days. Vietnamese coffee culture is also a genuine advantage for a developer; the cafés are everywhere, cheap, and built for sitting.

English and general ease

Thailand, comfortably. More English, more infrastructure aimed at long-stay foreigners, landlords and hospitals who've done this a thousand times. Vietnam is entirely manageable but you'll use translation apps more, and admin like a lease or a bank issue takes more effort.

If it's your first extended stay abroad, this dimension alone probably decides it.

Healthcare

Thailand's private hospitals are the best in the region and it isn't close. Bumrungrad and Bangkok Hospital operate at a standard that draws medical tourists from wealthy countries, at a fraction of US pricing. Vietnam has good private options in the big cities, Vinmec and Family Medical Practice among them, but the depth isn't the same.

For a three-month stay with no known conditions, either is fine. If you have something chronic, Thailand.

Community

Thailand's remote-work community is much larger, especially Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Vietnam's is growing fast but thinner outside Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

This cuts both ways. A large community means you won't be lonely by default; it also brings a saturated, everyone-is-selling-a-course texture some people find tiring by month three.

Money and banking

Vietnam is more cash-based. Cards work in cities and in anything aimed at foreigners, but street food, markets, small landlords and scooter rental are cash. Vietnamese ATM withdrawal fees are annoying: often 50,000–80,000 VND per withdrawal, with low per-transaction limits, so you pay repeatedly. Find the banks with higher limits and use them.

Thailand charges a flat 220 THB foreign-card ATM fee almost universally, which is worse per withdrawal but with higher limits, so it's a wash if you withdraw large amounts.

Air quality

This is the one dimension that can outright disqualify a plan. Northern Thailand's burning season runs roughly February to April and Chiang Mai's air becomes among the worst on the planet. Do not book a February–April stay in Chiang Mai. I made that mistake once and spent a month indoors with an air purifier feeling like I had a permanent cold.

Vietnamese coastal cities are generally clear. Hanoi has serious winter pollution; Da Nang and the centre are fine.

Visas

Both countries change their rules regularly, including schemes aimed specifically at remote workers, and anything written in a blog post ages badly — this one included. Check the current rules with the relevant embassy or an immigration lawyer before you book anything, and read how border runs actually work before you assume you can just hop out and back.

Pick this if

Pick Vietnam if you want the lowest cost for the quality, you're comfortable with a bit more friction, you like coastal cities, you'd rather be somewhere the scene hasn't saturated, or your stay falls in February–April.

Pick Thailand if it's your first long trip, you want the easiest possible logistics, you value the healthcare, you want a large community to plug into, or you want big-city variety.

What I actually do: Vietnam for stretches where I mainly want to work, Thailand for stretches where I want the rest of life to be effortless. The cost gap is real but it's $150 a month. That's not what should decide it.