Chiang Mai vs Ho Chi Minh City for remote workers
Chiang Mai (Asia/Bangkok, UTC+7) and Ho Chi Minh City (Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh, UTC+7) are 0 hours apart. Chiang Mai is roughly 13% cheaper. Here's how they compare as a base for working remotely.
| Chiang Mai | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Timezone | UTC+7 | UTC+7 |
| Cost index (NYC=100) | 33 | 38 |
| Country | Thailand | Vietnam |
Which is the better base, Chiang Mai or Ho Chi Minh City?
The two sit 0 hours apart, so they suit different teams. Chiang Mai is UTC+7, which lines up more naturally with teams in Asia and Australia; Ho Chi Minh City is UTC+7, leaning toward Asia-Pacific. The further two cities are in longitude, the less their working days overlap, that's the single biggest factor in whether basing there actually works.
On cost of living, Chiang Mai is roughly 13% cheaper. A cheaper base stretches a remote salary further, so the nomad sweet spot is a city that pairs low cost with *enough* overlap to keep your team in sync. Use the base-finder to see the exact overlap for your own team's timezone, and the sun pages to check daylight and season before you commit.
A note on the cost figures: they are a curated approximation indexed to New York, gathered from public cost-of-living summaries, not a licensed dataset. They are reliable enough to rank two cities against each other and not precise enough to budget from. Rent, visa status and lifestyle move the real number far more than the index does.
Sources and last check
Times, offsets and sun positions on this page are computed live from the IANA timezone database and the NOAA solar algorithm, so they do not depend on the review dates below.
- Cost-of-living index, New York = 100
- Source: Curated approximation from public cost-of-living summaries. Last checked, reviewed every 6 months.
Not covered:Approximate and unlicensed. Treat as a rough ranking, not a figure to budget from. Replace with a licensed feed before scaling comparisons. - Curated city set: names, countries, coordinates, IANA zones
- Source: IANA tzdb for zones, public geographic data for coordinates. Last checked, reviewed every 12 months.
FAQ
Is Chiang Mai or Ho Chi Minh City cheaper?
Chiang Mai is roughly 13% cheaper.
What's the time difference between Chiang Mai and Ho Chi Minh City?
0 hours.