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Cost of Living: PH vs Cambodia vs Vietnam
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Despite lower income, why is the cost of living in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam higher than in Indonesia and the Philippines?
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Whilst I can’t speak for Cambodia or Myanmar, I have lived in Philippines and Vietnam (and am in Vietnam as I write this), so I will have to dispute the premise of the question. I found Philippines to be more expensive to live in than Vietnam. Specifically, in Hanoi 90m2 two-bedroom apartment rents for US$270/mo, whilst in Cebu a 25m2 studio apartment rented for US$275/mo (both new, both with similar facilities in comparable areas), both on one-year leases. Food, while not a lot more expensive in Phil, was still a few percentage points higher. Internet in Philippines was US$40/mo, and in Hanoi it works out to US$7/mo (and a better quality service by quite a bit in Hanoi). In Philippines defence, I found they have a wider variety of options available to them, and are in essence more globally integrated than Vietnam. So generally, on basics I have found Phil to be a more expensive. Having said that, no where in ASEAN is anywhere near as expensive as London, Boston or Toronto (except Singapore to some degree), so it’s all a matter of relativity. And as to the source data, that seems to be all relative to the US while on a local salary. So yes, the salaries in Philippines are slightly higher than in Vietnam (true), which also explains why the costs of living are also slightly higher in Philippines than in Vietnam. The list they give is the input, but the paragraph at the top indicates the calculations needed to get data from the lists.
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Land is the most valuable thing in post-socialist states. After nationalization of all the pirvate lands, a small plot of private land in an accessible area close to public transport could become incredibly expensive. With the post-socialist era, the people’s obssesion about hoarding land for their own use and prospect of renting good plots of land to foreign companies remained. This made land prices in such countries very expensive. Aside of property prices, the cost of living is generally cheaper than in Bangkok unless you’re looking for a luxurious life as if you’re living in Europe. These nations (including my own country, Myanmar) have the widest income gap in the world. The rich kids and their close circle, imported every possible luxuries abroad. This could increase the price compare (combibed with tariff rate) to where they are produced.