What $100 Buys You in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
Written by
John Csiszar
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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The next time you spend $100 on a nice restaurant meal, think about this: In certain Southeast Asian countries, that same $100 that fed you for a few hours could potentially get you a week’s worth of dinners.
But there’s a catch: While you can certainly stretch $100 quite a long way in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, not everything is as inexpensive as it seems.
The Philippines
As of Nov. 19, 2025, you could exchange 100 U.S. dollars (USD) for 5,908 Philippine pesos (PHP). What could you buy for nearly 6,000 pesos? Here are the answers, according to Numbeo:
- Five very nice dinners for two at a mid-range restaurant.
- At least one week of groceries purchased at a local market.
- Fifteen to 25 moderate-distance taxi rides .
- Nearly 400 short-distance jeepney rides (local transportation).
If you’re living an extravagant lifestyle in the Philippines, however, that $100 might go quicker than you think. If you’re going out to a Western steakhouse in a high-end area like Bonifacio Global City (in Metro Manila), that $100 might only get you one or two meals. A luxury Airbnb condo rental with Western amenities could run $100 or more per night.
The bottom line: If you live a modest life outside of the expensive city centers, $100 could go a long way in the Philippines. But if you plan to eat at luxury restaurants every night and buy imported goods at a high-end grocery, your $100 might only get you a modest amount more than it would in the United States.
Thailand
Your $100 would get you 3,247 Thai baht (THB) as of Nov. 19. So, what can that buy you in the so-called “Land of Smiles?” Here are some examples, courtesy of the Thai Embassy:
- At least one month of all utilities
- Fifty street food meals, 20 Thai restaurant meals, 10 Western meals
- Two hundred rides on the Skytrain, 100 liters of fuel, or 25-50 tuk-tuk rides
- One to two healthcare consultations at a private hospital, perhaps one night’s hospital stay
- Three months’ gym membership of Muay Thai classes
- One hundred beers or 33 mixed drinks at a bar
The bottom line: According to the Thai Embassy, the overall cost of living in Thailand is about 50% that of the United States. Using that as a rough guide means that what buys you $100 in the U.S. will get you the equivalent of $200 in Thailand. As with the Philippines, however, choosing to live a Western-style life in the heart of Bangkok or Phuket, for example, could trim down that cost advantage considerably. Living more like a local could stretch that $100 quite far.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, the exchange rate is actually a bit cumbersome. As of Nov. 19, $100 could buy a whopping 2.637 million Vietnamese dong (VND). This means that even if you take out $50 from an ATM machine, you’ll immediately be a millionaire — at least, in terms of Vietnamese dong.
Of course, goods and services in the country are also priced at what might seem like an exorbitant amount — until you understand this exchange rate. According to Vietnam Airlines, for example, shopping at local markets in Ho Chi Minh City could cost up to 3 million VND per month. But when you exchange that for USD, it amounts to just $120. In other words, that $100 you spent on one nice meal in the United States could fund an entire month’s worth of shopping in Ho Chi Minh City.
Here’s a look at some other monthly costs that $100 might cover in Ho Chi Minh City in 2025, per Vietnam Airlines:
- 10 days of rent at a budget apartment
- 12 days of dining out at mid-range restaurants
- A full month of food shopping at a local grocery market
- A full month of utilities with moderate usage
- A full month of mid-range to luxury transportation
The bottom line: Vietnam is the cheapest country to live in among the three on this list. Living like a local can stretch even $100 quite far. But as with the Philippines and Thailand, the more Western your lifestyle is, the more that your budget will push towards the luxury tier in terms of cost.
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