That depends on where you live and what standard you expect.
The bigger cities like Vientiane are much more expensive than the rural areas.
In Vientiane housing can cost as little as $200 a month for a reasonable western standard house up to $2000 for something really nice near the river. Average say $500 per month
Laos govt school cheap but very poor standard but there are several good international schools for expats. I have no idea of fees but probably expensive.
Food from the markets very cheap but eating out getting more expensive.

The range of consumer goods much better than it used to be but generally more expensive than Thailand.
Laos has little to no consumer protection and has become dumping ground for poor quality and not necessarily cheap Chinese goods in recent years.

Broadly a poor Laos family would live on $200-$300 a month. A well off family without a car would need up to $1000 . If you want a car then you can double that.

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I'm not sure why you want to leave the US for a whole host of reasons. For one, you get free medical in the US but here you pay. The medical care here is not good, the clinic at the French embassy is decent but expensive. When you live here, you go to Nong Khai, Thailand for good medical care at a decent price.
Two, the visa situation here is expensive. You pay $37 each every 30 days. Unless you work for a company you cannot get an extended visa.
Three, the cost of apartments in Vientiane is rising rapidly due to many foreign companys comming and bringing workers that need western style apartments. You will need a 2 or 3 bedroom and that will cost you at least $600 now for a decent one. And you will have to get used to no hot water at the sink, only in the shower. No dishwasher no garbage disposal. You have to fill a bucket with hot water from the shower and carry into the kitchen to wash your dishes.
And the language, if you do not speak Lao or Thai, it is difficult. In the tourist areas near the Mekong, you will find English speakers but in most of the city they do not.
In the US you can get food stamps & a free cell phone & free medical being a disabled vet, here you get nothing.
If I were you, I would find an inexpensive area in the US and stay there.
And the food, though cheap, you better like Lao food. Hard to find the spices and flavorings in the store if you like American food.
If I were going to look overseas, in your shoes, I would consider Thailand. Cheaper, more English spoken and no onerous visa requirements. Look at Udon Thoni or Nong Khai.
On the plus side, the Lao people are very friendly and Vientiane is a clean city by Asian standards & is growing fast. My wife works here as a manager for a Western manufacturing company & speaks fluent Lao so it is fine for us. Not so sure about you.
Good luck and all the best & as an American thanks for your service to our great nation.

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10abuse

my wife is Lao and would like to buy a small lot and build a home. would that be possible for us coming from the U.S?
Thank you Ironbark for your previous reply

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again thank you very much for your insight..much appreciated. we will probably be there for a visit in the next year or so to visit wifes family in Vientiane for a couple weeks. it will be awhile for any decisions are madeto do any tyoe of moving, but wanted to find any info i could beforehand and be able to discuss with some knowledge.

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I am a retired American, living in Chiang Mai, thailand. Cost of living has risen moderately the last few years, and is still very affordable. Medical and/or retirement visas are relatively easy to come by. Medical costs if you use the govt. hospitals is very affordable. Food at the market is inexpensive and Fresh! Chiang Rai, Thailand, is bordering both Laos and Myanmar - perhaps, that location could provide a much better comparative situation. Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai, is a growing area, and if not in the city is very affordable. I suggest you take the opportunity to visit for several months and see what serves you best, assuming this is an option. Education becomes a real consideration, and international schools are expensive, compared to local schools, and some dhurch affiliated schools become very attractive.
Best of luck.
P.S. If you have a conservative lifestyle, you could get by on $1200-1500 in Chiang Mai, or Chiang Rai.

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While maybe there are one or two points you make that are relevant there is so much wrong with your comments I do not know where to begin.
For starters I could think of dozens of reasons why someone would not want to live in the USA.
As for the Lao people not speaking English ...... well Sarah Palin recently put her finger on the point. "If you want to come to America you should learn to speak American".
I say why stop there we should make everyone speak American.
As for the lack of hot water in the kitchen .."" shock horror. my $ 60 a month mai' ban (housemaid) does all the washing up so I did not know she never told me.

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Hi there, sorry to take so long to respond ... I have been busy and this response has grown larger than I intended.
Firstly, I think the other response by Ric was both silly and unbalanced. Unfortunately some expats seem to view their adopted country with a bitterness that I cannot understand. That doesn't mean they can't be critical, no country is perfect, it is the lack understanding of their adopted countries culture and their assumption of western superiority which irritates me. If speaking English and hot water is such a priority for them why chose to live in a foreign country.. anyhow I feeI must correct some of the comments that were made.
I was going to ask you if you were married to a Laos because it is quite important to your ability to work and own property in Laos. Also, I should have mentioned medical services, it is quite important for someone with a family in Laos. Foreigners are not allowed to own property in Laos even those married to Laos. If you buy land or house it will have to be in her name provided she has retained her Laos nationality. Having said that as I will demonstrate later there is always a way around the law in this country.
Firstly you will find that the political culture is very different to your western experience. Laos is a one party state. It is not, as many right wing sources portray it, a "communist country". There is absolutely nothing communist or socialist about it. The USA would be more socialist. Indeed it is the paramount opposite, it is a very class dominated system. There is a ruling elite based on political and social connection and the rest consisting of ordinary Laos people.
Of course we have social classes in the west as well but the big difference is we have greater social mobility. If you have the ability, wealth, intelligence and a bit of luck you can move up the class ladder. If you stuff up, you will quickly fall off the step.
Here, as in much of Asia the "elite" are a closed shop. It is very difficult to break in and in order to preserve their privelage and save face they close ranks around anyone in their ranks that stuffs up.
The Laos revolution is often portrayed as a communist takeover, in fact it was much more complex than that. It was a combined war of independence from the French colons, a civil war between various faction of the elite who were trying to establish dominance and a small group of Russian backed communist idealogues who sought to exploit the chaos to their advantage. Of course the US who were fighting a war in Vietnam at the time could only see red and secretly bombed the sh*t out of the country at the same time which gave the Pathet Laos the support from ordinary people they needed.
Laos at the time was ruled by a Monarchy and a group of privelaged families with the support of the military and French colons who together formed the ruling elite. After the revolution they rebadged the King as a President of the "Laos Peoples Democratic Republic" under the auspices of the "Peoples Revolutionary Party" whose leadership was restricted to a small number of privelaged families and military. The irony was that many of these families were the same as those that initially supported the monarchy. Indeed the first Laos President was known as the "Red Prince" because he was a member of the Royal family who fought on the revolutionary side. While the names and titles changed many of the post revolution elite were the same as before. Those on the losing side, especially the Hmong, fled the country and formed an embittered population in exile, largely in the US, France, Australia, and Canada. Many of those people are now quietly returning to the country and trying to re-establish themselves with mixed success. Is that your wifes background?
In the immediate aftermath of the Indo-china wars (note I deliberately used the plural) the country closed itself off from most of the world. But as the first generation of idealistic leaders died off the second generation, comprising their friends and family, took over. At the same time the iron curtain in Europe was ripped open and their Russian backers went home. Left isolated and with an unworkable demand economy they chose to follow the Chinese and Vietnamese model of "economic renovation"
After 1995 the western govts poured in foreign aid and NGOs began to democratise the country. There was also a huge influx of western tourists that revealed a world that the ordinary Laos were largely unaware of. The last 5 or so years has seen a another change of direction as China Inc. came in with bag loads of money to invest and grease the hands of the elite. I have observed a significant decline in western influence because of this
In short, as they say around here ..... "same same but different"
Here endeth the history lesson, but I think it is important in understanding the current environment of the country to know its recent history.
Next thing to realise, you will be living in a very different cultural environment, and I dont mean just the food, clothing, or language (or hot water in the kitchen). I think in the latest survey by Transparency International, Laos ranks around 140 out of 180 countries for corruption. Not a very impressive report card. But a lot of the things we call "corruption" in the west are simply part of the Laos culture and way of life. Acceptance of a ruling elite, authoritarian police and military rule, family obligation and the role and importance of family, business and political connection is the result of thousands of years of tradition.
The aspects of our western culture which we take for granted today such as a civil society and human rights, universal sufferage, open and transparent government, social welfare, freedom of the press and expression and the rule of law took hundreds of years to develop in our countries yet we expect Laos society to change in a single generation.
Perhaps the most difficult thing to swallow for an expat is the discovery that there are two sets of laws in the country, one set for the rich and connected and another for poor and ordinary people. Even in something as simple as a car accident, guilt is determined by who can bribe the copper the most. One interesting statistic I once came across was the police boasting that they have a 98% conviction rate. .... makes you think doesn't it.
There is no open tender process or transparency in govt contracts which all seem to be tied up by the friends and family of govt officials. Salaries for govt employees are abysmal so even the simplest of govt transaction requres an undercounter payment. It is simply a matter of economics. Despite this getting a govt job is considered highly desirable because it is the only employement that offers a pension and medical insurance but most important it allows you to use your position to run a business on the side somehow. High govt officials on an official salary of $1000 a month drive expensive foreign cars and live in mansions.
If you have somesort of dispute with a rich or local elite forget about challenging it unless you know someone even more powerful that can trump him. This highlights the importance of making "connections" and earning brownie points with them.
On the plus side this system can sometimes work in your favour. If you keep your head down and not make waves you can get away with lots of technically illegal activities free from interference as well, like owning, running businesses, not observing building codes or labour laws, where you go or what other quasi-legal activities you may be up to .... although it is a good idea to give the village head a cut and the local police chief a bottle of whisky occassionally. Your wife should be known as a good benefactor to the local temple as well.
Another very important point I failed to mention is medical services. If you get seriously sick then head straight to the Thai border for a private Thai hospital/dentist. Doctor training here is apalling and corruption in education qualifications in general rampart. Cheating in exams and bribing teachers in both secondary and tertiary education for passing grades endemic. I suspect it is the same in medical schools. Doctor training here is as best as I can assess no better than nurse training in the west. The situation with pharmaceuticals is even worse with a lot of drugs, especially at the village level being counterfeit and useless.
When I first came to Laos 10 years ago the only decent clinics were run by the French and Austalian consulates and quite expensive at $100 a visit. Of course they sent you to Thailand if it was really serious. I only needed to go once and although it was supposed to be a service for foreigners only the other 20 or so patients were all wealthyLaos.
Things are a bit better now. A big thai medical company has opened a major new clinic in Vientiane which provides an excellent service but again refers you to their hospitals over the border for major things. They have an insurance scheme and I believe there are plans to expand.
Despite all these problems the Laos govt seems to be doing something right because the country is rapidly developing at least in the cities and there has been a trickle down effect with a substantial middle class emerging. There is no obvious poverty or malnutrition and most Laos seem happy if they have a mobile phone and a motorbike and a bottle of beerlaos is cheaper than a bottle of milk. (cigarettes are about $1.50 a packet).
I have thought of dozens of anecdotes to illustrate life in Laos, maybe another time. Feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

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10abuse

Thanks for the insight Ironbark, I thought if things got too bad for me in VN, I'd move to Laos, but after reading this, I don't even want to visit anymore, and I thought the corruption and cheating, etc, was bad in VN.

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00abuse

I would like to respond to ironbarks comments. For starters, I did not know that donmai had a Lao wife, his original post did not mention that. Had I known that, I would have responded differently. I'm sure his wife and her family have told him many things about what life in Laos is like. Thus the no hot water comment as I know my sister or my mother would not like that if they were moving here. It's fine for us, my wife is Filipina and I have been to the her country and am aware of how things are done and it's no problem for either of us.
As for the English, you completely got me worng. I did not say or imply that Lao people should know English, what I said was it would be difficult for him if he did not speak Lao which I'm sure you know is true.
I have no bitterness toward Laos or it's people. I do not know where you got that impression. I am very much enjoying life here, I am taking Lao language classes and feel that whatever country you live in you should learn the native language. I find the Lao people to be very appreciative that I take the time & effort to speak to them in their language.
This is not about Western superiority, it's about donmai's situation. He has 2 small children and is disabled and it seemed to me at the time this might not be the right place for him that either the US or Thailand might be better for him and his family. Please do not take my post as a negative towards Laos, it was not intended that way.
Much of what I said was true, the visa situation and medical situation in particular.
And with children he needs to determine how they will be educated.
I have observed here in Vientiane that children are attending school which is critical to their continued development. I recently applied for and was accepted for an English language teching position at one of the local colleges. The young people here are eager to learn and respectful of teachers, something lacking in many American students.
Hopefully this will clear up any misunderstanding between us ironbark.
I would like to thank you for your excellent post about the politics here in Laos. I knew some of it from reading about Laos but what you shared went way beyond and was very interesting.
Especially about government officials. When we first got here, we did not have the multiple entry visa yet. We went to Nong Kai for the day and upon returning were required to purchase 30 day visas. I was first at the window and the official said $36. I only had kips so I gave him 300,000 kips. He told me I had to pay 360,000. I asked about why since it's 8,100 kips to the dollar and he insisted on 360,000. So I gave him 400,000 and he took that and my passport and told me to go to the next window and wait. My wife goes up and he only charges her 300,000. When I get my passport back he gave me change in Thai bhats, again at a very unfavorable exchange rate. So my $36 visa ended up costing $45! My wife made a joke about how my white face is costing us money again. So we just laughed it off.
That's life in Laos.

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