How Da Nang and Chiang Mai compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
The short answer
Da Nang Doesn't win on any measure here. See who it suits, below.
Chiang Mai Doesn't win on any measure here. See who it suits, below.
Everyday costsEven
Close: it depends more on where you live than which city. Rent, a coworking desk, weekday lunches and getting around come to $382 to $800 (£287 to £601) a month in Da Nang, against $516 to $794 (£388 to £596) in Chiang Mai.
The visaEven
Vietnam has no remote work visa, so the choice is about more than income. Da Nang: no remote work visa. Chiang Mai: Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), about $14,890 in savings (THB 500,000).
A London 9 to 5Even
A late finish in both: 15:00 to 23:00 in Da Nang, 15:00 to 23:00 in Chiang Mai.
A New York 9 to 5Even
A night shift in both: 20:00 to 04:00 in Da Nang, 20:00 to 04:00 in Chiang Mai.
WeatherEven
Comfortable months on our best-time rule: 4 in Da Nang, 5 in Chiang Mai. Both are comfortable in January.
InternetEven
Much the same. Typical download speed: 307 Mbps in Da Nang, 258 Mbps in Chiang Mai, from each guide.
SafetyEven
The US State Department puts both countries at level 1. Watch for motorbike bag-snatching and floods in Da Nang; scooter accidents and hire deposits in Chiang Mai.
Side by side
Measure
Da Nang
Chiang Mai
Country
Vietnam
Thailand
Language
Vietnamese
Thai
Currency
Vietnamese dong (VND)
Thai baht (THB)
Plugs
Type A, B and C, 230V. Most sockets take A and C
Type C and O, 230V
Time zone
UTC+7 today
UTC+7 today
A month's basics
$382 to $800 (£287 to £601)
$516 to $794 (£388 to £596)
Remote work visa
None
Destination Thailand Visa (DTV)
Income needed
No remote work visa
About $14,890 in savings (THB 500,000)
Without a visa
British passports: 45 days visa-free, any purpose, until 14 March 2028. The e-visa gives up to 90 days. American: none: you need a visa or the e-visa, up to 90 days. The one exception is 30 days or less on Phu Quoc island
British and American passports: 30 days, down from 60 on 15 September 2026
Tax residency
183 days or more in a calendar year or in the 12 months from arrival, or a rented home on a fixed-term lease
180 days in a calendar year, on foreign income you bring in
Download speed
307 Mbps
258 Mbps
Comfortable months
January, February, March and April
January, July, October, November and December
US travel advice
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 1: normal precautions
Meetups
None we could confirm
1 regular group still running
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
What a month costs
Rent, a coworking desk, a cheap lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around: the same four costs our budget calculator uses. The rent figures aren't always the same kind of figure (some are furnished one-beds, some are averages across every size of flat), so read the note under each.
Da Nang
$382 to $800£287 to £601 a month
Rent
$232 to $541Furnished one-bed, Hai Chau to An Thuong, from one blog. Beachfront towers run to VND 22 million. VND 6,000,000 to 14,000,000
A desk
$77 to $135Coworking monthly membership. VND 2,000,000 to 3,500,000
Weekday lunches
$21 to $38Com thit, the rice-plate lunch, VND 25,000 to 45,000 each, 22 working days
Getting around
$51 to $85Grab at VND 30,000 to 50,000 for 5 km, two rides each working day: our estimate over 22 working days. VND 1,320,000 to 2,200,000
British passports: 45 days visa-free, any purpose, until 14 March 2028. The e-visa gives up to 90 days. American: none: you need a visa or the e-visa, up to 90 days. The one exception is 30 days or less on Phu Quoc island
The catch. There is no remote work visa. Most people use the e-visa: up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, USD 25 or USD 50, with no income test. No official text says you may work on it, and the UK government says to check which visa or work permit you need, so treat remote work on it as unauthorised. It leads to neither residence nor citizenship. The e-visa ties you to the entry and exit ports you named when applying, and you can't extend it from inside Vietnam without a Vietnamese sponsor. So every 90 days you leave and apply again.
Chiang Mai
Destination Thailand Visa (DTV)
Income needed
About $14,890 in savings (THB 500,000); in pounds, about £11,190 in savings
How long
Five years, 180 days a visit, extendable once by 180
What it leads to
Nowhere: no residence and no citizenship
Without a visa
British and American passports: 30 days, down from 60 on 15 September 2026
The catch. Since 31 August 2026 you need a criminal record certificate, and you must apply in a country where you are a citizen or permanent resident, so a border run no longer works.
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
The UK advises against travel to no part of Vietnam, and Da Nang isn't singled out. It warns of seasonal flooding in central Vietnam in October and November.
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
Who each one suits
From each city guide, word for word.
Da Nang
It suits
Remote workers who want a beach city with real desks and fast broadband, on a modest budget: a furnished one-bed in the main areas runs about VND 6 to 14 million a month, and a coworking desk VND 2 to 3.5 million. It suits someone happy on a 90-day e-visa who will leave the country every three months. British passports also get 45 days visa-free for a trial. February to August is the window.
It doesn't suit
Anyone who needs to be legal on paper. There is no remote work visa, no route from the e-visa to residence, and no clear official blessing for working for foreign clients while you are there. Anyone who wants to stay put for a year, because the e-visa makes you leave every 90 days and apply again. Stay 183 days and you become tax resident, with no special regime to soften it. From September to November the city takes 350 to 630mm of rain a month, with typhoons and floods. Americans need a visa before they fly. And if you won't ride in Grab traffic, won't learn a few words of Vietnamese for your landlord, or need a predictable legal status, go somewhere else.
Remote workers who want a cheap, calm base with a ready-made community of people doing the same thing, and who can plan the year around it: here from October to January, gone or indoors from late February to April. It suits anyone who signs a long lease rather than paying short-let rates, and who holds the 500,000 baht in savings the DTV needs and can apply from their home country.
It doesn't suit
Anyone with asthma, young children or a job that cannot move in March: readings near 190 micrograms of PM2.5 are real, and in 2026 the city opened 2,004 clean-air rooms. Anyone who needs a metro or will not ride a scooter properly licensed, because the red trucks are dwindling. Anyone treating the DTV as a tax shelter: 180 days in a calendar year makes you tax resident, and foreign income from that year is taxed when you bring it in. And since 15 September 2026 you cannot drift in visa-free for two months to try it. It is 30 days now.
