The old adage, "One bad apple can spoil a barrel," could easily pose as an anthem for travelers. An entire week of new adventures, cultural discoveries, and positive people interactions submerged in the memory burial grounds, displaced by a moment of unfathomably mindless treatment.
It happened on Friday, July 24, when I departed from the West Station in HCMC to Bien Hoa on bus #601 at 3:30 pm. I sat quietly, only looking out the window and immersed in thought. About 45 minutes into the journey, the bus ticket-taker grabbed my bag and hauled it next to the back door, then motioned at me to vacate my seat in harsh tones that I didn't comprehend with my nominal knowledge of the language. As I moved towards the back, the bus slowed to a stop, the back door opened and in a flash my bag was lying on the road between the bus and the curb. The ticket-taker clutched my arm and moved me out the back door, continuing his rude rant.
My mental process was overwhelmed by shock and confusion. I paid the ticket, I did nothing to deserve this. Why is this happening, because I'm a foreigner? But in addition to myself, a young Vietnamese man was also given the boot. I was stuck in some non-descript place with no bus station or bus stop nearby. The result was a long taxi ride from there to Bien Hoa for 700,000 VD.
Nobody traveling in Vietnam should be subjected to this trashy experience. I went to the police, but they would not even fill out a report because nothing was lost or stolen. No, nothing was lost or stolen, just a moment of lost dignity, and a black eye for Vietnamese hospitality.
Can anyone explain this bizarre behavior? How can we prevent this from occurring again??
VIETNAMESE HOSPITALITY?
Bus 601 from what I was told is a privately operated bus with no air conditioner and cost around $20,000 dongs. Bus 150 is publicly owned and air conditioned costing $6000 dongs.
Bus 150 is what I take regularly from Bien Hoa to HCMC.
I also took a taxi from near West station to Bien Hoa costing about $520k. You were 45 minutes into your journey so it shouldn't even be close to $700k.
Other than those useless facts I'm as curious as you are what happened.
Hi Mirthpro.......I am sorry to hear about what happened to you. Since there is only one (1) guy who did this to you....I wonder what would happen if you stop him in his track and say NO......I know I would.
However, since I understand and can speak the language, I would give him hell.
I noticed that you are from Chang Mai, Thailand. My wife and I were there in 2013. People in Thailand are MUCH MUCH better than the people in Vietnam. We were thinking of retiring in either Chang Mai / Chang Rai or Hang Dong (outskirts of Chang Mai)..... Hope this experience will NOT deter you from exploring the country.
Are you here permanently or temporary? My wife and I plan to be there PERMANENTLY on Oct. 1....so if you are there, let's meet and chat over coffee. Let me give you my outside email: thuy4tien00(at)gmail(dot)com
THANKS<
Tien & THuy
Xin Chao Tien & Thuy,
I appreciate your reply. So you're moving to Chiang Mai? Curious to know your reasons for moving here. Been here for 4 months now (from L.A.) and love it! You must come to some of the venues where I play jazz and blues in Chiang Mai. Contact me here: [email protected]
I presume that you are Vietnamese, and yet you feel that "people in Thailand are MUCH MUCH better than people in Vietnam." My recent trip to Vietnam was my second visit, and while most encounters were pleasant and without incident, I have to agree per my experience that Thai people are generally more polite, courteous and respectful, not just more than Vietnamese, but practically any other culture (and I've been to 47 countries).
Re. the "incident," it all happened so fast that I was confused and thought that yes, he is being rude, but maybe I'm supposed to change buses. Just could not fathom how someone would drop me for no apparent reason. And actually, it was not one guy who did this to me. The driver was obviously compliant because he stopped the bus for the purpose of putting me and another guy off the bus. If I spoke and understood the language it would have been a very different outcome.
I reported the incident to the Saigon Tourism Office, so hopefully this won't occur again.
Similar incidences happened to me. Yes, it happens because we are foreigners. Believe me, I'm sure of this.
Then why was the young Viet guy kicked off the bus with me?
You should be strong as your email id 
These kinds of incidents are very rare here.
We don't know what is the full story. If you paid to travel, then you should stop him strongly.
When we pay for something, we have the full right. Don't allow someone to climb over you next time!
Easy to say from your remote viewpoint, when I didn't know what was going on. It all happened fast and caught me confused and off guard. While the guy was rude, I thought that it was possible I had to get another bus to get to my destination. If I speak and understand the language, the outcome would be very different, I assure you.
Remote viewpoint?
I suggested what I did in these situations and what I will in the future when someone try to bully me without sufficient reason.
Even though you can speak Vietnamese fluently, I doubt
Mirthpro wrote:Easy to say from your remote viewpoint, when I didn't know what was going on. It all happened fast and caught me confused and off guard. While the guy was rude, I thought that it was possible I had to get another bus to get to my destination. If I speak and understand the language, the outcome would be very different, I assure you.
I know the privately owned buses can unload all their passengers at any place if they deemed it not profitable to carry on and see more profit in turning back for more passengers. They get kickbacks from the next bus that will pick up all those passengers they unloaded.
That's why when I travel long distances I make sure the bus has a reputation of going all the way to its destination.
I don't know if that happened in your instance if there was anymore passengers on the bus.
Recently I dropped my dad off at the bus station here in Bien Hoa. They have both the 601 and 150 bus. He needs to get to Mien Tay station. 150 only gets him to Cho Lon station but he opted for the 150 since I took him to Saigon on the 150. He'll probably have to get a motorbike ride to Mien Tay station.
Some of my Vietnamese friends (two actually) have told me on several occasions that not just a few individuals would like nothing more than see opportunities to beat it out of us (us is Caucasian foreigners), our expressiveness, our verbal politeness, our individual opinions, our analytic minds, briefly all that we stand for.
After six years here I've learned how important it is to politely stand our grounds and that doing as Romans do in Rome is not the best attitude if we don't want to depersonalize. It would make a much lesser 'us'. .. I cannot forego my idea that the traffic is the reflexion of whom they are. In general that is. Yes, there are good apples too.
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