Safety in Vietnam

Alex2020 wrote:

I like your name!! 

Alex2020.....if you click on "QUOTE" then people reading the blog will know who and what you are referring to.....it pops the referenced quote in like yours above.....success.

what about land mines?

White Fang wrote:

what about land mines?

Clean WLA in the avatar.

Land mines for Cambodia.
Uxo's for Laos.
The border jungles with Vietnam for both.
The Khmer Rouge and the Pathet Lao for mines and about a 'billion' aerial bombardments by foreign governments.
Scrap metals are the same as edible animals here.
Neither will sit around for long.


The image is for entertainment and educational purposes only.

White Fang wrote:

what about land mines?

A real problem if you go jungle bashing but not so much if you stay on the paved roads 
IMO a Situational awareness course should be mandatory for all new comers but I suspect that the best information will come from those who live outside Saigon

Hello  friends from abroad,
I am VNese, but rarely i have chance to Saigon, especially in the centre.
Last Saturday, i had one chance to come there,

But let me tell you how I prepared the trip, even i am VNese
on the friday evening, i went to buy a map to walk in SG. i got it in my hometown. ( but i am not good at reading the map ). but the map was not used much, bc i just only see the road name on the heading up of every corner. ( you all may feel hard to remember the names of that,  but the way to remember where you walked that buidlings in the city, especially, i looked at Bitexco Tower the most, it is special by the helicopter on the Top. : i guessed some of you had the same experience to find the way )).
in the morning of saturday, i drove on Nation Road number 1, passed Saigon bridge, in a time about 1 hour 20 mins later i came the intersection HangXanh, then i turned left to the Zoo. the Zoo, you all heard about , i choose the Zoo to a station to read the map ( but i needed no map to come the place i need ). The next station i came that is in front of Notre Damn, that is where i meet my friend, and she leaded me to go some places i wished to ..
normally, a VNese can deal all strange events as above you all mentioned, but to me, am not Saigoneer, and i also had same feeling as you had above : fearing about robber, vehicle accident, about traffic lights, about one way street i may drove in suddenly....and another things too.. but, i was happy after return home, nothing happened to me except the weather rain..

I meant, to all new places we intend to come, we have feeling of worry : how it will happen to us ? . all is experience dear friends, a bad or good city may depend on how much you accept it, i meant : please dont compare to Singapore, to German or compare to develop countries you had chance passing by, here we are developing, and on the Go, we need all from you from the outside to open more: your interest, your sympathy, your knowledge to help us coming good in future.
There is a friend said above : over the six years nothing improved. --- > Am so sorry to tell that you expected much on my VNese culture, but please remembering, the development cant happen in six years , it is too early to say " no improve ".
With truthly , deeply telling.
Hope everyone has many experience on the Go.

Not an expat but I spend a lot of time in VN in 1-3 month increments. I stay in a highway town south of Khánh Hòa. My daughter has accompanied several times.  She has traveled by bus and by train on her own and thought nothing of hitching rides on passing motorbikes. Up till 2011 neither of us worried at all about walking about day or night. Last year I noticed that people do not seem to walk  at night alone any more and I was asked by a friend to accompany his two children home from an ice cream outing so things have changed some.  I have never had any encounter that made me feel threatened.  10-12 years ago sometimes people would ask the American for money but that doesn't happen anymore. People are more prosperous.

Where I stay I find it almost hard to spend money. Of course, in that small town I am a perenniel celebrity as the only foreigner who has ever stayed longer than to walk once through the market. Last year I bought a washing machine for my host and the clerk gave me a discount that I noticed  others did not get. Lately there are more big city type shops and coffee gardens that are expensive but I pay no more there than do the locals.  I give money to the elderly beggars, though, that come into the coffee shops, so I guess that makes it more expensive.

cafengocmy wrote:

Not an expat but I spend a lot of time in VN in 1-3 month increments. I stay in a highway town south of Khánh Hòa. My daughter has accompanied several times.  She has traveled by bus and by train on her own and thought nothing of hitching rides on passing motorbikes. Up till 2011 neither of us worried at all about walking about day or night. Last year I noticed that people do not seem to walk  at night alone any more and I was asked by a friend to accompany his two children home from an ice cream outing so things have changed some.  I have never had any encounter that made me feel threatened.  10-12 years ago sometimes people would ask the American for money but that doesn't happen anymore. People are more prosperous.

I'm in disagreement with some of your comments.
1. Females should never make friends with passing motorcyclists and then get on their bike.This practice was not safe in 2011 and now in 2015 it's a really bad idea.Anywhere in the world.Even the provinces aren't pure.
2. Things have changed radically. It's like dog years compared to human years. Advancement of developing nations happens at multiples compared to already developed nations.
3. People are not more prosperous. Nobody sees the prosperous people.They are not walking the streets or driving bikes at night.They are driving cars or in taxis and go to air conditioned restaurants,bars and clubs.

At least in Vietnam you don't get shot or murdered at the movie theater by some nut case in Lafayette, LA.

In Vietnam fire arms are forbidden to own.in general anywhere in Vietnam, young men on their motocyles will steal  IPhone, expensive hangbads from anybody, These crimes happen coz people like to talk while walking or on riding on their motobikes..There are young people using drugs, they need money......
Walking anywhere in any country late at nights is not safe. Check the areas, take care of their things are good practices.

About a week ago the news broadcasted a story of a man in HCMC that slit the throats of a woman and children. Killings are in the news quite often in Vietnam. Machettes and knives are used frequently in Vietnam.

Seems rage, anger, hatred, jealousy, envy, prejudice is in the hearts of men everywhere.

How can we compare (US) a nation with 300 plus million to a small nation. If we look closer we may find a common number of crimes per capita.

I have lived in the worst areas in the US and i have lived in  questionable areas in other countries. I studied martial arts and i have fought more than 100 fights. I've been shot at, attacked with knives and been around crime. Crime is in the world. Vietnam is not safer, it is whatever you experience.

It's a personal opinion to say you feel safer in Vietnam verses living in the US, because statistics may say otherwise.

The question here is about Safety in Vietnam.  Lets not compare personal undocumented comparison statements but give our intake about our experience in Vietnam.

Regarding the question. Learn about the cultural differences. Your attitude will also determine how others will address you. And be cautious, since your in a foreign country.

I like Vietnam and its people and i hope my opinion never changes.

For almost 2 years I live in a remote area in Bien Hoa where my area has no lights. It's total darkness at night. Hardly see any police. My house as do most houses don't have front gates so people can easily walk into a house.

Very easy to steal or assault anyone though the neighbours here are very close knit.

I feel safe here and anywhere in Vietnam. I would challenge a Vietnamese to try pickpocket me. Most Vietnamese seem to have a hard time achieving 50 kg weight and size 38 pants are hard to find.

I'm amazed at the community I live in. They self police themselves. Crimes we see most often are stolen pigs, ducks, chickens and dogs. The theives are uncovered the morning after at the local coffee gathering and retaliation is made and understood by stealing a farm animal of theirs.

My town in Khánh Hòa is pretty urban. It is a highway town that grew up among and absorbed several villages.12 years ago it was very poor and small as such towns go. Now it has perhaps 60k people and is much more prosperous.  I walk anywhere and everywhere all times of the day or night. I have never had a problem. Back in 03 I walked through the tiny streets in Thủ Đức, a suburb of Sài Gòn, at 11 PM and all I met was invitations to come drink coffee  and visit, which I did. I did it because I had heard from the Việt Kiều back home before I made that first trip back to VN how the people in VN just want to take everything a foreigner has and would steal from me  and hit me in the head. I found nothing like that once I was in VN. I know that the heart of the big cities is like big cities everywhere else but I mostly stay out of the big cities. I never met anything but goodwill from Hà Nội to Vũng Tàu with just about everyone wanting to talk to the foreigner and to help the foreigner in some way.  My third day walking about in Sài Gòn I stopped to check on a family that had gone down on a xe máy, checked for broken bones, set the bike up out of the way, asked them how they were.  A week later up country I was asked by someone on the street if I was the American who had stopped for the folks who crashed their bike in Sài Gòn. One thing I love.- "Hey Pops!" gets on the plane in Florida. Thưa Ông gets off the plane at Tân Sưn Nhứt.

Ottvantor wrote:

The question of safety in Vietnam needs to be broken down a little in my opinion:

- Driving: the streets are generally NOT SAFE for foreigners whether driving or walking.
- Food: Vietnam is generally NOT SAFE for food and has high levels of chemicals/antibiotics & pesticide residue
- Walking at night: Vietnam IS SAFE. Have not had a problem in 2+ years
- Consumer Safety: Vietnam is NOT SAFE due to counterfeit trade in fake electrical, food and pharmaceutical products
- Contracts etc.: Vietnam is NOT SAFE and foreigners need to be careful with contracts and business ventures
- Corruption/bribery: Vietnam is NOT SAFE and foreigners could end up in jail for bribery so don't start as a rule
- Business Ethics: Vietnam is NOT SAFE. Foreign firm had customer list/supplier list/cost/price lists copied by admin. who started a competing business and called customers with 10-20% price reduction.
- Healthcare: Vietnam is NOT SAFE in comparison for foreigners. Although my son was born here just fine but quality/cleanliness in hospitals and clinics is very low.
- Dentistry: Vietnam is NOT SAFE. A licence can be bought/shared so be careful.
- Drivers (contract): Vietnam is NOT SAFE and has some poor contract drivers. One offered to get me a scooter license

I'm sure others may be triggered by this list. Despite the above, I love living here, love the people and have a son born here to a local. At 53 I plan to make it my home and retire here. BTW: I did see a beach vendor in Nha Trang playing John Wayne with a side arm last year and also people from 2 boats docked in HCMC at the tourist area fight with machete's.

Cheers.
(ex military & ex-cop)

Some good points there fella and a 'see it how it is ' response. Some expats will not like that (rose tinted glasses that some have) lol.....some good dentists though!

Cloud9 wrote:

At least in Vietnam you don't get shot or murdered at the movie theater by some nut case in Lafayette, LA.

or at the coffee shop in Melbourne

All of the nasty stuff I ever heard of happens in the cities. After my first time back in '03, I stay out of those places.The smaller towns and the back country are much more pleasant.

Cloud9 wrote:

At least in Vietnam you don't get shot or murdered at the movie theater by some nut case in Lafayette, LA.

Yes.You are  perfectly correct!
They should ban "nut cases".
"nut cases" should be banned from society.
Unfortunately, America has closed most,if not all of her institutions for the mentally unstable,
so what are you going to do?

Oh,I have digressed from the topic "Safety in Vietnam".

How many bloody bodies have you seen up close on the streets where you live?
(Not including the gang related shootings or drug related homicides )
How many times have you seen a bike or bicycle lodged under the wheels of a heavy vehicle?
With a crowd gawking in shock at some bag of bones trapped underneath.
Or seen people who have fallen off  a bike and busted their skull,yelling "I need hospital" or maybe sprawled out over on the bitumen in a pool of blood.
Vehicles,bad doctors and unhealthy diets have killed more people every day,in Vietnam and globally,
But the fantasy you keep is -"Guns kill people.Ban guns."

Go to Vietnam,or Asia for a year and see how it is.

Anyhow,enough of that.


The image is for entertainment and educational purposes only

Hallo Christine, I need your help please. I have to write a safety ans security report to my empleyer in Germany. where can I get official information about the country. Best regards Rene

Teacher Rene wrote:

Hallo Christine, I need your help please. I have to write a safety ans security report to my empleyer in Germany. where can I get official information about the country. Best regards Rene

Google is your friend

UPDATE: TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Attempted robbery by master thief.

I recently made a couple of posts stating my view that Vietnam is a very safe place compared to other expat postings I had.

Well, yesterday night I had my first contact with a Hanoian criminal mind, and it was a remarkable experience. It could have come from a pink panther movie.

I was returning from work with my car. I have a garage in a narrow alley in Dang tai mai (Tây Ho). As usual,  I stopped my car in position for the complicated manouver to reverse and introduce a very big car in a very small garage. I was waiting for the door to fully open when I see in the mirror this guy in a bike, slowing down and looking inside the garage. Curiosity, I thought.
But then the guy stops, places his bike on my car, and gets inside the garage. I could not believe my eyes.
Since I could not fit both the car and the thief in the garage, I decided to intervene, got out of the car and yelled at the guy, who was by then appropriating a 10$ cart I use to carry packages, along the line "OI! WTF ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!" .
He almost had a heart attack, dropped the cart and started laughing and smiling.... like he had confused my garage for his.... Frankly, the situation was so funny I was smiling and laughing too. He got on his bike and took off waving goodbye.

I know I was lucky and this is just an anecdote... but after being posted in Honduras and Libya, having this "king of thieves" around makes me feel quite safe about the kind of criminal minds that Vietnamese society produces. Of course one must never let his guard down, but the prospects of suffering a violent attack of any kind in Vietnam are very very low.

I see posts just about every day of someone getting robbed, their motor scooter getting stolen.. Every woman I chat with tells me they have been mugged more than once.. And yes Vietnamese criminals have a reputation for usually robbing the small women without hurting them, providing she just hands over her purse, cell phone, jewelry etc.. If she resists then of course she is subject to getting stabbed.. This also doesn't take into account when the thief forces her to wreck her motorbike and Steal it whiles she lays injured on the scalding pavement etc... And now, increasingly, the criminals work as teams to suddenly swarm a victim... My point is;  it's becoming more common to to be a victim in Vietnam.. If you don't realize it, you are living in a fools paradise my friend.

Vietnam is not "PARADISE" but can live safely if take care somethings. We can say 'better than' other countries 
Actually people make thieves! Even on empty street, want to show valuables like jewelries and smart phones. Handling our belongings carelessly helps thieves to think 
When you park motorbike should park in some safe parking place with guards. They just need seconds to open the lock and escape with you bike!

cafengocmy wrote:

All of the nasty stuff I ever heard of happens in the cities. After my first time back in '03, I stay out of those places.The smaller towns and the back country are much more pleasant.

We have our moments as well, in my wife's commune there was even a murder last year, ( unfortunately the bloke hit and killed his own brother by mistake ), my wife had a laptop stolen they reached through the grated window and lifted it, while she was in the NEXT room teaching, the same night the salaries of many fisherman, and a m/b from the same address " disappeared ", ( I wouldn't want to be in that blokes shoes if he was caught by the locals ).
Last week some more dogs were stolen one night.
3 years ago, I was personally attacked by 2 VN's with big sticks, ( but my stick was made of steel ), I was too busy to have a drink with the neighbours visitors, and it escalated into them childishly throwing rocks on my roof, after dark of course,  ( found out later one was a cop from Saigon ), they didn't like it when I threw rocks back at them, and if I hadn't managed to get back behind my gate, ( although they were still trying to hit me while I was trying to hold the gate shut ), I'm quite sure I wouldn't be here today, they had the look of absolute maniacal madness on their alcohol fueled faces.
But at least this sort of thing gives the locals something to talk about?

bluenz wrote:

cafengocmy wrote:

All of the nasty stuff I ever heard of happens in the cities. After my first time back in '03, I stay out of those places.The smaller towns and the back country are much more pleasant.

We have our moments as well, in my wife's commune there was even a murder last year, ( unfortunately the bloke hit and killed his own brother by mistake ), my wife had a laptop stolen they reached through the grated window and lifted it, while she was in the NEXT room teaching, the same night the salaries of many fisherman, and a m/b from the same address " disappeared ", ( I wouldn't want to be in that blokes shoes if he was caught by the locals ).
Last week some more dogs were stolen one night.
3 years ago, I was personally attacked by 2 VN's with big sticks, ( but my stick was made of steel ), I was too busy to have a drink with the neighbours visitors, and it escalated into them childishly throwing rocks on my roof, after dark of course,  ( found out later one was a cop from Saigon ), they didn't like it when I threw rocks back at them, and if I hadn't managed to get back behind my gate, ( although they were still trying to hit me while I was trying to hold the gate shut ), I'm quite sure I wouldn't be here today, they had the look of absolute maniacal madness on their alcohol fueled faces.
But at least this sort of thing gives the locals something to talk about?

for a foreigner, you are living life on the edge there, my friend. Just saying.

Cloud9 wrote:

bluenz wrote:

cafengocmy wrote:

All of the nasty stuff I ever heard of happens in the cities. After my first time back in '03, I stay out of those places.The smaller towns and the back country are much more pleasant.

We have our moments as well, in my wife's commune there was even a murder last year, ( unfortunately the bloke hit and killed his own brother by mistake ), my wife had a laptop stolen they reached through the grated window and lifted it, while she was in the NEXT room teaching, the same night the salaries of many fisherman, and a m/b from the same address " disappeared ", ( I wouldn't want to be in that blokes shoes if he was caught by the locals ).
Last week some more dogs were stolen one night.
3 years ago, I was personally attacked by 2 VN's with big sticks, ( but my stick was made of steel ), I was too busy to have a drink with the neighbours visitors, and it escalated into them childishly throwing rocks on my roof, after dark of course,  ( found out later one was a cop from Saigon ), they didn't like it when I threw rocks back at them, and if I hadn't managed to get back behind my gate, ( although they were still trying to hit me while I was trying to hold the gate shut ), I'm quite sure I wouldn't be here today, they had the look of absolute maniacal madness on their alcohol fueled faces.
But at least this sort of thing gives the locals something to talk about?

for a foreigner, you are living life on the edge there, my friend. Just saying.

Anyone married to a VN, and living here is.( unless they are coffee shop/couch potatoes ).

bluenz wrote:

Cloud9 wrote:

bluenz wrote:

We have our moments as well, in my wife's commune there was even a murder last year, ( unfortunately the bloke hit and killed his own brother by mistake ), my wife had a laptop stolen they reached through the grated window and lifted it, while she was in the NEXT room teaching, the same night the salaries of many fisherman, and a m/b from the same address " disappeared ", ( I wouldn't want to be in that blokes shoes if he was caught by the locals ).
Last week some more dogs were stolen one night.
3 years ago, I was personally attacked by 2 VN's with big sticks, ( but my stick was made of steel ), I was too busy to have a drink with the neighbours visitors, and it escalated into them childishly throwing rocks on my roof, after dark of course,  ( found out later one was a cop from Saigon ), they didn't like it when I threw rocks back at them, and if I hadn't managed to get back behind my gate, ( although they were still trying to hit me while I was trying to hold the gate shut ), I'm quite sure I wouldn't be here today, they had the look of absolute maniacal madness on their alcohol fueled faces.
But at least this sort of thing gives the locals something to talk about?

for a foreigner, you are living life on the edge there, my friend. Just saying.

Anyone married to a VN, and living here is.( unless they are coffee shop/couch potatoes ).

I'm sure that there are those who have learned to adapt to the local customs and thus live a more or less peaceful live in Vietnam. In any country you have to learn to realize that you are a guest in the country and should modify your life style to suit.

Amen

They really need to start doing something about road safety, I've never been there. Just what I read here. You should check out the US State Department travel advisory for VN.   

It seems to me that for a lot of countries the dangers are exaggerated. Sort of a CYA thing. word to the unwise.

Compared with the hair raising stuff I read here  about road safety or the complete lack of it, the State Dept needs to update there material.

jotxo wrote:

UPDATE: TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Attempted robbery by master thief.

I recently made a couple of posts stating my view that Vietnam is a very safe place compared to other expat postings I had.

Well, yesterday night I had my first contact with a Hanoian criminal mind, and it was a remarkable experience. It could have come from a pink panther movie.

I was returning from work with my car. I have a garage in a narrow alley in Dang tai mai (Tây Ho). As usual,  I stopped my car in position for the complicated manouver to reverse and introduce a very big car in a very small garage. I was waiting for the door to fully open when I see in the mirror this guy in a bike, slowing down and looking inside the garage. Curiosity, I thought.
But then the guy stops, places his bike on my car, and gets inside the garage. I could not believe my eyes.
Since I could not fit both the car and the thief in the garage, I decided to intervene, got out of the car and yelled at the guy, who was by then appropriating a 10$ cart I use to carry packages, along the line "OI! WTF ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!" .
He almost had a heart attack, dropped the cart and started laughing and smiling.... like he had confused my garage for his.... Frankly, the situation was so funny I was smiling and laughing too. He got on his bike and took off waving goodbye.

I know I was lucky and this is just an anecdote... but after being posted in Honduras and Libya, having this "king of thieves" around makes me feel quite safe about the kind of criminal minds that Vietnamese society produces. Of course one must never let his guard down, but the prospects of suffering a violent attack of any kind in Vietnam are very very low.

Interesting story that and one I repeated to my  friends this morning over coffee some Viet some expat.

And I asked them a question, not quite put so bluntly as this but in an effort to try and find out why are there so many thieves in Vietnam.

Talking of your open garage, if 100 people walked by how many in each country seeing it open would go in and chance there luck to steal of you, I know its not scientific but as an Englishman I said maybe 1, the NZ guy reckoned 1 in a thousand, the Yank reckoned a lot depended on where you live but maybe 5 in a hundred, the 2 Viets said about 1 in 4 or 5, so 20 to 25, but one did go on to explain that they may never have stolen before and they most certainly did not set out that day to go and steal but because the opportunity presented itself they just cant resist, maybe that was the case with your guy.

Its like all these people who lose there mobile phones in bars and restaurants left sat on the table in Nha Trang, thieves aren't walking about but the staff are and most of the time its them who have them.

pathixon48 wrote:

I see posts just about every day of someone getting robbed, their motor scooter getting stolen.. Every woman I chat with tells me they have been mugged more than once.. And yes Vietnamese criminals have a reputation for usually robbing the small women without hurting them, providing she just hands over her purse, cell phone, jewelry etc.. If she resists then of course she is subject to getting stabbed.. This also doesn't take into account when the thief forces her to wreck her motorbike and Steal it whiles she lays injured on the scalding pavement etc... And now, increasingly, the criminals work as teams to suddenly swarm a victim... My point is;  it's becoming more common to to be a victim in Vietnam.. If you don't realize it, you are living in a fools paradise my friend.

Good points - my closest VN friend here was pulled off her motorbike by a bag snatcher just a few months after she had a baby. She was very lucky with her injuries. Last night I met a businessman (European) who mentioned his wife (VN) was a recent victim outside Starbucks in Thao Dien D2 in HCMC. She had her phone grabbed by a guy on a scooter - this was the second time it happened. So it's hard to say that they are targeting areas that foreigners frequent - apart form the earlier posts about Nha Trang etc. - it appears clear to me that the VN criminals are opportunistic and have no preference for their victims.......their crime is opportunity driven and foreigners should not feel overly targeted in my opinion.....some may disagree with this.