Taxi scam in Vietnam

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Xaviar84 wrote:

I will be moving to HCMC in December 2013... I work in the hotel industry and from what I've read there seems to be a massive boom in the hospitality industry at the moment. Hotels such as The Pullman, The Reverie and Le Meridien to name but a few that are in the process of opening within the next 6 months...theres even a Ritz-Carlton property coming in 2015!

That's opposite from what I've read.  While it may be true that buildings are going up, tourism, however, is flat-lining at best.  There's been too many taxi scam, tourism mugging stories getting out that many foreigners are thinking twice about visiting Việt Nam.

But let's say what you read is true.  Even if we have many hotels opening up, those jobs are labor jobs that will go to Locals, not Expats.

I'm currently living off Nguyen Trai st in District 1. I go out at night and have many expat friends here. I haven't heard of anyone getting robbed, or this hoodlum problem you speak of. Taxi scams are common. That's why you stick to Vinasun or Mai Linh genuine taxis.

Big_Mac! wrote:

...That's why you stick to Vinasun or Mai Linh genuine taxis.

And that's why even fake taxis try to match the paint job/logo of Mai Linh. 

The first time I came to Việt Nam, I did look for Vinasun and a taxi driver took me to a lot to show me his "Vinasun" taxi.  The logo was not EVEN close.  The guy thought I was stupid.  I ran back to the main terminal.

Kinda sucks when the authorities are in on it too huh?
hanhniennews.com/index/pages/20130418-m … -city.aspx

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Big_Mac! wrote:

...That's why you stick to Vinasun or Mai Linh genuine taxis.

And that's why even fake taxis try to match the paint job/logo of Mai Linh. 

The first time I came to Việt Nam, I did look for Vinasun and a taxi driver took me to a lot to show me his "Vinasun" taxi.  The logo was not EVEN close.  The guy thought I was stupid.  I ran back to the main terminal.

Kinda sucks when the authorities are in on it too huh?
thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20130418- … -city.aspx

, I know you love Vietnam, but please don't complain about these
things. Every country in this world still have the same problem.
We are Vietnamese, we are young, and we are all proud of Vietnam, so the mainly we need to do is figure out what we have to do.

P/s: You have just saw the bad side of our country, maybe because you spend a long time of your life in overseas. Vietnam is now better, and you will find out the good side when you stay here for a long time.

Don't try to paint in the ice cube
I am here little long time and faced all 'dirty sides' more than good one. Because of poverty we may spare the laymen. But how about officials and people who sit in cosy chairs with others money? If we talk need to go off topic, so....

thanhevent wrote:

I know you love Vietnam, but please don't complain about these
things. Every country in this world still have the same problem.
We are Vietnamese, we are young, and we are all proud of Vietnam, so the mainly we need to do is figure out what we have to do.

P/s: You have just saw the bad side of our country, maybe because you spend a long time of your life in overseas. Vietnam is now better, and you will find out the good side when you stay here for a long time.

Well.. taxi scams, muggings, street crime, etc is rife throughout SE Asia not just Vietnam so I really doubt that that would put people off of visiting such a wonderful country. I live in Phuket and this happens week in, week out over here yet still the tourists flock here by the millions..

I can only go by what I have read and from what I saw when visiting HCMC back in August but these hotels are in the process of opening so the developers must see a long term future for tourism in HCMC. Ritz-Carlton do not open anywhere, they definitely pick their new locations wisely! Yes it's also true that most of these hotel jobs will go to locals but there are also many managerial positions on offer in these hotels which are open to expats on "local" contracts.. I have a Skype interview at the IC hotel tomorrow afternoon for just such a role.

thanhevent wrote:

, I know you love Vietnam, but please don't complain about these
things.

If no one complains, then it will never get fixed? The culture of scam is the main reason Vn falls behind Thailand so much in tourism and Vietnamese know this, but aren't sure how to fix it without government stepping in.

As for top sectors, I agree, IT is huge. Most college student Viets I meet are studying for it or wishing they did.