Walkside Foodcart business in HCMC

I had to laugh yesterday, I was sitting waiting for a friend, at the approach of the bridge in QN, across from me , there was a Banh Mi cart, a bike selling belts, etc, another bike with the laminating gear on it, generator  etc , and several others, a shout went up , and they all quickly started to move, then a small green Police truck came around the corner, but they didn't stop, ( I could see the cops  laughing , though ), as soon as it went past, they all moved back to their previous position and continued trade. ( This area is also used as a bus stop ).

VN is full of laughs and giggles, people breaking the law, and cops not enforcing the law.

Thank you - blue and mikeymykey

Pls pls pls tell me more about this topic............

My-tranle wrote:

HI Everyone,

My friend who is living in the US does not believe me when I told him that walkside foodcart business ( hawker ) is not legal in HCMC and also in VN. He told me that he saw thousand of people is doing this business in the street and he is not stupid to believe what I say.

Anybody can help me to say something about this topic to convince him? I have tried to send him some articles related to ban hawkers in the street of HN and HCMC. I also told him that those hawkers are doing their business but they have to watch police all day and take risks that all their stools, their foodcart will be sized anytime by government/police.

Thank you so much.

My

The problem is that you two are talking about different things: you're talking about the gov't laws, while your friend is talking about how things happen in real life. The former have very little effect on the latter here in Vietnam.

My-tranle wrote:

HI Everyone,

My friend who is living in the US does not believe me when I told him that walkside foodcart business ( hawker ) is not legal in HCMC and also in VN. He told me that he saw thousand of people is doing this business in the street and he is not stupid to believe what I say.

Anybody can help me to say something about this topic to convince him? I have tried to send him some articles related to ban hawkers in the street of HN and HCMC. I also told him that those hawkers are doing their business but they have to watch police all day and take risks that all their stools, their foodcart will be sized anytime by government/police.

Thank you so much.

My

Ow.. I just know this... If it is illegal, why doesn't government forbid food-cart production?

Because they simply do not, just like a million other things around here. That is just the way it is , like it or not

Happy8888 wrote:

Because they simply do not, just like a million other things around here. That is just the way it is , like it or not

I think that is not only a business but also a Asian culture.

If all people follow laws and regulations, then it's difficult for them to live. 
("Ignorantia juris non excusat")
We are law breakers, in some situations.

Laws are made to be broken !!

Well all the above comments have some truth to it more or less.  It's all about making a living from all sides.  In VN the cops usually don't put in much effort if there is no money involved.  Their gov salary is not enough to catch up with massive inflation and very often they need to go off for a few bucks on their own to survive run away inflation.  For most other street vendors, this is their only ability to make a living.  VN has a massive openly age discrimination in employment, so any one age 30 and older will have a hard time finding decent jobs to support their family, unless the person has lots of technical skills or can speak good English.  I believe the demographic is still 2 thirds under the age of 35 and giving the population today already reaches over 90 million and counting as young population can grow population rapidly.  In addition, 80% of the country is still rural  So without boring some of you, here is my take.

There are houses in the street front or alley that can provide temporary shelter for vendors in case of "emergency" for a cheap compensation.  The cops also get small amounts of payment through "under ground intermediaries" who decide who can vend at what spot.  This is sort of like the mini mob who rules their local territory.  It's believed that tipping off the mini mob before the cops roll by, is the norm.  Why do you think the timing is so perfect that before the cops roll by, the vendors are already gone then they came right back as soon as the cops go pass them.  One must remember that under totalitarian society, the big guys already know what everyone is doing (neighbors can turn you in at any moment), having the will to enforce it is another matter.  Having said that, citizens are often confused and wonder why it's legal for someone but not legal for another one that involves doing exactly the same thing at the same place and time.  The easiest way for some of you to understand is like, a driver follows the law perfectly but still gets pulled over for "make shift traffic infraction" for a quick and small cash fine.  So folks, this is VN, so live with it or get out.  It's their country and it's not yours to place any judgement.

docwood wrote:

So folks, this is VN, so live with it or get out.  It's their country and it's not yours to place any judgement.

I agreed with you with everything up until this point. Was it really necessary to do the whole tired "love it or leave it" bit? Really took away from the excellent points made in the rest of the post.