Will move to Saigon from Shanghai in September , advices.

My opinion you should consider another place other than Vietnam,
In Vietnam :
1. To hot
2. Way over the top to much people traffic.
3. Way over the top to much motorbike traffic ( during rush our it's crazy insane ).
     How much traffic ? , so much traffic people on motorbikes start driving on opposite side of the street !!!.
     And to make it worse they start driving on the sidewalk .
4. There are lots of mosquito's that bite you everyday, I have to put on mosquito repellent everyday.
     And the repellent smells bad.
    The mosquito bites get puffy the size of a dime and gets itchy.
     Why so many mosquito's ? it's due to the fact there is a canal that surrounds the city, which makes it a
     breeding ground for the bugs. And the government does not due anything about the problem.
     What made  me scared one time, is the fact I saw a red mosquito once in the bottom restroom of the
     home I am straying. The red mosquito's are the ones that carry the Zika virus ( not sure how to spell
     Zika ) . I tried to kill the mosquito, but it flew away !

Hope this helps,
William

My Nicky aren't you ambitious. For one there is no work visa. But you can get a work permit. If you are in business you can do other things in order to stay. Gosh, who is to say anything about the F&B business other than there are a ton of other sin that space.
Vietnam a a wonderful place to live. I would suggest you come and try it on for size. It is not an easy culture to understand, things are not like they are in the Western world. The major companies shy away because they do not practice common law here. So it is very difficult to resolve contract disputes. In fact you can enter into agreements and they will say anything when you negotiate. Later that contract becomes worthless when you say, " but you agreed I could do this" "yeah, but now I want to do it different". Disputes are handled by the Peoples Committee for your area. Who do you think prevails, the foreigner or the Vietnamese citizen that knows who to pay".
  I sure would not dive in head first. But others have done it. But a lot fail. Competition is keen, margins low. Good luck.

Mosquito creams don't smell of all that much. They used to in the past and the cheap and nasty ones still do, but it's very easy to find effective creams with minimal smell.
Insect bites are always something of an issue in hot countries, but it's not a big deal if you use creams.
The other thing regarding insects - Keep bedroom doors closed if outside doors are open and give the room a good squirt of insect killer if you're going out for a few hours. That keeps them out for a few days so mozzies are no real issue.

Just thought I'd correct the above rather pessimistic post.

Location for living : District 2 is the most popular amongst expatriates.  Most of the complex has pool, gym, coffee shop.  In average, the rental is about US$1000 for 2 room apartment.  F&B industry is good but need to find the niche cuisine to attract people.  But, Vietnamese cuisine is very popular to tourist.  Tourism contributes most to the Vietnam GDP.  I have few mosquitoes bites so far but only if you are in some forest.  Raining season is from June to January so get some repellent with you.  Hope it helps. Charlotte

I use a mosquito/ bug zapper in the house. Have never had a bite or seen a live mosquito. You can but them at many hardware store for 400,000 VND.

Japanese4fun wrote:

My opinion you should consider another place other than Vietnam

No, ignore this guy. Pretty sure VN is an upgrade from China.

Japanese4fun wrote:

There are lots of mosquito's that bite you everyday

About the only bugs I ever see are street cockroaches, and I have lived in 3 districts. Dude, you should move.

Japanese4fun wrote:

the fact there is a canal that surrounds the city

Say what?! There is a river, and some tidal canals, but they don't encircle the city, and mozzies breed in still fresh water, not moving water in channels.

Japanese4fun wrote:

The red mosquito's are the ones that carry the Zika virus

Doh. There is no such thing as a red mosquito. The 'red' was your blood. In 2017, just 19 cases of zika in Saigon city of 8 million people.

I "Hope this helps, William"   

gobot wrote:

Doh. There is no such thing as a red mosquito. The 'red' was your blood. In 2017, just 19 cases of zika in Saigon city of 8 million people.

I "Hope this helps, William"   

Red Mosquito Just a mosquito with a belly full of blood.

Diazo wrote:

I use a mosquito/ bug zapper in the house. Have never had a bite or seen a live mosquito. You can but them at many hardware store for 400,000 VND.

Do you have one of the infrared stationary ones or, based on the price, the tennis racquet type?  The problem with the IR type is that of the most dangerous types, the Anopheles (Malaria) is a night biter but the Aedes aegypti (Dengue) is a day biter.  The problem with the tennis racquet is that it does not guarantee 100% eradication in an area.  Miss one and you can be infected.  This article explains why:  https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ … es/525594/

The ultimate trap is one that uses bottled propane to release minute amounts of CO2.  These will work day or night.  The problem is that they are very expensive and I really doubt that you could find one in Vietnam.  https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss … quito+trap  It needs electricity for the ignition so you would need a stepdown unless you could find the same thing in AU or NZ.  It is overkill in most places in Vietnam but if I had plans to move permanently to my wife's hometown in the Mekong Delta, I would really look into bringing one with me.

Thank you for your answers.

Still thinking about it.

Keep in touch

Although the OP is asking about moving to Saigon here, i couldnt help noticing he is well informed about mosquitos especially the red ones!   

Good luck if you decide to move to Saigon 

Hi Nick,

I am living here since 8 years and I am very happy, for me the best and most valuable place to live in SE Asia, unless you are on the high income side. Try to explore things on your own be aware of scams and pocket thieves, avoid rush hours and try to discover the country. For living is the best place somewhere between airport and center, since I like to travel as well as going out sometimes in the night after work. I live in Binh Thanh District since ever and also suggest Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh, even south parts of Go Vap if you want to have it authentic and fairly priced.

good move i spent past 11 years in shanghai and last 4 month in HCM

there s plenty of serviced apartment around so before signing for long term lease you can try few area it s way cheaper than Shanghai and so easy to find

Gym : best i saw around are California Fitness there s few in several districts
Jia le Fu ( carefour ) >> vinmart Coopmart , small Auchan did not see any carefour ..may be  , nothing to compare with Gubei or Zhong shan park .. smaller

Visa : it s easy to get complicated to keep , no mater what you get there s a detail no one mention on any site it s that the Emigration officer at the entry can decide how long you can stay in the country in write it down on the stamp , i had a 1 year Bisness and got a 2 week stamp till i clarify the situation with the support of my ( shangainese ) company branch in HCM , seems like you need a working permit within 3 month if you r not in some category ( high tech , tourism and few others )

it s extremely shady and every single source give different info , lot of story also of people overstayed after processing visa extension  with some agency . .be careful

right now i m sure i can stay but once i get out i t s always stressful to come back   

so welcome

There is actually work visa/business *marked as LĐ for Lao Động* and work permit. Both require a company to sponsor/guarantee for you. I remember paying 60 USD for urgent work visa 3 month multiple entries and 145 USD for 2 years work permit no urgent.

Each has his own taste so you should really come to Vietnam and see how much you like it here. But as far as I have met people lived in Shanghai, they are all happier to be in Vietnam.

And I'm honestly not sure if the post of Japanese4fun is a serious post. His knowledge of Vietnam and Saigon is very....odd.

Good luck with finding a good place to live!
Ngan

And I'm honestly not sure if the post of Japanese4fun is a serious post. His knowledge of Vietnam and Saigon is very....odd.

JeeezuSSFonkyCrist !!  i didn't mention this one... hillarious !!   

let me top this list with my personal cons :

- every time you buy something you get back a lot of small crappy paper note change after few week your apartment is full on small change impossible to spend without carrying 3 sport bags to buy one chocolate snack

- walking in the city is almost impossible the next crosswalk is 3km away you ll have to take a taxi just to reach the green light..  a straight line walk about 200 meters turn to 20 km ride invariably

- women are extremely dangerous they are everywhere and so beautiful that u cant resist  to keep staring at them and take a unconsidered risk to get hit by another foreigner doing the same ( hopefully evolution gave the super power to local people to ignore them totally )

- food everywhere and so delicious that u will get fat within a couple of month 

- despite the previous point it s almost impossible to find a MacDonald or a KFC every corner

that's my top 5.. so yep don't come in Vietnam ,  the risk to have an accident with me while i m riding my bike distracted by a lady is way too high !!

shanghalf wrote:

- women are extremely dangerous, they are everywhere and so beautiful that u can't resist to keep staring at them and take a unconsidered risk to get hit by another foreigner doing the same (hopefully evolution gave the super power to local people to ignore them totally )

Yet another east vs west difference, that local men never seem to notice any women. I've never seen staring, leering, catcalls like in US, Latin America, Europe, Australia.

You be careful out there, @shanghalf. Stay away from Nguyen Hue and Nguyen Trai street after dark.

gobot wrote:

shanghalf wrote:

- women are extremely dangerous, they are everywhere and so beautiful that u can't resist to keep staring at them and take a unconsidered risk to get hit by another foreigner doing the same (hopefully evolution gave the super power to local people to ignore them totally )

Yet another east vs west difference, that local men never seem to notice any women. I've never seen staring, leering, catcalls like in US, Latin America, Europe, Australia.

You be careful out there, @shanghalf. Stay away from Nguyen Hue and Nguyen Trai street after dark.

There are catcalls, staring and leering in Vietnam as well. Men everywhere are pretty much the same. I can guarantee you that   

gobot wrote:

You be careful out there, @shanghalf. Stay away from Nguyen Hue and Nguyen Trai street after dark.

thanks for the advice i will .. promise .. humm so ggmap .. Nguyen Hue ... start navigation   

About Living, you can choose district 2 - should be very convenience for you. There are a lot of range for renting ( 400 - 1.500 $/ month ) . I think you shouldnt rent immediately. You can rent place for short term first, then decide. You should try the page : airbnb(.)com for trying place first.

And I'm honestly not sure if the post of Japanese4fun is a serious post. His knowledge of Vietnam and Saigon is very....odd.

Is this the one about the mosquito ? 

There are some that drive on the side walk but majority drive on the roads. Its only the 'speedy gonzalez' that seem to be in a rush to get to their destination...   

There are catcalls, staring and leering in Vietnam as well. Men everywhere are pretty much the same. I can guarantee you that