Please note the following is not the considered opinion of the OP, but a forwarded copy of a post made to the Quora_Home social media platform. It is posted here, simply for academic considerations only,
...especially for those SE Asia “Retirement” location seeking western expats. Thank you,...
What is wrong with Vietnam? ....Answered on Apr 23, 2018,...by Theresa Tran (a U.S. citizen)
"First,…I am 100% Vietnamese, but born in America and raised by Vietnamese parents who found their way to America after the war ended. I've visited Vietnam over 20 times—each time spanning from 2 weeks to 4 months (depending on my employment status at the time).
There are many things ‘wrong' with Vietnam but bear in mind there are a thousand things that make Vietnam a wonderful place to visit and even live. Below are tidbits of my personal experience.
1. CORRUPTION is the number one problem in Vietnam. It leads to distrust in the government, poor public services and overall a harsher lifestyle for everyone. I will give firsthand examples of each below.
a.Government: - As one other writer, Nho Pham, here noted: Vietnam has ranked 119 out of 174 countries and territories in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2014. Here are some examples I've witnessed:
i. Airports: - Growing up, my parents always made sure to get to TSN airport in HCM with cash in hand. We always stuffed $10 and $20 bills in our passports to get by with no issues. It wasn't until I was about 18, that I started experiencing the hassles at the passport desk. While I thought speaking Vietnamese would spark some sort of common understanding—I quickly learned that just replying in English made them go away. Money was always requested before you departed the baggage claim. A man once told me “I know you have like iPhones in your bag, just give me $20 for coffee and you can go.”
ii. Law Enforcement: - A few years ago, my dad purchased a van for my family in Vietnam to use to run a business and to drive our family around. We were pulled over for a small traffic violation. The officer approached my dad's driver's side window and he asked him to explain what happened. As my dad started talking the officer interrupted him and said: “Wait, you're American here on holiday aren't you?” My dad insisted we're just visiting our family and to please let us go......
Then he (the police officer) prompted my family to step out of the car. They confiscated our vehicle and we had to take a cab home—all 7+ of us. That night, my dad received a call and he was given the name of a restaurant. The officer showed up with his other officer friends and proceeded with a night of feasting, drinking, and girls. At the end of the night, after my dad picked up the bill—he said he'd be in contact. The next night, they told him to meet at yet another restaurant. Only after another night, did we get our car back. This is the most extreme of cases.
iii. I've had another incident where my cousin was told “this isn't even enough money for coffee” after being pulled over and being prompted for a bribe. She forked over 500,000 VND. The average cost of a cup of coffee is around 25,000 dong. I had to give her all the cash I had as well. Only then, did he let us go.
Another incident while riding on a motorbike with my (young and attractive, lol) aunt, the officer asked her where she lived and when she responded she doesn't know her address, he asked how she was going to get home. She responded, please just take the cash and help me out and let me go. He then asked for her number and when she said she didn't know it, he responded by asking how would he contact her to hang out if she didn't know it. Many more of these experiences that I'll spare.
iv. Running a business: - I once asked my dad while eating at a restaurant on the street, this is such a nice little business. Why don't we run one like this? He replied, “Who's going to let us do such a thing?” Growing up American, I asked what he meant. He told me stories of how law enforcement operates much like the mafia. He told me without “permission,” that once you set up shop, men IN UNIFORM would come to turn your restaurant upside down, asking you who gave you permission to be here. While I haven't experienced this one, firsthand, there seem to be “fees” associated with running a small business in the city that many people, aside from my dad have spoken of.
2. Public Services
a. Roads - Roads that connect cities to one another are often riddled with broke concrete that exposes giant pieces of rocks underneath that concrete. When I asked why the Vietnamese roads are not paved with smooth concrete or at least smaller rocks, the response always is something along the lines of “Yes, that's the way it should be—if someone wasn't taking a cut. These roads are cheated. The materials are cheap because by the time the money gets passed down to the actual road construction, there is very little left.”
b. Schools - No education is free. At the college level, students who opt to major in disciplines such as Marxism are given discounts, lol.
c. Buses - Anyone who has ridden a Vietnamese bus already knows how different this is.
d. Hospitals - Man oh man, when my grandma was in the hospital, a public one due to her health insurance, I had an eye-opening experience. People were doubled up on beds. Nurses don't care for patients as they do in the states—they're only there to administer medicine, check vitals, etc. Each patient has a family member who sleeps on the floor next to their bed and tends to them.
These caregivers are seen in the bathrooms pouring bodily fluids, that on the LIVER ILLNESSES hospital floor, for example, come from the liver lol into the sinks in the restroom. Golly. At night, patients waiting for care sleep on the lobby floor along with family members. No soap in bathrooms. Coolers with bags of blood, that caretakers have to purchase from the pharmacy downstairs, sit at the foot of the patients' beds waiting for the nurses. Beds are pushed out to the balconies and fill up space there because the rooms are full or are simply too hot.
3. See how these few things can make life a little harder?
a.In addition to the things above, there seems to be no regulation of drugs or food and no one monitoring the quality or safety. Also, it seems like brands are free to make any claims they want without any repercussions. Interesting, right?
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to answer this question."
https://www.quora.com/What-is-wrong-wit … esa-Tran-7