Job Discussion Forums

kurtz · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan

Thanks Sarge. Kind of miss our little debates, but I've turned into a lurker instead of a protagonist. Things are great at the moment, but it's hard not to miss some things about Vietnam.

All the best to you, too.

BTW I think most of the people in Hanoi are from the provinces and aren't perhaps true Hanoins, but I'll leave that for others to fight over.

cb400 · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 274 Location: Vientiane, Laos

VietCanada · Joined: 30 Nov 2010 Posts: 590

I think people are the same everywhere. I think the good and bad manifest itself differently in different cultures. I could be just as comfortable responding to this thread if it were about my home town.

Traffic is bad.
People use knives rather than guns as in my home country.
People can be rude but then some people are aggressively rude. They go out of their way to be rude or insulting.

People go out of their way to be helpful or polite too but this is a thread about negatives.

I think my experience here differs from my home city because I am a visible minority. I cannot be anonymous. I cannot be anything but an object to be reacted to.

I am part of the problem, I am part of an ideal of the future. I am dichotomy, controversy, debate, evidence, spectacle, suspicion and even satisfaction.

There are some definite whack job expats in this business. There are a lot of very intelligent and witty expats too. Sometimes I meet one group more than the other. At the moment I know more genuinely decent fellow expats so I'm good. I think I've met many more of the friendly, intelligent, witty types over 10+ years in two countries but I've met more angry and private types here than the land of Kimchi.

ExpatLuke · Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Posts: 744

Traffic is just horrendous in Hanoi. I recently visited the city again for the first time after moving father south, and I had truly forgotten what it's like. I constantly felt like I was trapped because going out and dealing with traffic was just a turn off.

The Central region has ruined me. I doubt I'd be happy anywhere else in Vietnam.

skarper · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 477

Same here.

I still advise people to try HCMC/Hanoi first and move here later. Not only will it be a change for the better but you will be better able to deal with the employment situation - jobs are scarce.

Ideally you'd just rent a nice house by the beach and live on your savings/pension...of course there'd be better places to do that unless you have a reason to pick Vietnam (marriage say).

cb400 · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 274 Location: Vientiane, Laos

skarper · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 477

Vietnam's best kept secret - and we try to keep it that way!

Negatives are that it is harder to get some things here - about once a year I wish I was in Hanoi/HCMC so I could buy 'X'. It can be boring with little to do after you've done the few obvious things. And there is very limited options for working which also means pay can be low. It's not rare to meet people who have come here on the promise of full time hours only to get stuck with 10 hours a week and there is too much competition for top up work. It's a drag you have to go to Hanoi/HCMC to deal with a lot of paperwork but they are seldom needed things - like marriage stuff.

Positives - Nice beaches, better weather, reasonable people. Lower prices for a lot of things like rent. Not bad traffic except at the very worst times of day.

I like it here a lot but do not recommend it to newbies. Better to find your feet in Hanoi/HCMC where the pickings are easier then relocate here after 6 months or so.

It's also changed a lot in the last 5 years and there are big plans for numerous luxury hotels, high rise blocks of flats and other BS. It may not be so nice in 5 more years.

ExpatLuke · Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Posts: 744

montblanc20 · Joined: 21 Jul 2013 Posts: 53

Negatives:

Seeing ugliness so often:

Men peeing in the open everywhere. Seeing trash everywhere. Seeing environmental destruction like hillsides being dug out.

Being afraid of accidents. There are people limping around with one leg smaller than the other. And people missing limbs.

Development. Development is necessary so people won't be so poor. However, I hope that everything isn't replaced by ugly high rise apartments like Korea. So far, that's not happening where I am. But I've seen plans that would basically get rid of the shack houses in one area and replace them with high rises. The government can be bought off by developers easily and then the little guy loses their (all land belongs to the state) land. Where I am will be the French Riviera of Vietnam someday.

Positives:

I'm happy where I am in the South Central. No crazy weather (typhoons) where I am. Not too hot. I can be by the water everyday. I can hike up a small mountain not too far away. I can ride to a minority village 70 minutes away and chill by the river.

The only thing that I miss is climbing. And making more money. I could go to Hanoi for that. Sometimes I think about long-term and starting a climbing gym like some young-ish guys did in Hanoi and HCMC. But I also liked where I lived in the USA, so it would be hard to stay.

torentosan · Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 54

cb400 · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 274 Location: Vientiane, Laos

torentosan · Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 54

cb400 · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 274 Location: Vientiane, Laos

I've heard that Korea is worse for that. Having said that, the south was definitely more relaxed about that than Hanoi.

skarper · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 477

I don't pay any heed to that kind of nonsense. It's another reason not to learn Vietnamese so you don't have to hear it. Perhaps my wife is sometimes upset by idiots like these but I think she has the sense to realize the truth behind it.

It is better to ignore it rather than lash out - whatever the provocation. The only circumstances when violence is justified is self-defense and then try to minimize it. The danger is that things will escalate and I don't give much for any foreigner's chances in court here.

I had friends in Korea who would fight the locals over the must ridiculous things. I tried to explain the risks to them but they were high testosterone young men and there was no point.