Job Discussion Forums

[Minella]

Thank you for sharing this info with me. Yes I guess it will okay to start off with and then can move on to some place else. They pay in cash? wow that is weird. What will I do with all that cash Bank account would be good. Oh well...I guess I will have to deal with it for some time.
Yep. I will definitely keep my eyes open for other jobs!! Cheers!!

[toiyeuthitmeo]

The cash pay was the norm there over a year ago, probably still the same. It is problematic, especially if you need to send money to your home country or keep a bank card account funded. Plus there are safety concerns. Even in Vung Tau the odd house has been known to be robbed.
Not sure if you want to ruffle any feathers but it might be worth pressuring your employer to pay you by direct deposit into a Vietnamese bank. Makes things so much easier/safer, and is becoming (and rightly so) the standard for companies in VN employing foreigners.


You can send cash abroad via Western Union but it's got a fee and you typically need someone on the other side to handle it for you. There's a Westen Union branch at Vietin Bank on Tran Hung Dao street.

Other ways to deal with this are to use the gold shops to convert your pay that you want to save into US dollars, also for a fee, or to just hang on to your dong and buy dollars when you want to travel abroad or go home. Any shop that sells gold jewelry will sell dollars, usually for about 20-25,000 VND per dollar. This is a bit less of a concern as the exchange has stayed pretty constant over the last several months.

You can probably open your own account at one of the banks in town, however it is pretty difficult for foreigners to have cash-deposit accounts, and even if succesful it will probably not be able to be used for money transfers abroad (they make you jump through all sorts of hoops to do that). Sorry, not too knowledgeable on this--maybe some of your future co-workers at CL will have some advice.

Vietcombank is pretty easy for me to use and send money abroad. How you might handle getting paid in cash is to find another teacher in town you can trust who has a Vietcom account, pay them your cash, and have them do an ATM funds transfer for the equal amount into a Vietcom bank account in your name. Then you'll have an ATM card, money in the bank rather than under the bed, and ability to transfer money abroad (you'll need to show Vietcom your passport, a work contract, and a recent pay statement). A lot more simple than it sounds

[snollygoster]

There is a very simple way to send money home. Its not what the govt want to hear but it works without a hitch and no fees. Minella, you know how to find out. Lets just say you MUST have a bank account with a Visa debit card, in Vietnam. Easy to open such an account, but as toiyeuthitmeow (I love cat meat) says, you need to show the bank your source of funds such as a pay slip from CL, etc. Surely CL will assist you to open such an account.

[chim35]

[Minella]

I guess I am more concerned about keeping the money somewhere safe rather than transferring money home. So CL people better deal with it for me and find a way to keep my money in the bank there. Otherwise It will be impossible to keep heaps of money under the bed VNese Visa debit card sounds good!
PS: bloody hell!! they eat cats too? I am going to jump off the cliff now! right now!

[snollygoster]

How do you figure that there are no fees, Snolly?

I mean no EXTRA fees to transfer- There will always be fees to use Visa card. Western Onion for example charge a flat fee (I dont recall how much) + % to transfer then there are plenty of hoops to jump through anyway.

There are NO completely free lunches.

[snollygoster]

Minella, they eat mice, rats, sparrows, snakes, silk worms, and many other animals too- If it moves- eat it!