Job Discussion Forums

[Vietman]

I'm sure many of you are aware of the constant drive-by robberies with thieves on motorcycles in Saigon.

It appears these criminals are getting more sophisticated, and the frequencies of these robberies are increasing.

A couple weeks ago, my girlfriend had her laptop stolen in District 4 past the connecting bridge to District 1 by a pair of thieves - rather unsuspecting, because they looked quite rich, and the accomplice in the back who grabbed the laptop was - a woman!

She had noticed the couple on the bridge earlier as they were parked, apparently just out sight-seeing, taking a romantic respite on the sidewalk overlooking the view. But she had no idea they were criminals.

The suspects in question were a man with a shaved head wearing a cap, and a woman with brown dyed, long tapered-cut hair. They rode on a very expensive motorbike, and were dressed nicely.

Recently, a friend of ours also had their laptop stolen. They pursued the thieves, but it appeared there was more motorcycles involved than just the original gangsters. BUT A nearby motorcycle pushed him away as he tried to pursue them to get back the laptop. This occurred on Hai Ba Trung Street.

And just this week, a young foreigner woman on a Xe om (motorcycle driver) was robbed and in the process of the purse-snatching, they fell off the motorbike. The Xe om was hurt very badly, nearly killed.

My friends have witnessed a drive-by purse snatching of their lady friend too.

Bottom line - don't give the mafia a chance to exploit you - they will. Don't carry anything easily stolen - purses, briefcases, handbags. They can't steal what you don't have.

[Blade]

I'd like to add that there has been an increase in the stealing of laptops in District 7, also.

People that have backpacks that look like they are for carrying laptops are having their bags snatched while they are driving their motorbikes. At times, these thieves have actually cut the bags with exacto knives.

Many students that attend a univerisity in District 7 have been targeted.

Laptops are expensive and they are easy to sell.

Be careful when carrying them about, as well as purses and other bags etc.

Two men on motorbikes attempted to snatch my book bag a couple of months ago while I was walking in District 1.

[Micro67]

1. Do not wear bags over one shoulder.
2. Do put bags in front of the driver in front of the seat and surrounded by the drivers legs.
3. Do not talk on the phone while on a motorbike (the thieves are most likely to get you at a stop ... it has happened to me).
4. Do use blockers for driving safety and keeping something between you and motorbike bandits. A lot of the kids that weave through traffic might look like they are just dumb kids, but they are looking for targets of opportunity.

Any other thoughts on this appreciated. I've been here for almost 4 years and I've had two incidents with this type of thing. Once someone tried to grab my bag (which would have netted them two books, my favorite pen and a cassette I needed for class). They made one attempt while we were both moving (20-30kph), missed and sped off.

The second time my better half was using her phone and as we came to a stop a two person team (it's usually the person in the back who actually makes the grab) lunged at her and pulled her off the bike. She didn't even lose her feet and they didn't get the phone, but think about how little they valued not only our lives, but theirs.

There are a few places in HCMC that are infamous for this: Turtle Lake abd the roundabout at Nguyen Hue and Le Loi.

[Vietman]

As it's the holiday, now you can expect the thieves are out and about. Expect the unexpected.

"Be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves." - Matt. 10:16

[slug93]

were near cafe yoko.. dist 3.. the streets were empty, but lots of people on the sidwalk eating/walking. while standing at the corner, deciding what to do. a motobike, with two people rode by a snatched my friend's purse, all within about 2 seconds.

i've travelled to peru/colombia before and those countries were more dangerous(violent wise). so i'm aware of dangerous situation.. in vn, i was on the lookout for muggers/thieves on foot.. not on motobike.. lesson learned.

if you walk w/ a girl then she should walk on the side closet to the buildings, while you(guy) walk on her outside. as a poster wrote, wear shoulder bags cross your body and not just off of one shoulder. now, i'm much more aware of empty streets(motobike thieves, like empty streets or streets w/ little traffic).. because they can make a quick gettaway. they ALWAYS go in pair. and many times(if not all), they'll have accomplices that you can't see.. these accomplice will block your path, if you try to chase after them on your motobike.

if you are a victim, immediately go to the NEAREST police station and report it. and make it known that you would be very appreciatvive(ie, money).. if the police can help you recover your items. most of the time, the police KNOW who the thieves/criminal in their area are..

it's unfortunate that vn(and many poorer countries) do not have sidewalks you can realisticly walk on. especially in hcm, people park the motobike on the sidewalk or have other obstruction on the sidewalk, forcing pedestrian to walk on the street. which allows motobike thieves the opp't. if we could walk 2 or 3 feet away from the street(on the sidewalk), motobike thieves will not be able to grab our stuff.

[johnyarrington]

How about, "No" and/or "No, but I've heard about this" as choices in the poll?

I dunno..........I've been to Vietnam 17 times, over the past 8 years, staying from 2 weeks to 3 months. I always either rent a motorbike in the smaller cites/small towns, or in HCMC we use my wife's, in Hanoi, a relative's. I've only been robbed of stuff once, and it was sheer stupidity on our part: I put a package down on the ground in Ben Thanh market, at my feet. Next thing I know, it was gone. It weighed at least 4 kg, so I thought it would be difficult to steal. Had to be a kid. Contained about $30 of handicrafts I'd bought, for souvenirs.

Big deal.

Other posters have said this, but very few: We've never had a motorbike stolen, or attempted to be stolen (well, at least that we know of!---coulda been----no, definitely WERE people around, thinking about it, but never really tried), never had a camera stolen or attempted; we take all the precautions, but occasionally we even make a phone call while we're driving (bad idea!).

I just haven't had much trouble. You do gotta be careful, though.

I'm sure it helps that my wife is Vietnamese (not Viet Kieu).

[ay_me]

just wanted to add my two penneth...

*Wearing a bag across your body does not prevent theft - they just use a razor and pull it off you.

*Don't stand on the street texting.

*Don't take photos from the back of a motorbike or it's bye bye camera.

and... sorry slug but why should we pay the police to "find" our stolen stuff? it maybe the way it works but it really sucks!

[slug93]

yeah.. i agree ay_me.. paying cops to DO there jobs seems weird.. but in VN govt workers(due to communism) salary is VERY LOW.. i think about 20-30USD/month.. so they supplement their income by these things..

Of course YOU DONT have to pay, but that just means a less service or more hassle. The other night my nephew was driving me in his car from tan son nhat airport. it was at 1am, he changed lane(the motobike lane).. a cop(not traffic cop) saw it.. and waved us over. now the cop can fine the driver AND impound the car IF they wanted to. So my nephew offer 100k dong, the cops replied, "there's two of us(cops), 100k for EACH".. so we paid 200k dong! haha..

Or the other day, i went to the airport custom terminal to get my package out of custom. now officially i DONT have to pay any tax on packages that follow my flight... BUT if i wanted to get out of there quick, versus sitting inside the custom freight area for 4 or 5 hrs(or more) and dealing w/ custom inspector going thru my stuff.. and maybe finding stuff to tax me.. i paid the custom clearing guy 200k dong to get it done quickly. He said part of the money is for the custom inspector.. if u dont pay u just wait longer or get hassle..

in VN money is the grease that keeps the gov't/economy moving! haha VN is actually a VERY capitalistic society/economy.. IF you know how to play the game, living here is actaully not bad.. of course as foreigners, we typically will get the short end of deals/bargain.. because they think we have more money.. so why negoiate with us as hard..

[jibbs]

I got ripped off once and it pissed me off a lot at the time. Actually I was pretty drunk and went to an ATM. Some girl snatched the cash (1,000,000 VND or $67 USD I guess) out of my hand. Then she hopped on the back of a motorbike and I could see her looking back laughing as they raced away.

HCMC is full of thieves, so be careful.

[Proffeshnial Teachman]

I haven't been targeted for this kind of snatch theft and found Saigon really safe, but then again I suppose I'm a bad target - male, 33 and carrying nothing electronic.

One of my friends was attacked on PNLaos when he was drunk but I really couldn't see why they bothered as he's a big bloke and he floored one and clubbed another clean off a bike as it came over. Job done!

I wouldn't condone giving money to the cops, especially 100,000 dong notes as this results in a false economy. I have never given anything to the police, not even 500 dong. Face them down and keep up (the pretence in some cases) of being an upstanding citizen and they'll crawl away. I was once faced with four cops in Can Tho that came into my hotel at midnight demanding to see my passport. I stood up straight and looked at their leader, "it's in Saigon getting a stamp" said I, banging my fist down on the table (stamping action you see). The three minions looked shocked and there was a brief pause. Exit the (empty-handed) keystone cops 5 seconds later.

Don't let them mess you around. There's a directive protecting foreigners from this kind of rubbish from Hanoi and they know it!

[Micro67]

There are a couple of places in town that will convert your keys to the phillips head type that appearantly aren't able to be 'mastered' so that the thieves can't come in with a universal key ... just a thought.