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jb0072009 · Joined: 26 Feb 2009 Posts: 127 Location: Saigon

Well just as I thought I had figured out how to avoid the dangers of living here I find a new one. http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20100405101712.aspx . Dam I will sure be careful when even approaching an ATM machine!

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

the way things look, how are you gonna know what the next danger is? Apparently that same machine had shocked a bunch of folks, but no one did anything til the girl was killed. I love the country, but I think we are just taking our chances. You ever notice how narrow some of the stair steps are? I was on a second floor restaurant recently, and as I came to the stairs (it was late and dark), I almost tripped because they had an extra level of flooring right at the approach, about half an inch high by 3 inches. Almost as if it was designed to send people falling down the stairs. To me, danger just seems built in over there, and while you can try to be careful, you cannot predict all this kind of danger. I love the craziness generally, but I think we have to be realistic too, if nothing else gets you, the air should take years off your life. If we are not enjoying it twice as much as life in the west, we should reconsider why we are there, in my opinion.

jb0072009 · Joined: 26 Feb 2009 Posts: 127 Location: Saigon

Who really knows how bad the pollution here is? Saigon does not make the top 25 cities for worst pollution on Forbes. However a recent article http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/business/environment/7477/ states that polltion here is out of control. Whilst living in Nha Trang I rarely heard anyone cough. It seems to be rife here in Saigon. I have really started to have respitory problems here (I have bad lungs anyway) and I am looking to get out of here because of the pollution. I can tell a big difference when outside (my eyes burn, cough) and inside aircon places (less cough no eye burning. I think the biggest problem here is dust in the air, I constantly feel it hitting my eyes whilst on the motorbike even with a face shield. If I wear wrap around sunglasses then my eyes do not bother me but at night that is not a good idea.

Danaa · Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 40

deessell2 · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 132 Location: Under the sun

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

the air is flat out nasty, on the streets. Inside modern buildings it seems to be acceptable. I think we could go on forever about the dangers, seen and unseen, and it might me a good thread if there was anything we could do about it, but I think mostly there is not. Like that ATM story, how are you gonna change your life to avoid electrical hazards where there should not be any? Only way I know is "get out of Dodge". I have not been hurt too badly by anything yet, but at this time my outlook is, "acceptance". I understand I am trading safety and longevity for the life. To me, it is a good trade. But my suggestion is we all realize that is what we are risking, safety and longevity. Notice how few older people you see in HCMC. Not that it kills them all, but I think they realize that it is not a good long term life there, they leave it for the young and get the hell out while they still can.