20 Things People HATE About Vietnam

What are 20 things that the internet absolutely hates about living in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City? Guys, I'm just going to be responding to an internet list. I'm going to go through it point by point. I didn't come up with these, but like we said, just like every place has pros, every place has cons or areas of opportunity or things that could get better. And of course, as with anything in life, individual positioning exposure does matter. So why MMV, your mileage may vary. How much you value these things, care about these things, or even agree with these things. But certainly they're talked about a lot on the internet. Point number one, the heat, aka the weather tax. So Vietnam is hot. Vietnam is humid. But I would say as somebody who lived a year of life in Bangkok, the weather here is better than Bangkok, despite being closer to the equator and being lower in latitude. It is because of its relation to the water and the inland and the mountain ranges and how atmospheric pressure, you know, how heat gets trapped. And basically, long story short, the weather here is extremely consistent in Ho Chi Minh. And I happen to like it. Like I believe the fluctuation between seasons is very, very low. Bangkok's still hotter despite being higher up on latitude. I like it. California is like that too. So Cal specifically, it's like pretty much the same all year round, except, you know, nighttime is cold. Point number two, rude service. I would say that this one's really hit or miss. Like, it's definitely not going to be like, you know, Tokyo or something like that, where you're pretty much going to be expecting that almost all service people are 99% one way. You know, I would say here it could be, you know, I would say more than half the time. For sure. It's good service. But yeah, for sure. Like, dude, if you look at the growth of Saigon and how many people have come in from surrounding provinces or faraway lands or villages or just very like non-city places, they might have a different style of communication. Like the other day I walked into an acai shop in Taodian and it looked open. But then when I got in there, some guy just yelled at me, we're closed, we're closed. No. And at first I had this inner soccer mom that was like, oh my gosh, what services is I'm being yelled at? But then I thought about it and I was like, man, he's just trying to communicate something factual like he would from like a fishing boat to another fishing boat. So, you know, you kind of have to understand like Shanghai went through this whole thing with like migrant workers coming in. I don't know. I don't think they call it migrant workers here in Saigon, but like in China, like, you know what I mean? There were so many levels of like coming in and all this stuff. And anyway, point number three, people dumping things in the drain or lack of pollution or trash management. Let me just showcase this. You guys, this, I did not plan this out, but yeah, that is an example of poor trash management relative to other big Asian metropolises. Even Bangkok, to be honest, is a little bit cleaner. However, if you compared it to the West, let's say New York city or parts of Paris, it would be on par or maybe even cleaner. You know, even in New York city, there's parts that are way cleaner than Saigon, like a LIC or Hudson yards or like whatever. But then there's parts that are like LES, which is super old school or like the Bronx or Brooklyn. It would be even worse than this. You know what I mean? This is some decent trash management right here. But at the end of the day, Saigon is a place where the growth is so exponential over the past couple of decades. And the amount of trash that it produces per year is the same as Tokyo. But I believe that it has probably less than a fifth of the infrastructure of Tokyo to process that same trash and litter and waste management. You know what I mean? So you have 20% of the infrastructure, but you have 100% equivalent volume of trash. Of course, that's going to lead to, you know, some like messy sites. You know what I mean? I mean, they're getting it together. They're getting it together. But I think obviously, let's be honest, it's not on any regular person. It's going to be the powers that be and how they want to distribute tax dollars and things like that to essentially like, you know, figure out how they're going to spend the money to make sure that the infrastructure feels in line with the city's economic arc, right? We're all on a development arc, guys. We're all in an arc. And some cities are further along their arc. And some people have a steeper arc. And some people have a longer arc, but a slower rise. And that's just how societies and civilizations move. Point number four, noise, pollution, traffic chaos. I like it. You know, I've always lived in big cities. You know, parents from Hong Kong and, you know, Tokyo. My mom grew up in Tokyo. Like, it's just like, I'm used to it. It doesn't feel that crazy to me. But I can see if you're from a really nice area, like, I don't know. I don't know if moving to Vietnam would be the right place. You know what I mean? Like, if you're really sensitive to like, what we, some people refer to as cacophony. It may not be the right place. But like, I'm just like, man, to me, that's just energy. That's just development. I like it. Point number five, tourist pricing. As you can see, we're in the very, very tourist zone right now. And Benton Market, super like 10 out of 10 tours. You can buy some bootleg stuff from the factory right there. Maybe factory seconds, whatever you want to call them. I would say that, you know, if you are Asian, it's just different. Because like, I don't know. Yeah. Like, even in Thailand too. Like, if you're just Asian, it's just different. I'm not saying that you're fully going to be like a local. But it's definitely not like being, you could be from America, but you're not going to get treated like a white American person is, to be honest. And in both good and bad ways too. Like, you're not going to get the tourist pricing, but you might not get all the same like astonishment or wonderment or like pedestalization too. It's just like a less, because Viets kind of look like every Asian too. Like, you can find a Viet person who looks Japanese. You can find a Viet person who looks Filipino. Viets have like a lot of pretty varied looks within their country. So it's like, yeah. Anyway, point number six, things shut down on you or items constantly sell out. I will say this, like in my time here, my two favorite Bun Cha spots shut down in Taodien and then a new one opened up. And my gym, I was going to Elite Fitness Taodien actually shut down. But then I started two new gym memberships, you know, shout out to Primal, shout out to Somni. And it's like, I don't know, like, and a new Bun Cha spot opened up. You know what I mean? But then the bank at the mall shut down too. But then there might be a new bank that pops up or I got a T-Mobile, like digital bank account. So it's like everything does shut down in a lot of ways. And a lot of places like sell out of your favorite dish before like 2 PM, you know, especially if it's a lunchtime food like Bun Cha. But at the same time, there'll just be another one that pops up too. And that's just what I like. That reminds me of Shanghai in 07 and 08. It was literally like that. You know, I went back to Cao Yang Lu, you know, which was by Hoa Su Da, where I was like doing a study abroad. And that place like completely changed over like about like 80% in like five years, you know? So that's just the nature of things. And food in Vietnam is still hyper local. Like, you know, the couple from Hanoi that cooks Bun Cha might need to go back to Hanoi for Tet Lunar New Year. You know what I mean? So I just think that that lends itself to the freshness, the authenticity, the limited editionness of like every food item. But yeah, I could see it being frustrated for somebody from a really commoditized, commercialized place. And I'll tell you this, Vietnam doesn't even have any commercialized food restaurants yet. Like the biggest chain you see around is like Lotteria from Korea. Like I know that food 24 from Hanoi was like trying to do it. Maybe they got like 10 or 15 or whatever, maybe 20. But there's no chain that has like thousands. Point number seven, the cost is going up. I think places rarely ever stay great, cheap and undiscovered. Like the fact that Vietnam has been discovered as a great place to come, it already indicates that it's going to gentrify out like Bangkok, right? But Bangkok took like 20, 30 years to do it. And now it's super expensive relative to the region. And Vietnam is going to speed run that, but it's still behind on that gentrification art. So I think that the cost is going up. But, you know, you look at BAM, which is my favorite nightclub. Just a few years ago, you look at BAM now. How are they not going to raise the prices? It's so much cooler looking. It looks like international tier level now. Like we said, we've got the makeshift trashes right here. It's all good, gets the job done. Point number eight, the ground is sinking and there's polluted air. Okay, so these are two separate issues. I do believe Ho Chi Minh City is sinking one to four to five centimeters a year, depending on where you live. But at the end of the day, guys, the whole world is going to end at some point anyway. And I don't know, I'm not living my life off a few centimeters. But yeah, I would say, you know, as far as the pollution goes, one of the interesting things is they built the factories, I want to say like 20, 30 kilometers out instead of like, you know, 2000 kilometers out or 200 kilometers out. So unfortunately, you're going to get some of, you know, like manufacturing air blowback when something's only like 20, 30 kilometers away. You know what I mean? Versus like if something's 2000 kilometers away or 200, you're just not going to feel it. And I believe Vietnam still gets most of its power sources 49% from coal, which is why they're partnering with the Russians to do the nuclear power in the future. Because if you guys know about, you know, the 4.0 version of nuclear, it's like way cleaner and et cetera, et cetera. Anyway, point number nine, smoking cigs is everywhere. I think that Vietnam has the cheapest good cigarettes I've ever seen in my entire life. Look at this right here, guys. This cigarettes are these, those cigarettes are a dollar a pack. Let's say you get 20 cigarettes in a packs, 5 cents each. For example, in Australia, the most expensive cigarette prices in the world, 20 cigarettes is $60 USD. That's $3 a cigarette. That's 60 X from a dollar USD to 60 USD. That's crazy. Of course, you're going to smoke because people here, look at how hard they're working. People got, are busting their ass, you know, like who's not going to take a 5 cent dopamine relaxation sort of hit. Like that would be great. Like I don't see that going anywhere. If anything makes me want to look at some, you know, potential investments and I don't know, whatever you want to say, like some teeth whitening gum or something. Like, I don't know if people care about that yet, but you know, I don't think the smoke is going to slow down. If anything makes me want to smoke. I don't smoke, but you know, it's certainly enticing. Point number 10, flooding or rain season. Like I said, I think compared to Bangkok, Bangkok has rain season, dry season, monsoon season. Here it's just dry season and rain season. I don't know what people want. Like, do they want this place to never rain and be dry all year round? It doesn't make any sense. But yeah, for sure. Like I could see rain season, you know, that's why you want to make sure you like your crib if you're stuck in a crib, you know, but the math checks out. Listen, guys, everywhere has pros and cons. Don't much, don't have much to say about like weather related things. Point number 11, internet censorship. I think that to be honest, internet censorship is way more strict in China than in Vietnam. I'm not saying it's not more strict in Vietnam than America, but let's say for example, America has 10 out of 10 freedom. And you can even argue if that's true, right? Really, is that really true? Let's say that Vietnam is six out of 10 and maybe China's like two. So, I mean, I don't know. Like it really depends on what your, you know, point of comparison is and your reference point. Point number 12, tap water is not drinkable. I would agree with that. But really anywhere except like I wouldn't, I don't know if I would drink the tap water anywhere except like maybe Japan or Singapore. Point number 13, food safety. You're playing street food roulette. I think that for sure it depends on, you know, what kind of biomes you got in your stomach and different tolerances level. Everybody varies, but I'm gonna go ahead and say, I don't eat street food unless it's from a famous food stall that's been there for 20, 30 years. And they look like they give a damn about their reputation and their Google reviews and how people perceive them. That's what I would say. Point number 14, English proficiency. I think that people over 40, 45, it could be a little shaky unless they're rich, but people under 25, I was shocked at how good people are. And I was actually shocked at how much kids love like American internet culture. Like, you know, like saying Riz and no cap and saying ABGs and Kevin wins and ABBs. I was shocked at how much like Saigon youth that had never been to America had absorbed through TikTok. You know what I mean? Like, to be honest, and they even have their own like sort of versions of like what they mean by like, what's a trap girl and stuff like that, which is like a party girl who just likes to have fun. I don't know. You know, they got slang that I want to adopt. Point number 15, visa complexity or foreign restrictions on ownership. I think that's a lot of places and it's smart for them to do it because you're a developing economy. People from the more, countries more further on their development timeline could like come in and hawk on you and like buy up all your land if you don't put restrictions on it. But for sure, there is restrictions. And I would say that you definitely want to pay fixers to handle those situations. I would say the one thing is about whether, you know, you're getting something renewed or you need to get a visa for something or you need to get anything, get a Zalo fixer because they can just move mountains. Point number 16, mosquitoes and reptiles and bugs. I would say so. There's more, there's more, but really it's not that bad. Like I did see a little baby lizard in my house, but once I made it cold enough with the AC, it just ran out. But yeah, like as no matter how they try to gap the doors, some baby lizards are just that small. But yeah, I mean like obviously, obviously guys, look, listen, this used to be like a, I would say like a semi-tropical jungle forest at one point. So it's like, of course, like the, those lizards were here before the humans were. Point number 18 scams. I think that, you know, I don't know if you guys have ever heard of like, you know, a lot of people always are like, oh, you're going to Southeast Asia. Don't get scammed. Like Scambodia is a, I'm not endorsing that term. I'm just saying what people say. So it's like in this list or in like Vietnam, Viet scum. I have heard that too. I would say this, you have to watch for scams anywhere, but the scams look different. Like scams in the first world place is going to look different than a third world place or a second world place for sure. And the amount that is tolerated or the amount that is expected is going to be different. But I'm telling everybody in 2026, everybody got to up their anti-scam defense. If you want to get a minor in scamology in terms of anti-scamology, the study of anti-scamming, you should do it because the way the world is becoming right now, people are leaning away from more like violent in-person crimes due to like AI cameras and just prosecution and stuff like that. And they're more leaning into digital scams in general, regardless of where you are on earth. I will say the only one additional element, probably in Vietnam that I've heard of is like really hot, smart girls, maybe trying to get you into something. That would be like the one thing where I'm like, that's not going to happen probably in every place, you know? Be elaborate, like catch me if you can. But at the end of the day, I'll tell you this, scamming and anti-scamming, it's like an ISO matchup in basketball. If somebody's scam ability is at an eight, your scam defense got to be at a nine. But the biggest problem is a lot of scammers are not even at an eight level. A lot of scammers are like level six or level seven scammers. But a lot of people scam defenses at level two or level three, you're going to get got because your scam defense cannot transcend the scam offense. Point number 19, some people online have complaints about the healthcare. So I'll say this, from what I know, maybe Vietnam's public healthcare still has a way to go nationally. I heard in Ho Chi Minh City, even the public healthcare is quite decent, but most people are going to opt to go to a private hospital and pay out of pocket. But the out-of-pocket costs are still pretty cheap. Just like buying stuff at the pharmacy, pretty cheap. I would say that, yeah, that's definitely one area where they probably could improve the national WHO score for public health. But at the end of the day, if you are a foreigner, you're going to be going to a private hospital and it's still going to be cheaper than maybe your home country with insurance, especially if your home country is America. Point number 20, supply chain issues. I mean, look guys, I think the supply chain issues in Vietnam are actually being solved more and more every day. But for sure, it's not like... in terms of like produce and stuff for foreign goods, it's not the same international pipelines that Bangkok has developed over the past couple of decades. But maybe one day, depending on the heart that they're on, they could surpass it. So yeah, I think you have to look at where it's headed. Oh, by the way, these kids, man, these kids are always on these smaller e-bikes because you don't need license plates for them. You don't need license plates once it's 50cc or below a certain amount of kilometers per hour. I would just say this, maybe the only thing about supply chain issues that really bothers me is there's not as many like zero-calorie, high-protein options like Bangkok. Bangkok's really on that. Like they got protein water now in Bangkok. I would say that. And then maybe the only thing that's shocking to me is that Vietnam has no zero-sugar Robusta beans, Robusta Vietnamese coffee bean cold brew. Like people only drink like Bak Siu or like sugared cafe thin. You know what I mean? Like, so I would say that's just an area of opportunity. But like I said, all these issues that I just named, they're actually all improving, but they're all obviously like real things you could see in like a developing place too. Like you're going to see remnants of the old days and the old ways that people are trying to move away from or like move past or move to the next chapter from mixed with some of the new ways too. And like I said, YMMV, your mileage may vary dependent on what you, the life you live, how much you, you know, where you position yourself. And all this to say this guys, despite all 20 things that I just listed off that people quote unquote hate or dislike about living in Vietnam or Ho Chi Minh city. Ho Chi Minh city, Saigon has the second highest retention rate for expats of any place on earth. Number one is actually Taipei, Taiwan. Number two is Ho Chi Minh city. What's number three? Singapore, number four, Sydney, and number five is Berlin. And I'll tell you this, the average yearly income in Ho Chi Minh city is 7,500. The average GDP per capita in Taipei is 34,000 in Singapore, 65,000 in Sydney, it's 55,000 in Berlin is 45,000. So it goes to show you a place that like is one fifth to one ninth the amount of GDP per capita is still number two ranked because people still love it here. And at the end of the day, retention is driven by place attachment, which is pride, community, belonging, and not necessarily infrastructure. Because if you already know, like humans made it past the caveman days and everything, how much infrastructure do you realistically need before you feel like you want to jump off a cliff? I mean, everybody has different thresholds, right? So at the end of the day, those are 20 things that people complain about. I think that all 20 of those things, maybe with the exception of the cost going up, the cost going up, you guys is inevitable, but it could, if the cost goes up everywhere else on the world already, then it's just sort of a rising title baseline for everybody on the inflation level. So anyway, guys, let me know what you guys think of my list. Do you agree with my takes? Disagree with my takes? Agree with the internet? Disagree with the internet? That's 20 things that people don't like about Ho Chi Minh City and my thoughts on them. Until next time, I'm out. Peace. By the way, let me know in the comment section, other list videos you want to see me make.