Understanding Vietnamese Life Partner

[Tony Stark]

Originally Posted by Kualalumpur

Yes but not only. In the Sheraton of Hanoi, I lost everything last year in my room, went for breakfast, come back to the room, nothing left. Took 30 minutes. No mongering involved, just business. Safety, suitcases, everything of value removed. No one has seen anything, even if I know there were many witnesses, cannot be otherwise. Another friend at the Melia in June, same story.

I understand that snatching is quite common in Saigon, as well as recently the use of guns to rob people, which was unheard of before. In Hanoi, they nearly never do like that, they are very coward, prefer to wait that you go to toilets, breakfast, or sleep, and steal at that time, hidden.

What the hell! This sort of thing also can happen in a five star hotel? Must be an inside job. Don't they have CCTV on every floors? If not why stay in a expensive hotel? Might as well stay in a guesthouse. Girl friendly some more. Did Sheraton compensate you?

Just a sidenote. Be careful when going to HCMC saunas also. I read from another forum. The locker boys do steal. Carry your valuables in a ziplock bag wherever you go in the sauna. No problems with Macau saunas from personal experience.

I got pickpocketed recently in Zhuhai, China.

[Kualalumpur]

Originally Posted by Tony Stark

What the hell! This sort of thing also can happen in a five star hotel? Must be an inside job.

It is a five star hotel, but the staff is paid 1.2 to 2 millions VND maximum, so they are prone to stealing and more. I had 1 waitress from another 5 star hotel on another trip, easy.

They did pay back a part of it, but not more.

[Tony Stark]

Those bros who have Vietnam blues can anticipate to a new place to cheong in Singapore very soon.

http://samsforum.asia/health-...idge-road.html

[Tony Stark]

Originally Posted by Kualalumpur

It is a five star hotel, but the staff is paid 1.2 to 2 millions VND maximum, so they are prone to stealing and more. I had 1 waitress from another 5 star hotel on another trip, easy.

They did pay back a part of it, but not more.

I befriended a waitress in a coffeshop too. Not a stunner but got her to help translate Viet sms into English.

[CeiResident]

Uncle stark u are sibeh pro sia. international guru from thailand to vietnam to prc. i will salute u when i am back in singapore keke...

Originally Posted by Tony Stark

I befriended a waitress in a coffeshop too. Not a stunner but got her to help translate Viet sms into English.

[SingViet]

Originally Posted by Kualalumpur

understand that snatching is quite common in Saigon, as well as recently the use of guns to rob people, which was unheard of before. In Hanoi, they nearly never do like that, they are very coward, prefer to wait that you go to toilets, breakfast, or sleep, and steal at that time, hidden.

As saigon is near to cambodia, many firearms are smuggled thru the boarder into Saigon. A heavily armed team of police was formed to tackle this arm robbery thingy.

[Torres_Mok]

Originally Posted by SingViet

As saigon is near to cambodia, many firearms are smuggled thru the boarder into Saigon. A heavily armed team of police was formed to tackle this arm robbery thingy.

firearm common in saigon?

[Kualalumpur]

Originally Posted by Torres_Mok

firearm common in saigon?

Since february, very common.

[papillon30]

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Taxi drivers are scared to drive the midnight shift. Violent crime
is the norm now.

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Vietnam aims for 7 pct GDP growth, 15 pct inflation next year

[Tony Stark]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Vietnam aims for 7 pct GDP growth, 15 pct inflation next year

Sianzzz massage, ST/LT rates will also up by 15 percent.

KNN SGD really depreciating against many currencies.

June 2008: VND13,000+
July 2008: VND12,000+
August 2008: VND11,000+

Sianzzz. Getting expensive to cheong in Vietnam. Even RMB/HKD also getting stronger now. Only THB maintaining around 23.8 region. Still quite ok. Never fluctuate much.

[SingViet]

Stalled CPI risks to gallop again
Tet spending is poised to ignite the CPI by the year’s end.

VietNamNet Bridge - The consumer price index has been slowing recently, but a lot of negative factors are waiting for pushing it up again in upcoming months.

Emerging late last year as a big concern for the economy, Vietnam’s inflation rate, reaching 28.32 per cent on-year in August, was among the highest among Asian countries. Inflation . The slowdown of the consumer price index (CPI) in recent months was a good sign for the stability of macroeconomics. After rising to 3.91 per cent in May due to the rice price fever in late April, the CPI in June and July slowed down to 2.14 per cent and 1.13 per cent respectively.

Unlike released forecasts claiming the CPI would be negatively impacted by the fuel price hike and inflation would hit at least 2 per cent in August, statistics from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that the CPI last month rose only 1.56 per cent.

“The increase is not as bad as we thought. The main reasons hindering the increase were bumper crops and strict measures by the government preventing unreasonable price increases after the fuel price hike in late July,” said Nguyen Ngoc Van, vice head of the GSO’s Integrated Statistics Department.

According to a GSO report, food prices in August slipped 1.1 per cent and foodstuff prices hiked only 0.53 per cent compared to July. Currently, food and foodstuffs accounted for 42 per cent of the commodity basket to calculate the CPI. Economists said the CPI slowdown proved the effectiveness of the government’s measures to rein in the inflation rate, including tightening monetary and fiscal policies, closely controlling market management and preventing speculation.

More challenges await

Although economists and international financial institutions said Vietnam was on the right track to control inflation and ease economic stability threats, dozens of factors have been pointed out that could negatively affect inflation rates in the upcoming months.

Rising demands at the end of the year could be a big factor pushing the CPI up. In the upcoming months, there will be the holiday season and the New Year, which will boost commodity demands. Traditionally, Vietnamese usually begin theire shopping spree for Tet in the fourth quarter.

“The CPI often slows down in the second and third quarters and quickens in the fourth quarter because consumers spend more money on festivals,” said economist Ngo Tri Long, vice head of the Institute of Market and Price Research.

He said the price hike would occur mainly in food, foodstuffs, beverages, alcohol and clothing. According to a report by the Information Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam could face shortages of pork at the end of this year because of the recent ear disease nationwide. Furthermore, dangers of animal and poultry diseases in upcoming months could also be an important factor affecting the inflation rate.

“Animal diseases have been very unpredictable recently. Although we are still implementing preventive methods, we cannot affirm the diseases will not occur in the future,” said Nguyen Nghia Bien, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Planning Department.

Van said these cases, once occurred, would be a big factor pushing up the CPI. Increasing construction activities during the last months of the year are expected to drive inflation up. Vietnam’s traditional construction season, from May to September, with massive ground-breaking ceremonies held, will trigger construction materials demand. The disbursement process of construction projects funded by the state budget, official development assistance and government bonds would also be accelerated to meet targets.

As a result, Van said, the rising demand would hike prices, especially since manufacturers of construction materials like steel and cement were claiming a lack of capital for production and investments. “We have witnessed a recent slip in steel prices during the rainy season, but the price could lift again in the fourth quarter in line with rising demand,” said Pham Cong Thao, vice head of the Planning Department of Vietnam Steel Corporation.

Recently, the Vietnam Cement Corporation also asked the Ministry of Construction for an increase of selling prices, claiming that imported clinker prices were climbing too high. Natural disasters are also a significant factor pushing inflation up. The rainy season has passed in the northern and southern regions and the country has not suffered serious storms or flooding, except the recent floods in the northwest provinces. However, the fourth quarter’s rainy season in the central provinces and Mekong Delta is looming.

Last year, a one-month flood in central provinces caused huge losses in the region and contributed notably to the inflation rate in late 2007. Early this year, a record-long spell of cold weather killed more than 8,000 cattle and 10,000 hectares of paddy rice in the northern provinces.

“Natural disasters can’t be predicted,” Van said.Despite the slowdown of economic growth and high inflation, Vietnam has still attracted interest from international investors. But, experts said rising foreign direct investment in line with a bulk of currency remitted by overseas Vietnamese (Viet Kieu) would pose additional pressure on inflation.

Statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency show that foreign investors disbursed about $7 billion in the first eight months of this year, and the number is expected to reach $10 billion by the end of 2008. Meanwhile, Viet Kieu’s remittances hit $3.5 billion in the first two quarters.

“Large amounts of foreign-invested capital and remittances may increase the amount of money in circulation. This means it would be difficult to tighten monetary policies,” said a report by the National Centre for Social Economic Information and Forecast under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Apart from such internal factors, external factors could also contribute to Vietnam’s inflation. The decline of global oil prices has allowed the government to reduce local fuel retail prices twice last month. However, global political instability is threatening the world’s economy. The crisis in the Middle East and eastern Europe could negatively impact the global oil market and push up other commodity prices.

“Although the oil price is declining, nothing can ensure that it will not bounce back again,” Van said.
“Vietnam has integrated deeply into the global economy. Thus, any changes in the global economy will directly affect the country. Regional crises could impact the price of materials, so we must closely watch these situations in order to apply suitable responses,” economist Ngo Tri Long said.

Too early to be optimistic

The government has chosen reining in inflation as its number one priority this year, showing determination to keep inflation under double digits. Cao Viet Sinh, Vice Minister of Planning and Investment, said that the government would continue to implement current measures for reining in inflation, despite the recent slowdown of CPI.
“Difficulties will remain in the upcoming months. The CPI has slowed down, but inflation is still very high compared with the same period last year,” Sinh said.

The GSO’s Nguyen Ngoc Van said Vietnam’s inflation rate could range between 24.12-24.38 per cent this year.
“The government must be prepared to cope with these factors if they occur. We are still in the early stages of the fight against inflation, and we cannot be too optimistic yet,” said Sinh.



(Source: VNA)

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Vietnam aims for 7 pct GDP growth, 15 pct inflation next year

As long as air ticket is still cheap around less than $200 then still cheongable...

[69ASIMO69]

Just a check here...... How you guys cope when your Vietnam GF still has to work in Pubs here but not going to Hotel with customers???????

[naemlo]

Originally Posted by 69ASIMO69

Just a check here...... How you guys cope when your Vietnam GF still has to work in Pubs here but not going to Hotel with customers???????

Errrrr since u have no money to support her, n yet want her as a gf, then this is called "Lan Lan", let her been hug, touch by stranger and make a white lie to yourself, she dun go bed with customer.