Saigon, HCMC, has long been charming and entitled " Safe destination for tourists". Police reports and tourists' feedback recently showed some undesired happenings. In crossing the road or sitting at an open-air diner some foreign visitors lost their cameras, cash, cards in their carrying bags.
To keep yourself away from that nuisance kindly pay attention to the advice given from the tour management / guide,.
HCMC amazingly attracts tourists. Do not let " snatch and run" makes your tour unhappy.
Safety rules are simple. Better wear no jewelry, keep camera rounded to the wrist and walk in a private group.
Safety on touring to HCMC, VN
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Saigon seemed perfectly safe to us. As in traveling anywhere, one must be cautious and careful with their belongings. VN is no different than anywhere else.
this is an odd post.... we found it totally safe... your camera can be stolen in any city in the world if you are careless...
if the intent is to scare people this is a waste of time as HCMC is quite safe
Very safe, in fact they even have a special tourist police force to make sure tourists are watched after.
I have no intent of " scaring people from visiting Saigon". I love Saigon since it is my hometown. My only intent is to mention the latest situation and some advice to keep Saigon perfect in tourists' eyes.
The latest situation in last month, April, was so alarming. That is NOT common. It made Christopher C. Twomey, Vice Chairman of US Chamber of Commerce in HCMC gave a reminder to the City authorities that they should stop it to preserve HCMC's reputation as a safe destination. ( Youth newspaper report 5/9/2011 ).
Thank you all for love for Saigon. I posted my writing in the same love.
if you love the place why keep bringing up potential negetive things??
It's your way of thinking, taking it negative. Look at the reality, facing the truth and find a solution. I am living in Saigon, HCMC and I know the situation. As a citizen of the place I need to preserve my city's reputation by telling foreign visitors the most updated thing, just last month in Saigon, in belief that there will be no "snatch and run" thanks to visitors' decent caution along with city authorities' actions in wake of the reminder given by Vice Chairman of the AMCHAM in HCMC in meeting with HCMC People's Committee by end of April.
I also thought HCMC was quite safe, but if there's been a rash of a certain kind of problem, I don't have any problem with zoomsgn reporting it. Recently (about a year ago), purse snatchings at outdoor restaurants became a problem in San Francisco. Everyone I know knows to wear their purse on their body in Europe, but nobody ever thought it was a problem in San Francisco. Well, it was, so it was reported. Why is that wrong?
Purse snatchings (especially from motos) have been common in VN for a long time. When I travelled with Mari808 (who lived there for many years) she also warned us about them, as IIRC, it had happened to her back in the `90's.
I keep my important stuff in my money belt and wear my purse close to my body everywhere, so it wasn't any different in Viet Nam.
I think we ought to be grateful to have a local keeping us informed of various aspects of the city, which happens to be a favorite of mine, as I've said many times. During one of my trips to Saigon I, too, was warned by locals to take extra care of my things, as robberies of tourists appear to increase around Tet when many rich Viet Kieu return to the city. As has been said above, take reasonable care, as you would in any large city.
I hope that Zoom will stick around and offer some tips on more pleasant subjects. Like where to find the best banh mi!
Last March we were in Saigon touring with Dung Nguyen Tri. He gave us good advice on safety. Right before starting the city tour he asked everybody to put necklace, jewelry, valuables in the carrying bags and at every stop the bags are in the van, locked. Back to the ship, we heard one or two stories of people losing stuff. In our case, following the guide's advice helped.
Many thanks to ekscrunchy for sharing your understanding and experience about Saigon.
Two of my hobbies are taking photos and writing. With C. EOS 650 and N. D3100 I've made and posted many short clips on You Tube. They are all about Saigon, My Tho and Cuchi. You are all welcomed to:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dungzoom&aq=f
and
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dungzoom1&aq=f
Should you be interested in reading about the Vietnamese society and the Vietnamese locals email me and I will reply with my pieces of writing.
I love to show Saigon, my hometown. I believe the best way is to say as it is and then, enhance the good and find a solution to the bad.
Ekscrunchy, my clip posted today on You Tube is about the making of a cup of VN drip coffee. And about Pho noodle soup soon !
Zoom
dungzoom@gmail.com
Vietnam is a safe country and you can feel that wherever you go to. However, like the other countries, once you're careless, you may not avoid being stolen or snatched. Take care of your precious items, keep an eye on cameras, jewelry, cellphone, laptop,etc. That's all i can say. Don't create a chance for bad people.