Vietnam Airport Officials And Bribery!!

sleet on 20/05/2014 - 22:18
Last edited 20/05/2014 - 23:08

I'm Australian Vietnamese and have been to Vietnam in the past. Beautiful country, home away from home. The people are amazing, the scenery is stunning and the food is brimming.

One of the main things that stop me back from going are corrupt officials, police force and airport security.

Being Viet Kieu, or an overseas Vietnamese, when I or my family member enter into the airport, the officials have always checked our bags and then asked for bribery money so that our transition through the airport is 'smooth.'

I have read that this has stopped but alas, TO THIS DAY, it is still occurring. It is disheartening and I find it pathetic that Vietnamese people would do that to their own people. You would never, ever hear them ask/demand/create difficulty for a bribe of non-Vietnamese passengers.

What are the ways around this? How do you report this in a country with a corrupt police system? What's another way around bribing? Another way of saying no and then being subjected to unnecessary bag searches (or so I've heard).

Travel

Comments

  • blahbkahz on 21/05/2014 - 17:56
    +1

    Always experience the same thing whenever i come back to vietnam. Lucky for them, my parents are very stubborn and have taught me and my younger siblings to simply give them our passport and ignore any questions they have, or act like we don't know what they're saying. My cousin accidentally replied one of the scums in vietnamese, so he was taken inside to some interview room and eventually paid some fee to get on his plane.

    I'm also pissed off about this OP, and I still find it weird how they only do it to Australian Vietnamese, and not any other nationalities?

    • juventino on 21/05/2014 - 19:02

      if you're Australian Vietnamese, they assume that you'll probably heard a thing or two about how it is done there, so bigger chances of you giving them money. Other nationalities might kick up a fuss and it will look bad on them.

  • 11112007 on 21/05/2014 - 18:12
    +1

    My partner is vietnamese and most times we go to Saigon we get asked to pay a fee for smooth transition. She politely says no and tells them we would rather wait another 20 minutes than pay…. Seems to work most of the time as we go straight through, occationally we do have to wait.

  • exp1 on 21/05/2014 - 18:24
    +1

    Similar experience happened to someone I know.

    Conversation went like this:

    'Did you do much for the New Year?'

    'No'

    'Got any red pocket money you could spare?'

    Had to fork out $50 AUD because that's all they had.

    Obviously the convo was a bit longer. It's a shame the corruption is still so rampant.

    This sh*t is what breeds the deep animosity against the Viet Cong. This is probably one of the lesser crimes, but is fundamentally immoral nonetheless.

    Anyways, if anyone has a tactic of avoiding the bribe, tell us what happened.

    Sons/Daughters can feign not understanding viet to get away with it, but adults have a much harder time.

  • juventino on 21/05/2014 - 18:59
    -1

    Please come to Indonesia. Airport staff and other officials can make whatever laws as they see it fit.

    Want to make a national identification ? It is free and takes two weeks if you 'look' native. If you are Chinese and the rest, it ranges from 30-100 bucks and take more than a month :) :)

  • kangeroo2 on 21/05/2014 - 20:44

    Bribery?? Try going through customs at Bietbridge Zimbabwe, on the border with South Africa. An absolute nightmare.

  • Somni on 21/05/2014 - 20:51
    +1

    Yup, my mum just came back from visiting Vietnam a couple of weeks. She is Vietnamese, has lived in Australia for the last 30 years and goes back every year. She says it happens every time once they see that foreign passport.

    She was travelling with a few friends and the guy held all their passports to "check" for something, until they handed over money. One of her friends was separated and when he was asked for money, said his wife had it all (true).

    My mum says she knows better now and will try and split up a group rather than go through all together.

  • Utopian on 21/05/2014 - 20:55

    After being, apparently, the only gringo ever to visit Venezuela without getting shafted… My widecand I were pulled aside, while trying to check-in for our flights to leave. Offered business class upgrades for a rubbery fee. Like he was negotiating with himself & his other official colleague… while another at security gave them pressuring looks to quit it. The mrs was actually keen! No freaking way! For many reasons… but #1 Keeping us from havibg our pants pulled down (literally?)

  • chir0nex on 21/05/2014 - 21:53
    +1

    Meh i just pretend that i don't understand a word, never had a problem although once they were checking my bags and asking all sorts of stuff in english but didn't explicitly ask for a bribe… only afterwards did i realise they were probably after a bribe!

  • swoods2 on 21/05/2014 - 22:47

    Get a Viet passport mate, you'll get away with it easier looking and acting like the locals ;).
    Source: works every time for me

    • lgacb08 on 29/05/2014 - 15:59

      yeah, so true. But you have to bribe the guys at the Aussie embassy to do it quick for you anyway. And it cost a bit, if you don't go there for at least once a year, it may not worth it.

  • csg001 on 21/05/2014 - 22:47

    Anyone notice at the security screening in HCM airport they make a separate "men" and "women" queue? I've long suspected that this is so the officers can shake down the helpless Vietnamese ladies while their foreigner husbands looks on unable to intervene.

    • Davros on 22/05/2014 - 08:38

      Nope, fly through there with my wife several time a year and never noticed
      Never been asked for a bribe and never had a hold up at VOA counter or baggage check either.

  • lo200 on 21/05/2014 - 23:04
    +10

    I am an Australian born Vietnamese and I get the same thing everytime I visit vietnam. I know if I give them some money they will let me through no problems but the last few times I have stood my ground and refused to pay up because these scum bags make too much money from Viet kieus and they don't deserve any of it. There are just too many poor people in Vietnam that deserve our donations more. The last time I went I stood my ground and was held back for about an hour in their little bribe room. I asked for the guys name as the bribe guys always hide their badges while asking for bribes, he refuses to give me his name and gets his supervisor out and then tells him I am a trouble maker and said they will put me in prison for not paying up. I told him where is the rule that I have to pay the bribe, if it is written down that I have to pay a fee then I will pay but there is nothing written. They then get me to sign their little black book and they tell me if I was going to America and did pay them I would be put straight into prison, and they said I was lucky I was in Vietnam where they are friendlier. Vietnamese customs is Vietnam's biggest joke, they have no idea what other countries are like and would make up any bs to get money off you. My next visit I will just pretend I don't speak vietnamese and see if they let me off.

    • mparf on 21/05/2014 - 23:52
      +2

      THIS.

      If i go back, I'd honestly rather give my money to the kids or old folks on the streets rather than some crapass corrupt official.

  • deviant on 21/05/2014 - 23:59
    +1

    i have flown many times into ho chi minh
    when they try to speak to me in vietnamese, i will speak in plain english. i'll try to sound confused and ask in english.
    they will get annoyed at you, stamp your passport and then use hand movements to shoo you away
    the only time it becomes an issue is when you do visa on arrival. this is where they just make you wait and they can just make you wait because they know you need to get it. best thing is to always prepare for travel and make sure you get your visa at your original departing location so you don't get stuff at passport control. if you frequent often just get a multiple entry visa.
    otherwise a very beautiful country. and a cheap holiday.

    so the tip is to look stupid

    does the trick

  • pyro love bird on 22/05/2014 - 00:30

    This is still a common occurrence, my relatives go back all the time. A friend of theirs, a couple of years ago refused to pay a ridiculous amount (a couple hundred I think). So they were put in that room like you said, still refused, then the officials planted drugs in their bags and threw them into prison. Years later and lots of wasted money on lawyers and such later they were released.

    But its everywhere in VN, my friend tried to buy fresh lobsters and saw the seller tip water onto the scales to make it heavier, argued with him, then the seller threaten to kill them unless they paid up…

    • lgacb08 on 29/05/2014 - 16:04

      Nope, your relatives's friend was just another Schapelle Corby trying to make up his story.

  • tiara on 22/05/2014 - 01:00

    For your info, it is an offence for Australian to bribe government official anywhere in the world

  • Timocracy on 22/05/2014 - 02:02
    +2

    HAHA, I'm glad they get Vietnamese as well.

    Vietnam is the worst country I've visited(I've traveled all over Asia/America/Central America). I'll never go back, the people there were just awful, I could've written a encyclopedia on scams after spending 6 weeks there. Most were ambiguity or lost in translation scams. Best advice I got after telling some expats of my problems is always carry exact change as they will never give change(I even had a bus conductor run off down the road with my change from the largest dong note) and get them to write everything you are entitled to on the receipt and never give it up to anyone.(I saw some give the receipt to a mini-bus driver who takes you to the long distance bus for transfer. Of course when they get on long distance bus they ask for receipt and the mini-bus driver denies taking it - buy another ticket or get stuck here)

    I think the scam that says it all was when I was in Ho Chi Min, There was a girl selling these delicious bakery balls by the bag full. When I asked her how much she told me the price(correct price for a bag full). I ordered one, gave her the money and she placed one ball in the bag and handed it to me. Yep I got screwed by a 5 year old, the worst part was the little girls smile. So full of pride that she'd screwed a westerner just like mummy had shown her.

    Best advice, avoid Vietnam like the plague they don't deserve tourism.

    • cannedhams on 22/05/2014 - 12:28
      +1

      Be thankful your bag switch was just a bakery ball. I've known people to buy electronics, phones etc in VN and end up with a shitty 10-year old phone instead of a new phone in the box.

      Don't buy anything in a box, unless you actually see it go into the box.

  • tomwood on 22/05/2014 - 03:30
    +1

    The issue might make a good story for 7.30.

    • sleet on 22/05/2014 - 07:57
      +1

      Maybe everyone here can send in a suggestion form too

  • sajidmib on 22/05/2014 - 08:04
    +2

    it happens in every little country who has majority of their people as migrants, they consider you well off and they make this as their second income being in that position, he/she is not alone this is shared up to the top management. Its normal in the sub-continent countries so is asia.

    If the airport pay them well they wont ask foreigners, just get rid of them and pay or bargain with them.

    there is no point in breaking your head over it, we cant change their system in one day, seeing that we will be flying in 1-2 hrs and no one wants to get delayed when they are the airport or miss a flight … What say ….

  • redlover on 22/05/2014 - 08:09
    +1

    There is a reason why bribery happens. Its because people are poor in that country,. If you think your complaint can make any difference, think again. The country where i came from also has long history of bribing etc . It takes more than just a complain to stop it altogether, its about the whole country political system etc. yet until today this bribery still happens . while we try to do the right thing by not cooperating and dont want to give them the money, we put ourselves in so much unnecessary trouble. Sad to say.

  • Baghern on 22/05/2014 - 10:03

    Can anyone confirm this applying to the Philippines.

    I remember going there and my friend being held up at customs.

    The idea of bribing them never occurred to us as they acted like they're hard as's 80s US cops from "Chips"

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075488/?ref_=nv_sr_1

    • Marbel on 22/05/2014 - 10:51

      I'm from the Philippines, never really had an issue at custom. and I've been back and forth at least 10 times. although some of the custom officers in the past are not the friendliest. just went back 1 month ago. no issues. never had to bribe anyone. not even from family members who goes back quite frequently.

    • cannedhams on 22/05/2014 - 12:22

      They won't ask for a bribe. Never had any problem flying into Davao, Cebu or Manila.

      Sometimes people will act very helpful in expectation of a tip. If this is genuine, then yeah I will give them a few pesos. If not, fob them off.

      Pretty easy country really, everyone speaks English, politically stable and safe for the most part.

      • Baghern on 22/05/2014 - 13:17

        I think you might want to remove the politically stable part

  • MasterNoob on 22/05/2014 - 10:47

    That's not bribery, that's speed money.
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    said the communist bums.

  • onlyletters on 22/05/2014 - 10:51
    +3

    I think bribery is great, these days they call it 'donations' dont they?

  • cno81 on 22/05/2014 - 12:19
    +1

    This just happened to my wife a few days ago at SGN and she's still a Vietnamese passport holder.

    She stood her ground, played dumb, and eventually cleared immigration after 5 minutes or so … I watched it all unfold as I'd just passed through ahead of her, in about 30 seconds.

    (Un)Luckily for us, this wasn't the first time this type of thing has happened so she knew how to handle the situation. We were first introduced to these type of dirty tricks LEAVING Vietnam on a flight to Thailand a few years ago now but at that time, not knowing any better, she put 100,000VND in her passport.

    No doubt the officers only target Viet Kieu and/or VN/western couples so chances are an annoying bribe attempt isn't going to deter most from returning in the future. It's a shame it's allowed to happen, and has been happening from years, but can't see it changing any time soon unfortunately.

  • cannedhams on 22/05/2014 - 12:32
    +7

    Best thing to do in VN is get yourself a top notch guide. I ended up with this old war veteran who looked like he could crack your head like a coconut. I let him do all the talking, buying and occasional bribing. Well worth the money and a beautiful country.

    Don't judge them too harshly, fact is you would do it too if you were poor enough.

    • rarin on 08/06/2014 - 01:22

      Hey mate, any chance I could grab a bit of info about how you sourced a good guide?

  • xtine on 22/05/2014 - 13:12
    +1

    I am an ABV. Ive been visited Vietnam in the past 3 years continuously. I've visited twice with my mum and once with my then boyfriend. When i visit with my mum she always give in to when ask for "coffee money". I get very annoyed she does this. But my mum usually brings panadol and other medication to give to family and charity and just doesnt want to be hold back and hassled about it. So she gives about $10. However, when we were returning to Australia (beginning of this year), when we were passing immigration the immigration officer told me to line up (as there was a cue). I didnt think much at the time so i went off to lined up. Other traveler asked me if he asked for coffee money but it was to late when i went back to my mum. She already gave him $10.

    However, when i was traveling with my then boyfriend we are both ABV we play completely dumb. He started talking to me in viet and i pretended i didnt understand anything. Although i have the most typical vietnamese last name 'Nguyen' he said to me in viet "Your last name is Nguyen, why dont you know how to speak vietnamese". I just said "I dont know what you're talking about". LOL he said "Ok". And on my way i went.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2014 - 13:54
    -2

    Can you complain to the United Nations? or APEC?

    • cannedhams on 22/05/2014 - 14:28

      Just ring up Alan Jones or Steve Price and bitch yourself dry for ten minutes.

  • harrribo on 22/05/2014 - 19:39

    Maybe make a formal complaint to the Relevant Embassy as well as Tourist Board in Australia?

  • pikachiu on 22/05/2014 - 21:11
    +2

    I had an experienced with corrupt airport officials once when travelling with my mum, they held our bags over my sister's wedding dvd claiming it to be propaganda. We ended up giving them AUD$20 just so we can go. From then on I made a point of not giving a single cent to any of these "officials" irrespective of the situation. If you haven't done nothing wrong you've got nothing to worry about. One time I went back travelling by myself, playing dumb with these officials that I don't understand Vietnamese (even with the Nguyen surname). Got through immigration without costing a single cent. Second time traveled with my husband (Chinese-Australian), the woman waved my husband on-wards to wait for me as she processed both of our passports, I played nice and answered her questions in Vietnamese (where you from, husband don't speak Vietnamese etc)even though I had a feeling she was fishing for "coffee money". I even asked her for directions to the domestic terminal, and as soon as she gave our passports I thanked her and walked off, didn't cost me anything. I think the key here is to just be nice but play dumb at the same time, both times it worked for me. Just don't entertain their requests for "bribes", just feeds into their greed. Like MissP said its a country of extremes, there's no middle class just the extremely rich or the extremely poor. And locals will try to rip off the "Viet kieus" as much as they can, its a dog eat dog society, and if locals can't rip off the Viet Kieus they will openly ask them (if they know them) for money, and when you tell them you don't have money they think you meant you don't have Vietnamese dongs so they'll say they're happy to accept foreign dollars!

  • calinya on 22/05/2014 - 23:14

    Wow I still can't believe this happens, very sad to hear. I'm Australian born Vietnamese. I've been to Vietnam 6 times in the last 4 years and have never been asked for money by any airport official. My recent trip was only in April during Easter. Like the previous post, I usually do greet the person at Immigration with a "hello Anh/Chi" and thank them after they're done.

  • susmind on 23/05/2014 - 00:09

    Is overpopulation begining to bite ?

    • Davros on 23/05/2014 - 07:55

      You've never been there have you.

  • Miami Mall Alien on 23/05/2014 - 16:07

    Honestly, any airport and border security apparatus that doesn't feature the full, American TSA-style, Auschwitz cattle car treatment is in my good books.

    That is one of the most blatant and gross travesties of human rights.

    A $10 - $50 bribe is a minor annoyance but understandable given Vietnam's history and economic situation.

  • NeoX on 03/06/2014 - 14:43

    A way around this is to pretend you can't speak vietnamese. Speak english to them and pretend you can't understand their english.

    I know few bucks is not much but it's the principle and it pisses me off. These guys usually target older vietnamese.

    This had happened to my mum and we stood our ground. They took her to interogation room. We refused. Saw them started filming the incident, I told them to bugger off and they didn't have permission. We explicitly says we didn't do anything wrong and that if our flights was delayed (we arrived like 3hrs early "just in case" this shit happens) Took about 30mins to 1hr we went out. Yes time is wasted but meh we weren't gonna do anything at the airport anyway.

    The one thing that pisses me off is they only target Vietnamese! Ok if they target EVERYONE then it's ok but bunch of dumb shit head only want to pick on the vulnerable.

    In summary, trick is to be polite, play dumb easiest and just pretend u can't speak viet.

  • stillgotmydollar on 30/12/2014 - 23:58
    -2

    Do you people know how hard it is to joint or become the customs officer in Vietnam and it cost these guys ten of thousands to get in and they have to get their money back, and the job likely going to last a few years and they out! How much do you think their wages are ??? my guess are 6US a day while you Viet Kieu on 30 US an hour on average .
    You can complain to who ever you wish, but this will go on forever. This is how the vietnamse going about their live everyday, they are usually dont demand money, some will actually sweet talk, and ask for coffee money.
    So if you don't want to pay, just stay calm, play dumb and speak english. and last of all dont bring any dvd out , this give them the excuse to ask you or made you pay money.
    one of the trick , they do is wait till 15 min before boarding and they call you and tell you that there is something illigal in your luggage and guess what most people do, just paid .

    So , to all the Viet Kieu Born over sea, learn fit in ! that how it is, else stay home dont go to Vietnam :) . LOve to see the Chinese invade vietnam, see what they going to do.

    • Peck on 31/12/2014 - 07:45

      WOW! Interesting insight! However I believe that people should complain often, and they should complain loudly. This is one way to bring about change.

  • lobster on 31/12/2014 - 08:06

    I'm an Vietnamese Australian, my advice is you should start swearing and shouting aloud at them, trying to get attention from other people, telling others this guy is asking for money… then they'll quickly let you go. I did that and it worked.

  • Chef-Johnson on 01/01/2015 - 10:09

    I went to vietnam about 8 months back with my partner the VOA thing, I paid them exactly what was required in AUD, to the exchange rate and shes like no, more more more, took another 30 SGD bastards

  • stillgotmydollar on 07/01/2015 - 21:03

    Hello everyone,
    Just a quick advise to all the viet-australian traveling to Vietnam, especially to those who involved in some sort of protest against the Viet Cong in the last 30 years(in australia) and if you signed any partition , with your name and address . Now the Viet Cong is using it against you , they will give you Visa to enter viet nam , as soon as you get to Tan Son Nhat airport , their police will cancel your visa and sent you back the next flight . My guess is vc are scared shitless now , that if you guys going to organize some sort of protest to overturn their corrupted government.. Regime change. as they are scared of protest like last year.

    and to all white australian, you guy should have great time in viet nam , stay cool, be-aware of what is happening around you , the people are friendly, but they do pickpocket and mobile phone snatch.

  • stillgotmydollar on 09/01/2015 - 12:21

    apologize for my bad spelling , I really mean "petition" not partition

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