Advice for moving to Vietnam

[keysersoze276]

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Riverside apartments has a nice pool and gym, included in the room for $20/night.

https://www.airbnb.com/s/Ho-Chi-Minh-City--Vietnam/homes?refinement_paths[]=%2Fhomes&current_tab_id=home_tab&selected_tab_id=home_tab&source=mc_search_bar&place_id=ChIJ0T2NLikpdTERKxE8d61aX_E&click_referer=t%3ASEE_ALL|sid%3A7c05552e-5d3a-4b84-8cda-80e90f666c97|st%3ALANDING_PAGE_MARQUEE&title_type=NONE&search_type=filter_change&screen_size=large&checkin=2019-10-09&checkout=2019-10-16&adults=1&room_types[]=Entire home%2Fapt&amenities[]=7&s_tag=usSxGaz6

 

[userabcd]

Worked in Vietnam and liked it a lot. Met many kind sympathetic people and would not hesitate to relocate there.

[keysersoze276]

/

 

[keysersoze276]

3 minutes ago, keysersoze276 said:

 

I'm seeing $28/day...$25 with a weekly discount and not enough availability for a month.  But regardless, it looks worth it.  Thank you for that, Tim! 

 

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, keysersoze276 said:

I'm seeing $28/day...$25 with a weekly discount and not enough availability for a month.  But regardless, it looks worth it.  Thank you for that, Tim! 

Link didn't work, I changed it to point at the host, now it's $20. 

https://www.airbnb.com/contact_host/28535828/send_message

 

Plenty of apartments in that complex from $14 and up.

[Isaanbiker]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I had a nice beach holiday there last month, 2 bottles of beer for 20,000VND ($1) in N-Pub..

It was a fairly crowded morgue.

 

Can't see anybody there. 

[keysersoze276]

3 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Worked in Vietnam and liked it a lot. Met many kind sympathetic people and would not hesitate to relocate there.

So if you did, how would you do it?  Would you just buy a plane ticket and figure it out when you get there?  Would you use an agency or classified ads online to secure housing before you arrived?  I will be honest here, fellas.  Moving to BKK was the easiest thing I have ever done.  I met a girl online.  Good girl, valedictorian Thammasat Uni., 100% fluent without an accent.  Found a condo for me (rent), paid the deposit and first month rent before I arrived.  Not bragging here.  I was goddamn lucky on that one!  Not planning on being that lucky again!  My point is...how to get housing?  BritManToo is almost certainly right that anything printed in English is twice as expensive.  But maybe some of you know a scam free, fair friend or something who owns condos for rent?

 

[spidermike007]

6 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Vietnam is a good choice...communist government is much less oppressive to foreigners than the democratic government of Thailand...IMHO

That is absolutely correct. Bizarre, but accurate. They are more visionary than Thailand on alot of levels, and are courting tourism, and the ex-pat community, rather than openly discouraging it. And besides, it can be argued that Thailand is anything other than a true democracy at the moment. The hapless army has made sure of that. 

[spidermike007]

Having visited several times, I would encourage you look in the southern half of the nation. I found most of the people in the north to be a bit like cold, wet fish. In the south, people seem to be more open, not as hostile, and more fun to be around. Plus a more tropical climate. 

[keysersoze276]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Having visited several times, I would encourage you look in the southern half of the nation. I found most of the people in the north to be a bit like cold, wet fish. In the south, people seem to be more open, not as hostile, and more fun to be around. Plus a more tropical climate. 

I like this answer.  I have been in the north twice and mostly liked it (except a pickpocket stealing my phone).  If the south is better, that's good news!

[Beggar]

4 hours ago, Los Luver said:

@OP

I react only about how you, as many describe Thai immigration politics. How about your president who is a wall ? USA building a wall is OK. Thailand taking some immigration meaures is no no.

The USA does not want to build a wall to block tourists if I understood this blonde guy correctly. 

[griffon2011]

1 hour ago, keysersoze276 said:

So if you did, how would you do it?  Would you just buy a plane ticket and figure it out when you get there?  Would you use an agency or classified ads online to secure housing before you arrived?  I will be honest here, fellas.  Moving to BKK was the easiest thing I have ever done.  I met a girl online.  Good girl, valedictorian Thammasat Uni., 100% fluent without an accent.  Found a condo for me (rent), paid the deposit and first month rent before I arrived.  Not bragging here.  I was goddamn lucky on that one!  Not planning on being that lucky again!  My point is...how to get housing?  BritManToo is almost certainly right that anything printed in English is twice as expensive.  But maybe some of you know a scam free, fair friend or something who owns condos for rent?

 

After a nasty encounter with immigration last month I bought a ticket to Da Nang for a week to look around.  I liked what I saw, nice people, beautiful beach, clean air, clean streets, very little traffic and plenty of food and drink options and very few dogs.  The expat community was small but friendly and very helpful regarding a move there.  The city is slow paced and night life is certainly not like that of BKK, it may be too slow for some.  Shopping is adequate with many small shops and a Big C but I did not have much time to explore.  There are plenty of places to rent and my hotel manager advised me to find an area I liked and walk around as most places had a "for rent" sign and phone number outside and that would be a cheaper method than agents or online ads.  Facebook is also used to advertise rentals.  The honking of horns was a negative and large parts of the city were under construction and were noisy. 

Overall, I had a positive impression of Da Nang as a laid back, very livable city with everything I would personally need. I spent most of my time in the My An part of the city near the beach and I plan to return soon for a month and spend more time checking out personal transportation, rentals, moving of household goods etc.  Good luck. 

[St George]

2 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

Can't see anybody there. 

 

 

They would have cleared off the beach by 10.00 am

[keysersoze276]

1 hour ago, griffon2011 said:

After a nasty encounter with immigration last month I bought a ticket to Da Nang for a week to look around.  I liked what I saw, nice people, beautiful beach, clean air, clean streets, very little traffic and plenty of food and drink options and very few dogs.  The expat community was small but friendly and very helpful regarding a move there.  The city is slow paced and night life is certainly not like that of BKK, it may be too slow for some.  Shopping is adequate with many small shops and a Big C but I did not have much time to explore.  There are plenty of places to rent and my hotel manager advised me to find an area I liked and walk around as most places had a "for rent" sign and phone number outside and that would be a cheaper method than agents or online ads.  Facebook is also used to advertise rentals.  The honking of horns was a negative and large parts of the city were under construction and were noisy. 

Overall, I had a positive impression of Da Nang as a laid back, very livable city with everything I would personally need. I spent most of my time in the My An part of the city near the beach and I plan to return soon for a month and spend more time checking out personal transportation, rentals, moving of household goods etc.  Good luck. 

Very informative.  Thank you for that.  Reaffirms my idea of setting foot there and walking around, looking for a place rather than shopping online (dually noted @BritManToo)  The honking horns- annoying AF!  First time I arrived in Hanoi, I hired a private van from the airport to city center.   Probably overpaid, but the it seemed comfortable with a friendly driver.  Then, the entire time I was wondering if the driver was having a heart attack or some kind of a meltdown.   He seemed natural, so I started checking my own pulse.  I thought one of us must be dying on the way to a hospital or something.  One lane each way on a two lane highway, traffic moving at a reasonable pace but everyone was honking their horns.  No where to go, no way to speed up the flow, just throw in noise pollution anyway for good measure.  But after all, it's easier to  put in earplugs or play some white noise than to do a TM30 or stand in line at the airport immigration for an hour sweating bullets and scared to death that the IO will deny you for no good reason at all.  And I have heard you can spend your own money freely there.  Is that true?

[Don Chance]

You jokers think Danang is nice? It is crowded polluted city of 1.2 million people along skinny beach. Do you not value nature?

That's the way all of Vietnam is: crowded, polluted and hardly any nature. 100 million people squished in that small country. Sure you want to live in some isolated community in Vietnam, go a head.

Food all tastes like pork too. People, they are even more unfriendly than Thai's.

Cambodia or Thailand are far better IMO.

You want nice beaches, try Costa Rica or Panama. You can own land, live in the high lands, European culture. Clean food, air and nature. Far better than stinking Vietnam.

[Ron jeremy]

2 hours ago, Don Chance said:

You jokers think Danang is nice? It is crowded polluted city of 1.2 million people along skinny beach. Do you not value nature?

That's the way all of Vietnam is: crowded, polluted and hardly any nature. 100 million people squished in that small country. Sure you want to live in some isolated community in Vietnam, go a head.

Food all tastes like pork too. People, they are even more unfriendly than Thai's.

Cambodia or Thailand are far better IMO.

You want nice beaches, try Costa Rica or Panama. You can own land, live in the high lands, European culture. Clean food, air and nature. Far better than stinking Vietnam.

Danang is anything but crowded, very laid back, quiet, friendly people, beach is clean, water is clean, 20 miles long, food is great, I have no idea where don chance was, but chances are it wasn't Danang.

to the OP, rent for a few days and walk around, thousands of places to rent.

send me a pm for rental sites.

 

[BritManToo]

16 hours ago, Ron jeremy said:

Danang is anything but crowded, very laid back, quiet, friendly people, beach is clean, water is clean, 20 miles long, food is great, I have no idea where don chance was, but chances are it wasn't Danang.

Gotta agree, was very impressed with the beach, almost deserted during the day, and a shady beach promenade.

 

[scotinsiam]

On 8/24/2019 at 4:11 AM, keysersoze276 said:

So if you did, how would you do it?  Would you just buy a plane ticket and figure it out when you get there?  Would you use an agency or classified ads online to secure housing before you arrived?  I will be honest here, fellas.  Moving to BKK was the easiest thing I have ever done.  I met a girl online.  Good girl, valedictorian Thammasat Uni., 100% fluent without an accent.  Found a condo for me (rent), paid the deposit and first month rent before I arrived.  Not bragging here.  I was goddamn lucky on that one!  Not planning on being that lucky again!  My point is...how to get housing?  BritManToo is almost certainly right that anything printed in English is twice as expensive.  But maybe some of you know a scam free, fair friend or something who owns condos for rent?

 

I worked in Vietnam (Vung Tau) in 2011 / 2013 and got to know it well, Since then I have been many times in Saigon & Vung Tau on holiday, as well as being in Halong and Hanoi up North.

If I need a visa for more than a month now I use this agent  http://www.vietnamvisapro.net/

They get the letter done, E mail to you and you pay stamping fee on arrival.

Recently I rented different accommodation and I found it by joining local facebook groups for the area.

IE: expats in Vung Tau, expat housing in Vung Tau, expat housing in ho chi minh & vung Tau. The prices were comparable with Thailand.

For me I like a quiet place with nightlife available easily as well as HCM city 2 hours away for the occasional visit so Vung Tau works for me.

My plan next month is to travel up to Danang / Nah Trang etc and explore a bit as may find it even better. I would say that Vietnam do NOT hate tourists yet unlike Thailand.

 

[uzynkotak]

I am also considering Danang

[Jip99]

On 8/24/2019 at 6:44 PM, Don Chance said:

You jokers think Danang is nice? It is crowded polluted city of 1.2 million people along skinny beach. Do you not value nature?

That's the way all of Vietnam is: crowded, polluted and hardly any nature. 100 million people squished in that small country. Sure you want to live in some isolated community in Vietnam, go a head.

Food all tastes like pork too. People, they are even more unfriendly than Thai's.

Cambodia or Thailand are far better IMO.

You want nice beaches, try Costa Rica or Panama. You can own land, live in the high lands, European culture. Clean food, air and nature. Far better than stinking Vietnam.

 

 

Are you sure you have been to Da Nang ?

 

From my experience, and other reports on here, it looks like the only joker is you.

[Ron jeremy]

Different Strokes for different folks, not everyone has the same tastes, 

[CharlieH]

Insult/flame post and response removed.

[gk10002000]

On 8/23/2019 at 1:49 PM, Hans007 said:

I am flying to thailand tomorrow and ..next Tuesday I fly over to Saigon (HCMC) from there  we go to Vung Tau.(with old soviet Hydrofoil)..seems a nice sea resort town..attracts many Russians and Ukrainians. They have some offshore oil industry. About 500.000 people live there.

 

I will check it out..6 days should be enough..after that we head back to Thai. (Hua Hin)

 

Right now I do NOT think Thailand is a wise choice for longterm stay...thats My opinion...however I do NOT have a Thai partner..;-)

If you do...its another ballgame offcourse.

 

Take care

 

Hans.

You know, I think you are spot on when saying having a Thai partner is another ball game. 

[gearbox]

On 8/24/2019 at 11:54 PM, Ron jeremy said:

Danang is anything but crowded, very laid back, quiet, friendly people, beach is clean, water is clean, 20 miles long, food is great, I have no idea where don chance was, but chances are it wasn't Danang.

to the OP, rent for a few days and walk around, thousands of places to rent.

send me a pm for rental sites.

 

Second that. I've been there twice, last time August last year.  The beach is not ideal,  but good for swimming, better than average. The water visibility is no more than 2-3m. Good infrastructure. There are not that many westerners at all, and few people know English. The local fresh food markets are excellent, quite a few stalls have the prices displayed, so you don't get charged farang tax. Beer is everywhere, way cheaper than here. Local rum is cheaper too.

 

The bus lines are good, you can google the routes, the trip is 5000 dongs.

 

Further down is Nha Trang, where the beach is better, but looks like a Russian holiday city.  Many of the shopkeeper will try to talk to you in Russian. 

 

Keep in mind the Vietnamese have much more in common with the Chinese than the Thais. They are going to pull forward faster and the prices probably will rise there soon.  

 

If I would choose a place it would be Danang, I like to have access to a good beach, Hanoi and Saigon don't have that. 

 

You can't transfer money out of Vietnam via a bank if you don't have a WP,  so plan accordingly.

[mtls2005]

There are a few Youtubers who've made the move to Vietnam (from countries like Thailand and the Philippines), and have chronicled their experiences.

 

expat move to vietnam site:youtube.com

 

Some detail everything, from landing: visa, airbnb, apt find, motorbike buy, bank, mobile, internet, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BrakkaToss]

See you in Da Nang everyone! [emoji847]


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[rumak]

On 8/24/2019 at 6:13 AM, Los Luver said:

@OP

I react only about how you, as many describe Thai immigration politics. How about your president who is a wall ? USA building a wall is OK. Thailand taking some immigration meaures is no no.

The wall is to keep people from leaving............

[BritManToo]

On 8/27/2019 at 12:27 AM, gearbox said:

The bus lines are good, you can google the routes, the trip is 5000 dongs.

There's an android app that lists all routes in HCMC, Da Nang and Hanoi.

BusMap - Xe buýt thành phố

In English and allows you to track bus movement in real time.

[NCC1701A]

this is not the week to visit central or northern Vietnam

 

[keysersoze276]

16 hours ago, BritManToo said:

There's an android app that lists all routes in HCMC, Da Nang and Hanoi.

BusMap - Xe buýt thành phố

In English and allows you to track bus movement in real time.

That's really good to know.  I think I have already decided to go to HCMC for a couple weeks, Then to Da Nang for a couple weeks.  HCMC more for fun, and Da Nang more for setting up a long term accommodation.  And after I'm settled probably have somewhat frequent trips from Da Nang to HCMC to Hanoi, plus the required in/out every 90 days for METV.  AND before arrival in HCMC (or perhaps in between/directly after), taking a trip to Phnom Penh just for the hell of it.  The bus ride seems to be the way to go.  Since I plan to have a one year multiple, I would imagine crossing borders is sweat free, as opposed to playing Russian Roulette at Thai borders and worse yet, airports.  I suppose it wouldn't be mentioned on this forum, but any reports about that?  Communist countries...they probably follow a set rule of order, right?  Unlike Democratic Thailand, where no one knows what the hell is going on and just wing it doing whatever they want?  I'll bet the break room at airport immigration is more like some kind of paper, rock, scissors gambling den.