saigon or da nang?

[jaytaylor84]

i have lived in bangkok 3 years and just recently flown back to visit family and take care of my parents a bit and while i did enjoy it in certain regards(cost of living, quality of life, great shopping, food, tropical environment) i began to severely dislike certain aspects... namely the xenophobia, caste system mentality, emotional manipulation and extortion,and crime(someone robbed my hotel 6000$ before flying home the next day)

 

that being said... i really had few if any problems that i can speak of when i was living in thong lor and was single ..so i can imagine the same could be true of saigon or da nang?

 

if i find a great neighborhood similiar to thong lor in district 1 or 2 saigon will i be afforded some level of respect and people there generally good people?

 

i heard vietnam even had a better cost of living than thailand...

 

i had a nice 35 sq m modern condominium in thong lor with beautiful pool, palm trees, nice freezing cold fitness room and european sauna for $500 a month

 

can i find the same in da nang or saigon?

[tutsiwarrior]

these days I don't think you'll find any suitable western accommodation in district 1 in HCMC for less than USD2000/month...I lived on Mac Dinh Chi St in a 2 bed serviced apartment in 2006 and my employers were paying over USD1000/month...

 

never been to Danang...

[siam2007]

HCMC is expensive as long as you don't live in the outskirts, and in Da Nang you will be bored to death after two weeks after you have experienced all that Bangkok has to offer.

[jaytaylor84]

values on numbeo cite saigon/HCMC as being cheaper than bkk on almost every level

 

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Thailand&city1=Bangkok&country2=Vietnam&city2=Ho+Chi+Minh+City

 

...am i missing something?

 

...

 

if da nang has some decent nightclubs and at least 1 western mall i think ill be ok

 

...it isnt like pattaya is it with hookers accosting me at 9 am trying to buy milk from 7?

 

or mercenary vendors who follow you for 100 ft and never <deleted> trying to sell you shitty bracelets?

[tutsiwarrior]

I think you'll find that western style furnished, serviced apartments are relatively expensive wherever ye go, accomodation depends on yer preference...food, transport and entertainment (drinks, etc) are cheaper in HCMC than BKK, fer sure...good bread, cheese and drinkable local wine can be found at 'local' prices for example...french colonial influence, etc...

 

here's where I stayed in district 1 in 2006, nice place, good neighborhood, lotsa restaurants and and a 'brew pub' with sausages and sauekraut:

 

http://www.cityview.com.vn/

[jaytaylor84]

looks real nice! but i suppose could probably pick up something with a few less bells and whistles for a bit cheaper.. save a bit...

 

are the better districts like 1 & 2 removed from crime?

[Nick ZepTepi]

Da Nang is fine, I'm in a local suburbs south of the airport. Easy bike to the beach and bars. No hassles hawkers even tuk tuks western mall vincom supermarkets gyms western apartment much nicer weather, I'm not much for nightclubs so can't comment but there​ loads of karaoke!

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[jaytaylor84]

nick or tutsi

 

would either one of you mind if i asked you a few questions in pm regarding living  in vietnam?

 

i dont want to clutter up the forum and it would be nice to have a short conversation on a few aspects before moving

 

 

[Nick ZepTepi]

nick or tutsi
 
would either one of you mind if i asked you a few questions in pm regarding living  in vietnam?
 
i dont want to clutter up the forum and it would be nice to have a short conversation on a few aspects before moving
 
 

Go ahead

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[tutsiwarrior]

5 hours ago, jaytaylor84 said:

nick or tutsi

 

would either one of you mind if i asked you a few questions in pm regarding living  in vietnam?

 

i dont want to clutter up the forum and it would be nice to have a short conversation on a few aspects before moving

 

 

 

anytime, send me a PM...but be aware that it's been awhile (5 years ago in Hanoi and 10 years ago in HCMC) and I may have dated info...also, both times I was working for western employers and most of my expenses were covered by my contract of employment...

 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

12 hours ago, jaytaylor84 said:

looks real nice! but i suppose could probably pick up something with a few less bells and whistles for a bit cheaper.. save a bit...

 

are the better districts like 1 & 2 removed from crime?

 

HCMC is a big city and ye havta be ready for the usual in those sorta places as always; be alert, don't flaunt wealth, etc...I mostly stayed in district 1 and the Bin Thanh district just north where our office was and we always had our own transportation...at night ye can get aggressive ladyboys on motorbikes but they're more of a nuisance than a danger...

 

I got taken to a brothel once in D1 and there were some mean lookin' dudes, sharply dressed looked liked local gangsters...I didn't hang around...but there's no sex industry like in Thailand so there are no drunken sex tourists that get stomped by locals when they object to bein' ripped off and other general misbehavior...

 

just exercise the usual caution...

 

 

[LongTimeLurker]

On 3/14/2017 at 4:42 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

here's where I stayed in district 1 in 2006, nice place, good neighborhood, lotsa restaurants and and a 'brew pub' with sausages and sauekraut:

Hoa Vien??

 

That's my favourite place in Saigon.

[tutsiwarrior]

8 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Hoa Vien??

 

That's my favourite place in Saigon.

 

izzat what it's called? Mac Dinh Chi Street one block west from Le Duan...there are 5 pho bo places in a row and lotsa women with carts sellin' banh mi in the morning...very popular and congested along with the previously mentioned restaurants and street cafes...very leafy...

 

there was a co-op supermarket a short taxi ride away where I useta do my shoppin', excellent with in house bakery and fresh baguettes...

 

with the nice accomodation hog heaven...

 

and then we moved south to the site in Ca Mau...a miserable mangrove shithole on the edge of the delta...but I havta admit that the ferry across the Mekong was quite an experience...

 

'oh, ferry 'cross the Mekong 'cause this land's the place I love...' tutsi and the south VN Pacemakers...

 

 

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Quote

i began to severely dislike certain aspects... namely the xenophobia, caste system mentality, emotional manipulation and extortion

 

^^^ This. But don't want to start a discussion about leaving Thailand. I would add the fast-inflating prices of everything. So I am moving to Vietnam. I have lived there before in the Delta (as well as Phnom Penh). 

 

I love Vietnam and Saigon. But some things to think about:

 

1. Simultaneous construction of two Metro lines, with a third to start sometime this year will bring a lot of noise and traffic snarls.

 

2. Many new monster developments underway with more on paper that will add to the air pollution and traffic snarls.

 

3. Air quality is widely reported as very bad. I've had breathing problems the last three trips this past year. I never have this problem in BKK, even though I walk 3-5 km a day and climb all those BTS stairways without issue. A friend in his 40s who had a 6-month contract there felt off while living there, he reports. Others report no problems.

 

4. Locally supplied TV shows heavily censored movies.

 

5. Internet service speeds can be really REALLY bad. One day it can be great, next day unusable. The cursed AAG cable to the US crashed 4 times last year and already twice this year. However, two new ones, one to Europe (Asia Africa Europe) and one to Japan/Korea (Asia Pacific Gateway) are allegedly up and running. 

 

Good apartments are expensive, running from a basement cost of 20,000 to well over 30,000 baht for a 1-bedroom. It was the one thing that kept me from moving there early last year while my friend was working there. 

 

On a recent trip, basic meal prices at admittedly western restos deep in D1, were expensive and equal to Bangkok's, running 350 to over 400 baht. This was at Game On, l'Usine and Phatty's.  Good coffee at say Cafe Bene was 55,000 dong, about 75 baht.

 

By the way, I'm moving to Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Not a tourist destination but an oil port.

 

PS. Check the Hoi An-Da Nang expat group on FB. Seems a lot of very happy campers there.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2017 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[tutsiwarrior]

5 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

 

By the way, I'm moving to Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Not a tourist destination but an oil port.

 

 there's plenty of scope for a party in Vung Tau...if ye know what I mean...and some not half bad restaurants along the sea front...

 

an hour's hydrofoil ride upriver to HCMC...

 

but (sigh) that was 10 years ago...