Although the case below occurred more than a year ago, sentencing was announced only recently. It is yet another example of how foreigners, especially tourists, are targeted by unscrupulous Vietnamese in tourism or service-related industries. While “special treatment” usually means something nice, for many visitors to Vietnam, this means being charged more for the same service compared to non-visitors or locals.

Karaoke parlor employees sentenced for robbing Koreans

A court in Hanoi handed sentences totaling 41 years to four karaoke parlor employees on Friday after it found them guilty of kidnapping and robbing four Korean nationals.

According to the verdict, the four victims visited a karaoke parlor on Giang Vo Street on December 19, 2009.

After one hour of singing, the men called for their bill.

Though the room lease and beverages cost only added up to VND1.4 million (US$67), Tran Minh Hai, an employee of the parlor, handed them a bill for VND8 million ($385) after recognizing they were foreigners.

The customers protested, saying that the bill failed to match up to posted prices.

Hai and three other employees (Hoang Quang Trung, Nguyen Van Dat, and Vu Duc Vien) subdued the foreigners and held them in captivity for about two hours.

After the Korean men gave the karaoke parlor’s staff an additional $240 (they handed VND1.4 million earlier), the latter agreed to escort them back to their hotel.

The parlor’s staff forced the foreigners to get into a taxi. Hai and Trung rode along.

The men were so frightened, one of the Koreans jumped out of the taxi while it was running. He died five days later due to serious injuries.

For his role as the plot’s mastermind, Hai was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Trung and Dat were jailed for 12 and 10 years respectively. Meanwhile, Vien will spend three years behind bars.

Source: Thanh Nien

While the outcome of the case above represents an extreme, many foreign tourists seem to share a sense of frustration with Vietnam’s tourism industry.

A while ago we reported about a bar brawl in Nha Trang involving Vietnamese security staff and some patrons including UK tourists. In this article, we asked readers the question:

What is the #1 reason why tourists do not return to Vietnam?

And the results were:
#1. Attitude of Locals or Staff
ie. Feeling cheated, scammed, aggressive marketing (over 50%)

#2. Safety or Well-being Concerns
ie. Disease, food quality, crime (about 20%)

#3. Poor Infrastructure
ie.Bad transportation, roads, electricity outages, Internet (about 10%)

As tourists arrive with their wallets and discover Vietnam for the first time, so too are foreign investors who are arriving eager to take advantage of Vietnam’s promise of high growth rates. Breaking free from its shadows of a post-war developing nation, the country is undertaking massive multibillion dollar infrastructure and investment projects. But is all of this enough to keep foreigners here, and to keep the money flowing in?

Just as Vinashin (the government-owned company that collapsed in 2010 after racking up $4.5 billion US in debts under mismanagement), served as a wake-up call to foreign investors, the continued scamming, violence, and victimization of foreigners and tourists will undoubtedly have major negative consequences, not only for Vietnam’s tourism industry, but also Vietnam’s global image as a whole.

Ultimately it is the short-sighted actions of a few that will have far-reaching implications for many. With regards to Vietnam’s tourism industry, Vietnam has made big improvement over the past decade, but its clear that much work is required still.

Please share with us your thoughts, ideas, experiences, and comments on this matter. What does Vietnam tourism badly need?