SaigonNezumi.com

On Thursday, I was surprised to see my netbook’s screen cracked. I had it for two years. It will cost nearly $100 to replace the screen so I decided to wait until I get to the US.

Yesterday I was so lucky, I just missed a rain storm after my meeting.

Tomorrow is an official holiday for Vietnam’s Independence Day.  Though I was expecting a lot of police, I thought it would be the guys in tan uniforms, the traffic police.  I saw just a couple today.  Instead, while I was in District 1, I saw many of the green uniformed police blazing their sirens on their pickup trucks up and down the roads.  It seems that they are arresting a lot of young men, many still boys, and bringing them to the police stations.

Who were these boys?  I have no clue since large crowds were gathering due to the sirens.  I saw this happen on Bui Vien street.  As I headed to Nguyen Trai, I saw two more police pickups in that area with young men/boys in back.

One of the Vietnamese says that the police are just cleaning the streets in preparation for tomorrow.  I am not sure but this was the first time I saw police very active in over two years.  Remember when they used to shut down nightclubs at 11 PM and made house or apartment checks?  The police seem to be starting up on their ‘social evil’ checks again.

The rumor mill says that they, the police, will be very strict as the country gets closer to the General Assembly in 2011. There is a bit of talk that an economic collapse is imminent in Vietnam before the next General Assembly with the housing bubble bursting around December/January.  The stock market lost about 20% of it’s value in one month yet nobody dared use the word collapse.  When people here realize, finally, that the stock market will not recover, most will, finally, get out.  Unfortunately, many people here put too much faith on the stock market and never learned the lessons from the last crash.  Not with just stocks but with houses, land, etc.  Anything which can make “easy” money.

As a friend told me, these stockholders will have no choice but to sell their houses to pay off their “stock” loans.  Unfortunately, a word I am using a lot here, they will not be the only person trying to sell their overpriced home equities.  There will be many people across the country but with nobody willing to buy the property, not even cash-starved foreigners as in the past.   This means many stockholders not only will not be able to pay for their stock loans, they will not be able to pay for their home loans, real estate loans, etc.

Many of you already know how many of our Vietnamese friends are in this same exact situation.  I was nearly placed in the same position when my ex asked me to take out a home loan for $150,000 US with HSBC.  IF I had done that, I would be screwed right now because I am pretty sure that my ex would used the house as collateral for another stock loan, a double burden loan as I call it.  These double burden loans are just too common in Vietnam.

How does this relate to the police today and even during this entire Traffic Safety Month?  As my friend says, when the economy collapses, as many expect will happen, there will be chaos.  The police will need to maintain control which will be tough since they literally let the reigns loose the last couple of years.  They are now tightening it with Expats and foreigners with the work permits, temporary resident cards and now driver’s licenses.  Authorities will now focus on their own people and most campaigns seem to start around September with enforcements in December before the New Year.

Saigon might be changing again.

Time to get a motorbike license

September 1st is the start of the annual Traffic Safety Month in Vietnam.  For Saigon, this means that the traffic police will enforce most of the traffic rules including pulling over foreigners who break the law.  The most common infraction for foreigners will be riding in the left lane.  This is only meant for cars.  In the six years and half years I lived in Vietnam, my two traffic violations were for riding in the left lane meant for cars.

Normally each year the chief, or director, of the traffic police in Saigon will make an announcement in the English news that foreigners will be pulled over for breaking any traffic laws.  He is strong to his word, foreigners find September a bad month, especially tourists.  I know a couple that lost their motorbikes last year AFTER breaking a traffic rule.  I have been okay, I stay in the right lane and do not speed anymore.

This year it looks as if all foreigners will be stopped if they break a rule.  Many tend to just keep going past the police or try to speak English to avoid a fine.  This year, the traffic police will just pull them over.  That makes it opportune time for the traffic police to stop all foreigners since they know most do not have motorbike licenses.

For me, that means I will be better off getting my motorbike license.  I have my work permit and temporary resident card so I might as well become 100% legal in Vietnam.  Luckily the process is quite easy.  For me, I just need to do the following:

For holders of international or national driver’s license eligible of operating automobiles only.

You can obtain a motorcycle driver license after submitting all the documents and passing a driving test for motorcycle.
1. Conditions :
- Applicant must be at least 18 years of age.
- Vietnamese Visa must be at least for 3 months.
- Driver license must be legitimate and legible, undamaged, free of defect or modification, and with a valid expiration date.
2. Documents required :
- Application Form (download from our website): Completed and signed form must be stamped at one of these offices : Embassy, Consulate, Government Office, Private Company, Representative Office, etc.
For those who get stamp from a private Company, you must enclose the application with a photocopy of the Investment License if you are an investor, or a photocopy of the Investment License and a photocopy of Work Permit if you are employees.
For those who get stamp from Representative Office (R.O.), you must enclose the application with a photocopy of the Establishment License with your name as Chief of Representative Office if you are Chief of R.O., or a photocopy of the Establishment License and a photocopy of Work Permit if you are not Chief of R.O.
- A photocopy of international or national driver license.
- International or national driver license must be translated into Vietnamese, and notarized by authorized Vietnamese government offices
For popular languages such as : English, French, Korean, Chinese. Japanese… you can do the translation at 47 Le Duan street, district.1
For other languages such as : Dutch, Thai, Spain…, you can do the translation at the Embassy, or Consulate.
- A photocopy of Passport (at the page with your picture and personal information only ).
- A photocopy of valid Visa or permanent Residence Card ( if you have )
- 8 photos ( 3×4 )
- A valid medical certificate. You can do the medical check at the Dept. of Transportation and Public Works ( 63 ly tu trong street, district 1 ) or public hospitals
3. Time for driving test : you will be informed immediately when the application is submitted.
4. Fees : 70.000 VND ( for driving test )
5. Processing time : 10 days ( except saturday and sunday ) from the date you pass driving test.
6. Office accepting documents and test site :
63 Ly Tu Trong street, Ben Nghe ward, district 1
7. Notes :
- All photocopies must be notarized ( certified as an exact and accurate photocopy ) by authorized government office ( 47 Le Duan street, district 1 )
- Applicants must present the original Passport, Visa, Diplomatic ID Card and Driver License… when the application is submitted.
- Applicants who are working for Embassy, Consulate, Diplomatic Representative Offices, or other International Organizations, you are entitled to fee exemption if u can present a diplomatic ID card and an Introduction Letter ( download from the website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs )
- If you have both international and national driver license, you’d better check the expiration date first, then choose the one with longer expiration date for vietnamese translation.

Source: http://sgtvt.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/web/data/news/2008/3/4501/case2.htm

The full procedures are listed at this URL: http://sgtvt.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/web/tintuc/default.aspx?cat_id=592&news_id=4501#content

I hope to have my driver’s license for both a car and motorbike by late next month.  Until then, I will keep wearing my mask and sunglasses to fit in with the Vietnamese riders and obey all the traffic rules.

I just bought my 3G usb modem from Viettel today. 780,000 VND for the usb modem. 50,000 VND monthly charge, 65 VND per mb. You can recharge your account like any cell phone in Vietnam, no bills.  Initially I got up to 2.92 Mbps downloads with Speakeasy in the US. Not bad. Faster then wired.