Trash piles up at Saigon's forgotten tourist info stations

Back in 2008, Ho Chi Minh City decided to spend VND32 billion ($1.4 million) on 100 information stations to help visitors search for where to go and what to do. So far 13 stations have been built in Districts 3 and 5. Fast forward a decade, what once appeared as a visionary idea has become a costly failure.

This station at the corner of Cach Mang Thang Tam and Tu Xuong in District 3 is now a public trash can. “It has been broken for a long time but no one came to fix it, so locals just keep bringing their garbage here,” a xe om driver told VnExpress.

A rusty station on Vo Van Tan Street in District 3.

“No one uses this station so I’ve been coming here to take shelter in rainy days,” Ngoc, a scrap vendor, said of the station near the Turtle Lake traffic circle in District 3.

A touch screen that has stopped working.

A wire comes out from a station on Pham Ngoc Thach Street. “The authorities should remove these stations to give space for the sidewalks. Or they need to fix them to ensure safety for pedestrians,” a visitor named Chi from Hanoi said.

The station in front of the War Remnants Museum in District 3 has been out of use for a long time. Brian, a tourist, said he actually wanted to use to the screen to check information but it didn't work. "What a pity!” he said.

This is what the touch screen of a station on Nguyen Van Cu Street, District 5 looks like these days.