When I moved from the United States to Vietnam in 2018 to enjoy my retirement, one of the first culture shocks I encountered was the constant honking on the roads.
Traveling to Thailand has become more expensive for Vietnamese tourists, with higher airfares and hotel room prices. Despite this, many still choose Thailand for its attractions and tourism services.
In Vietnam, honking is as much a part of the traffic landscape as the vehicles themselves, standing in stark contrast to the quieter, more orderly streets in many other countries.
When it comes to driving in Vietnam, certain chaotic habits immediately come to mind. Some drivers don't honk to warn, they honk to demand others move aside, believing that the louder they sound, the more dominant they appear on the road.
Recently, on a train from Ninh Binh to Hanoi, I saw a foreign passenger behaving rudely. He rested his shoes on the seat in front of him, showing little regard for cleanliness.
Recently on Threads, a new social media platform, a disturbing trend has emerged among young people: boasting about surviving on merely three hours of sleep due to work demands.
I, along with 300 million other Americans, do not want our tax dollars wasted on trivial expenses, as they have been over the past four years under Joe Biden's administration.
In the past month, Decree 168, which increases fines for traffic violations by multiple times, has significantly improved driving behavior across Vietnam. Initially, the high fines seemed excessive, but their impact has made it clear—they were necessary to improve traffic conditions.
A total of 4,814 drivers were fined and more than 2,300 vehicles were seized on the third day of the Lunar New Year, proving that Vienam's higher traffic fines have not scared everyone.
I began my English language education in university and have since achieved a level of proficiency surpassing many who started learning in middle school.
Many families in Vietnam tend to discard old mattresses, broken furniture, and piles of trash before the Lunar New Year, leaving cleaning staff scrambling to clean them up.
Is public noise becoming Vietnam's default entertainment during Tet? The familiar blaring of karaoke machines and live music fills the air, growing louder with each passing celebration.
Hanoi plans to raise traffic violation fines to 1.5–2 times the existing rates to ease congestion and enhance road safety. If approved, the new changes to traffic fines in Hanoi will come into effect in July 2025.