The nightmare of traveling hundreds of km without rest stops on Vietnam expressways

Last weekend, my family went on a holiday and took the Ho Chi Minh City - Dau Giay - Phan Thiet - Vinh Hao expressway, which opened in April and has helped cut travel time from HCMC to resort town Phan Thiet. The whole route is more than 200 kilometers long, but there is only one stop at Km 41, in the section outside HCMC.

As the whole long route has only one stop, passengers who want to use the toilet don't know what to do. They have to go around the expressway to find roadside restaurants, and have to wait because the toilets would be overloaded.

Quang Ngai - Da Nang is another long expressway, nearly 140 km, with no rest stops. Many people have had unpleasant experiences because of this.

On the expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to My Thuan (in the Mekong Delta), there is only one stop for more than 110 km.

I think it is necessary to look at the problem from the initial planning. The design of expressways should include rest stops, which not only meet basic needs, but also facilitate tourism and shopping activities and help promote the local culture and history.