Buy monkeys for pets

Recently, one of the global expat living publications released a whizz bang study on the cost of living in various countries around the world for expatriates, and Vietnam came out on top of the pile as the absolute cheapest. Exactly how affordable is Vietnam? A while back I went through a line-by-line exercise detailing typical expat living expenses , but now let’s take a different tack, looking at what can be bought for one little ole U.S. dollar in Vietnam. In Vietnamese dong terms, that U.S. dollar buys about VND23,000. The Australian and Canadian dollars weigh in at about VND18,000, whereas the euro pegs at VND27,000. The UK’s pound sterling converts to just short of VND32,000. Confused yet? Me too, so screw it, we’ll just stick with the U.S. dollar and use VND20,000 as the local currency equivalent, a nice, easy round number. I include the VND amounts below to facilitate easy conversion to other currencies. Actually, using a lower value than the prevailing … [Read more...] about What a dollar buys in Vietnam

People who torture their pets in Vietnam shall be fined up to VND3 million (US$130) in accordance with a new regulation that will come into force next month. Under Government Decree No.14/2021, which is set to take effect on April 20, beating and torturing pets will be punishable by a fine ranging from VND1 million ($43) to VND3 million ($130). Slaughterhouses will be fined VND3-5 million ($130-216) if animals are tortured and beaten before being slaughtered. A similar penalty will also be imposed if these facilities do not have a hygienic space to keep these animals, or the animals are not stunned before being killed. Putting foreign objects or pumping water or other substances into the body of terrestrial animals before slaughter will be punishable by a VND5-50 million ($216-2,160) fine. In April, a new decision will also take effect to make adjustments to the country’s health insurance cards. Accordingly, the new cards will be smaller, measuring 85.6 millimeters long … [Read more...] about Vietnam to fine people for beating, torturing pets

The shocking incident happened after midnight on Saturday in the southern province of Long An. Provincial police have arrested the three men involved. One of them will be charged with homicide. According to the police, Nguyen Van Chon and Tran Van Thuan, both residents of Long An, visited another man identified only as Tram at the latter’s house in Dong Thap Province last Friday. After consuming some narcotics together, all three returned to Long An late in the night to steal dogs owned by locals. Chon rode pillion with Tram while Thuan drove another motorbike. The three men took homemade stun guns and a battery with them. After successfully stealing two dogs alive from a house in Long An’s Tan Hung District, they moved to Hai’s house. However, his dog died after they shot it with the stun gun. Hai woke up on hearing the commotion and tried to stop the thieves even as he shouted out for help. As they tried to escape, Chon fired his stun gun, hitting Hai in the hip. Hai … [Read more...] about Dog thieves nabbed after pet owner electrocuted to death

A Vietnamese man has become well known among social media users in the country for his videos, in which he reviews trending items that he used his own money to purchase online and tests if they are really as helpful as advertised. That man is 30-year-old Le Thanh Kien, who runs the one-man TikTok account named Kien Review with the slogan “Expose truths behind advertisements.” Since its first video released in August 2020, Kien Review has attracted 6.1 million followers, who want to know the utility of online products without having to pay for them. A self-proclaimed quiet and unobtrusive person, Kien told Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan (Tuoi Tre Weekly) magazine that he started creating TikTok videos as the coronavirus pandemic had affected his job as a mechanic at local factories and made him spend more time growing ornamental plants at home. “That time, my house had leaking walls, so I searched on Facebook for a solution,” Kien recalled the occasion when he had reviewed a spray … [Read more...] about Vietnamese man buys, reviews interesting items for fans online

For VND500,000 (US$22) a day or less, pet owners in Vietnam who will be away from home for the upcoming Tet holiday can have their pets tended to by professional pet sitters. The recently-emerging service is most commonly available in big cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, where demand is high. Tet, or the Lunar New Year festival, is the biggest public holiday in Vietnam observed around late January or early February, when people celebrate the coming of a new lunar year. This year, Tet falls on February 5, with public workers given a nine-day break ending February 10. Many Vietnamese people are away from their regular place of residence during this festive season, either to travel or to visit their family and relatives who live in other provinces and cities. This creates a market for the pet sitting service to cash in on. Calling themselves “pet hotels," these facilities feature air-conditioned rooms designed specifically for keeping pets, tapping a … [Read more...] about Pet sitting service emerges for Tet holiday in Vietnam