A heady blend of Robinson Crusoe and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, sans irritating nasal whine and buffount hairstyles, Vietnam's Emerald Coast has muscled into what Thailand once did best.
The mood is serious on the front nine at Ocean Dunes Golf Course in Phan Thiet. Young Vietnamese golfers are at the first fairway, focused on getting to the green and sinking the ball for a birdie or better.
It may be the most capitalist enterprise in Communist Vietnam -- by the rich and for the rich: a proliferation of golf courses that is displacing thousands of farmers and devouring the rice fields the country depends on.
Nguyen Duc Dat has sold his beloved 1949 Lambretta at a record price so that he can build a cinematography museum in his hometown of Binh Thuan Province. The Italian-made scooter, which is covered with 449 signatures of well-known artists and politicians, was sold for US$80,000 to former actor Vo Minh Tung, now director of Nam Viet A Construction Company.
Artist Quang Dat has sold an old Lambretta bike which has the signatures of over 400 movie directors and actors for $80,000 to fund a movie museum in his home town of Tan Nghia, Binh Thuan province.
Phu Quy Island off south central Binh Thuan Province has been isolated for almost two weeks due to strong winds caused by the southwest monsoon and tropical low pressure on the East Sea.
The quack of seagulls, rustle of the wind and murmur of waves have an incredibly soothing effect in singer and musician Vo Thien Thanh’s recently released instrumental album Kiss of the Sea.
Vietnamese people are possessed of an inherent fondness for learning. They are also known as people of great compassion. Therefore, it is not a surprising at all to hear stories about a girl willing to starve so she could take the university entrance exam and about a village that came together to assist poor students.
The National Traditional Rowing Championship officially started in the Thach Han river, Quang Tri province yesterday. Binh Thuan secured two golds right in the first day of competition in the men's 200m and 1000m events.
Two movies to help celebrate Ho Chi Minh’s 120th birthday on May 19 next year have the approval from the Government. Producers have approval to make Hanh Trinh Qua Ba Be (Journey Across Three Oceans). It will be made by the Chinese Zhou Jiang Group and the Viet Nam Writers’ Association.
Tran Ngoc Buu has devoted the last decade of his life to publicizing his home province online, in no less than seven languages. It was 1998 when Tran Ngoc Buu, who was then a student at Ho Chi Minh City’s Foreign Trade University, had a chance encounter with a Canadian visitor.
Vietnam needs to improve infrastructure and diversify its tourism products to attract more foreign visitors in the long term, experts and insiders have said. The tourism industry is already feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, with international arrivals falling by 22 percent year-on-year in November.
The Japanese government on Wednesday granted US$256,500 to southern Binh Thuan and Ca Mau provinces to purchase medical equipment for local health services. Ikuo Mizuki, Japanese consul general in HCM City, said health care services in many rural areas in Viet Nam were still substandard.
The average hotel room rate in Vietnam remains 10% to 15% higher than the rates in some regional countries despite efforts to reduce prices to lure travelers recently, the national tourism authority says in a report.
Border guards from southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province received 10 Vietnamese fishermen and four fishing boats from Indonesian authorities at Cat Lo Port (Vung Tau Town) Thursday.
The world economic crisis and high domestic inflation is hitting Vietnam’s tourism industry, which is not expected to meet a target of welcoming five million international tourists this year.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday sent an urgent message to relevant ministries to take steps to overcome the aftermaths of recent flooding and prepare for a new downpour expected to hit the central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces
Two girls were born at An Phuoc General Hospital in south-central Binh Thuan Province early Sunday joined at the torso. The 4.4-kilo babies have a shared circulatory system and a navel. One was in good health, while the other had to be put on a respirator.
A female inmate in south-central Binh Thuan Province was recently visited by her husband under special provisions allowing the couple to stay overnight together. At one of the largest prisons in Vietnam, the administration at Z-30D Thu Duc prison has created a unique facility – labeled the “happy room†– to serve as an overnight meeting place for inmates and their spouses.
A team with the transport ministry headed by Deputy Minister Ngo Thinh Duc is visiting the Republic of Korea from September 29 to October 3 to seek Korean investment in transport infrastructure projects.
