Maybe it is time to get a bit personal again. Some things
have happened in the last year that have slowly been simmering in the back of
my mind and have now come to the forefront. Let me talk about business and how
I (and am sure other expats) fit within it.
Many of you know that I am running a hotel in Nha Trang. The
hotel business is quite a bit more complicated than other businesses because of
the need for government to know where the people are, and the use of rooms for
thing other than sleeping. There are endless stories in themselves about what
goes on in hotels in Vietnam, but I have chosen not to write too much about that………. Some things are better
kept secret….. Anyway…
After almost 2 years, the Tide Hotel has become one of the
most popular budget hotels in Nha Trang. I am very proud of that. It is not
only because of our hard work and resolve, but also from the wonderful; guests
we have that want to experience a stay in real Vietnam away from all of the
hawkers and such. Outwardly, everything looks fine and it looks like the hotel
is successful and profitable…. But here is where the dream becomes a bit
muddy………………….I will not write in idioms in this instance as I do not care
that some person in government that is monitoring my blogs sees, and acts on
what I say.
After the painful 6 month process of turning this hotel from
a “Boom Boom” house into a nice budget hotel, we experienced no problems except
the customers we were trying to be rid of. Sure there were hiccups and you can
read about those in posts from Feb-Jun 2010. Back then I was adamant that no
bribes would be paid and we would not help fuel corruption. That thought is
still true today, but the consequences of that decision have been hurtful. We
now have some pretty high level police friends, but sometimes, they cannot
protect us………. So here is what has transpired.
It all started with the local Tax authorities showing up
with 6 personnel to inspect our hotel and computerized reservation system.
After some self important declaration about how we could improve (Vietnam style
and not very helpful) we were upgraded from a standard to a 1 star hotel. This
allowed us to have things like cold drinks in the lobby.
Other city departments took notice of this newly renovated
hotel that was attracting tourists (and money) into the area. One night a team
of 6 police officers angrily buzzed up on motorcycles and promptly seized our
computer. They were here to check our guests against the information submitted
to the police station. We had not yet submitted the information as we still had
an hour until the deadline, but that did not matter to them. They made a big
production about the procedures of registration and left informing us they
would levy a fine to us the next day. Lucky for us, we know a fairly high level
police officer and he arranged to meet the 6 officers in a coffee shop and
discuss the matter. With the help of the friend and my wife, we were able to
settle with the police and ended up having to foot their food bill instead of a
fine. We were also given the phone numbers of the police with assurances that
they would help us in the future if we had any issues…….. Great I thought…..
Christmas time and the tax people are back!! They find that
my night receptionist has not yet registered the guests with the tax department
and it is 10 pm…. The deadline. The next day we are called in to discuss the
fine. Huh…. OK….. This is starting to smell a bit. Fines seem to be very
negotiable. Anyway… Shortly after Christmas, 2 police officers show up looking
for donations to their station. Our receptionist politely declines and the two
after look nervously at the security camera, and then ask who the police man we know is
by name…… Hmmmmmm…. Why would they ask that? I am now beginning to think that
our horns are locked. I do know the other businesses are making “donations” but
I will have none of it.
Tet comes and I am again paid a surprise visit by the
police. Darn!! I am finally thinking maybe we are turning a profit…….. But
no….. They find some small flaw with our tax signage (not their department),
and again we have a fine. Up until now, I have never seen the receipt for the
fine paid, so now I insist that I get a copy of the fine and receipt. The
police really did not seem to like this but complied. HaH!! A small victory! At
least I know where the money is going. OK……… holidays are over and it is back
to business, or so I thought. BANG!! The tax people are here again and after
snooping around, they decide that we must be fined for not having the room
rates posted in all the rooms……. Whaa????? I have never seen or heard of such a thing. Now I am sure that they are looking
for anything to punish us for not playing the game. Again…. Any thought of a
profitable month disappears. Just a few nights past, again were stormed by
police. This time they seized all Id’s and passports and proceeded to barge
into everybody’s rooms. All of our records are accurate and information
entered…. There should be no problem. In the end, we were told that every
person that is in the building has to have the id in our possession……… again….
Whaa?? There are foreigners that refuse
to give up their passports, and families that travel without the id of their
children. Again this is costing us and the profits disappear
Wow! I now understand the desirability of renting the rooms
by the hour instead of by the night. At least you will have an empty hotel when
they show up.
To those of you that want to run a small business in Vietnam, take
heed. There is still some work for the government to do to get the corruption
under control. If it looks like you are successful (even if you are only trying
to break even), you will get some surprise visitors. For us…….. we still chug
away trying to have a happy little hotel in the midst of the chaos. Our staff
and most expenses get paid, but sadly, the hotel owners do not…. That is OK… We
came here to retire and as long as our cost of living is covered….. we should
be happy…. But one day… people will wonder where all of the foreigners that
used to spend their money in our jurisdiction have gone.
What a bunch of losers. We will continue not to feed the
greedy little gremlins and insist on written receipts for our fines.
HI Owee,
Good luck in running your business, you are doing a great not giving in to those greedy bastards.
My name is XXXXXX, I am a vietkieu who live in Vancouver Canada since 1979. I read one of your posted in april 2010 about dual citizen. Do you know if any foreigners or vietkieus have any problems after they got their vietnamese citizen? What are the taxes implications? I work and live in canada, If I obtain my dual citizenship, do I have to pay income taxes to the vietnamese government? I am thinking of getting my dual citizenship in the near future to do business in vietnam but I am very skeptical about it. I am afraid that I am being set up or harass by the local police. If I get into trouble, I will loose my canadian rights. Please let me know if anyone have any problems with their new dual citizenships in vietnam. Thanks in advance.
Hi M.L. I hope you do not mind but I have edited out your name so you cannot be identified. I can tell you that we have now sucsefullly completd the process and my wife is now a dual citizen of Can and Viet. It is a bit hard to explain and I cannot do it openly, but there are no tax implications…. we live in a cash economy. From what I understand, we are among the very few that have used the obscure law and had dual ctizenship granted. So far……. no problems.
The questions you are asking involve information that I am very uncomforatable posting openly. I will send you my email address…
Thank you for the reply, Owen. I suppose that teaching English wouldn’t be a bad way to live out my days. I am fairly young (31) and it would be a good way to meet more people my age, I suppose. My life here has been spent building a business. I have gone through the same frustrations you have en route to success. Even though we all speak the same language here, I still feel that we have similar communication problems to yours. I want a beige wall, they paint a blue one to appease me :). I view VN as a place where I can finally stop overworking and begin to enjoy life.
I visited Nha Trang twice in the last year, though I stayed in the “tourist area.” (Don’t blame me, the showers at the Novotel are to DIE for). Obviously I could not afford to live as such in perpetuity. I will visit VN again this summer and will probably spend more time in the “real” areas. Obviously you understand the magnitude of this decision. If nothing else, perhaps a run to the Bia Hoi and some local food?
What are your wife’s biggest concerns? Are you committed to staying forever at this point?
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Tim
Owen,
I have taken to reading your blog non-stop over the past few days. I am also contemplating a move to VN. I am a business owner here in the States, but don’t know if I want to own another one. I would probably rather have a job.
If you had it all to do over again, would you change?
Tim Mason
Welcome Tim
I have at times gone through periods of frustration and second guessed myself, but in the end, there is no place I would rather be. (My wife is of a different opinion)
I spent some time pondering the last part to your question and thought I would change some things……. but then, I would not have the current life and oppotunity if I did….. so I guess The decision I made was a good one.
Unless you want to teach English, having a job here usually involves owning a business and having others run it
This all really sucks. Loved our trip to Vietnam but found the open corruption disturbing. Good luck with it all.
ahhh…..forget about it!
Hi Owen,
I’ve read about your resistance to bribery and APPLAUDED your effort. I wish that more and more businesses and people alike would come together to resist the bribery, so that the people in power would not get rich of off the labor of others, especially of the poor. I have no doubt that the ordinary Vietnamese who have no power and no connections are being squeezed at all ends because of the corruption practices. This is the reason we stayed away from Viet Nam. I heard endless stories of bribery for the three weeks we visited last September and my heart just breaking for the very poor Vietnamese knowing that they have to work so hard to make a living and have to content with paying for all the corruptions just to get by in their lives.
I truly believe that for Viet Nam to be prospered as a country and the Vietnamese as a people, they need to stop all the corruptions. I know that the world is watching and you said the government is trying, but I don’t think they’re doing enough. The decisions the country made because of corruptions could have dire consequences to its people for it benefits only the few and hurt the majority; the Vietnamese need to be educated about this and stop the practice of corruption if they want their country to be prospered.
I know that it’s going to take time and bravo to you for trying to help, but every baby step is needed because no matter how much money the Vietnamese spent trying to get tourists to come to Viet Nam, it’s a wasted effort because the tourist would not come back having to deal with all the scams and corruptions while visiting. It’s a very small percentage of tourists would come back now and I think it’ll be none at all without people like you to help.
Keep up the good work and I think you should talk more about the corruptions, not just to the foreigners, but to the Vietnamese as well so that they would know that continue to practice corruptions would only hurt themselves in the long run.
Michelle…. thanks for that, but I do have to be careful. I cannot ever forget where I am.
Dave….. reguardless of what happens….. I feel alive! I am contributing to society and not just counting my days like back home.
Paul…. it seems you have been hit worse than I…sorry about that….
the stress harldy seems worth the effort. To me retirement is all about relaxation. Best of luck and be carefull out there
wow owen. you must sometimes wonder why you bother…until you read all the great reviews and know how much your guests appreciate your attitude and work.
i sincerely hope it all works out ok for you sooner rather than later.
see you soon
Sadly this is how most of the world operates. I’m friends with a former Sai Gon policeman and he says that despite NOT asking for bribes people heaped them on him at every turn as this is the way it’s always been done. That’s how friends are made and favors are done for friends. Sometimes it’s best to hold your nose and do it….cheaper in the end….principals cost dearly.
One thing I hate most is BRIBERY. From the guard @ Tan Son Nhat airport to the Doctors @ Thu Duc dist hospital I had to pay. The taxi driver got pulled over, I ended up to pay for his fine! The whole thing is awful!!