Vietnam - HCM

[Carrot007]

Just to share some additional info:

TAXI
Mai Linh is the bigger taxi company in VN.
From my experience in HCM, Mai Linh and Vinasun taxis are ok, I have not got any bad encounters so far.
In Hanoi, I stick to Mai Linh and Hanoi taxi also.
There are some small green coloured taxis with flag down rate at 9k VND, but they have turbo-charged meters !!! Avoid them, they operate around Hoan Kiem lake. Targetting at tourist especially. Beware of them.

WAGES
The monthly wages of the fresh grads from university used to be around USD 200-300. Now the property price and taxi fares and everything else also increased, their expected wages follow as well. It also depends if the job offer is from a local or a foreign company. Foreign companies usually pays higher.
Recently I conducted some interviews in HCM as well as Hanoi, university grads with some years of experience in IT field are already paid USD 400 - 600. Per job hop, they expect to have at least 20% increase in their salary.

TIPS for KTV girls
In local KTVs, tips should not exceed 200K VND.
In international KTVs, tips should not exceed 300K VND.
There will be girls who are contented with whatever amount you give and there will ALWAYS be girls who are never contented and make a big fuss to try and get more from you.
Sometimes I give more because they provide good service or speaks good body language, but never because they speak good english. Hahaha !

Originally Posted by Reaper

SASCO is operated by the Airport Authority (Southern) that is why they have the contract but they are all a bunch of Thieves, just like the pirate taxis. Also, when you board the 7-seaters of the Mai Linh group, the flag down fare is VND15K. and yes, the total fare is higher but very nominal.



I think he meant to say USD800 ANUALLY. which should work out to be about there. Fresh grads are asking for about 3-5 mil. trust me. I have been doing recruitment lately and alot of them are asking for about 3-5 mil. and that is NETT pay. even if i manage to find one for 2.5 mil, they would expect us to cover their taxes for them.

I am not siding any one here, just posting what I know and have experienced...

also, I dont think that just because they girls can speak english, we are expected to pay them more. case in pont, PRs from certain KTVs will blantantly "demand" more tips from you eventhough all she can say in english is lesser than what I can say in vietnamese and i speak very very little vietnamese....

[whoisdey]

Yes, I did mean ANNUALLY.. as you Singapooreans would say, mistake la. $800 annually seems low to me, but that is the "official" number. I first said it was around $1000.

I do not know how you can pay $40 USD for a manager at a factory - maybe it is a local owned factory? Foreign factories have minimum wages of 1 million VND for the city ones, 900k for the bigger provinces. See this: ..... WELCOME TO MOF WEBSITE .....

Of course if you run the factories here, you have to deal with strikes (like the Nike factories) even if you pay the minimum. So the actual pay is more.

I agree with you Carrot that you (I) should not pay more just because they speak good English. What I probably should say is that we will like the girls, and rate her as having good service, if we can talk to her well. For most of us, that means either English or Chinese. Easier to find English here.

So the girls who speak English well tend to get more money in tips because we can have a good time with here. Same for her, if she cannot understand us, it is not easy for her to have a good time with us.

As for Taxi, I hardly ever have a problem with them overcharging me. In Hanoi, maybe, as routes are far, but in HCMC, everything is close and overcharge means an extra 2,000 VND that I do not notice.

There are three rates of taxi classes for Mai Linh, the small ones (Matiz, Kia Morning.. more in Hanoi, hard to find in HCMC), the 4 seaters (Toyota Vios, Chevy Gentra), and the 7 seaters (Innova, Jolie). The 4 and 7 might have the same flag fare, but the per KM rates are different. At least that is what the cute female driver told me when conversation with her. Hard to find female drivers Also the new (less than 1 yr) drivers for Mai Linh are not allowed to drive the 7 passenger taxis.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by whoisdey

At least that is what the cute female driver told me when conversation with her. Hard to find female drivers Also the new (less than 1 yr) drivers for Mai Linh are not allowed to drive the 7 passenger taxis.

Dude....

Have been driven by female drivers on numerous occasions. (VInasun & Mailinh) and trust me...it is not an experience i would want to go through again....

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Carrot007

WAGES
The monthly wages of the fresh grads from university used to be around USD 200-300. Now the property price and taxi fares and everything else also increased, their expected wages follow as well. It also depends if the job offer is from a local or a foreign company. Foreign companies usually pays higher.
Recently I conducted some interviews in HCM as well as Hanoi, university grads with some years of experience in IT field are already paid USD 400 - 600. Per job hop, they expect to have at least 20% increase in their salary.

This one here I totally agree with you..... Sales managers with experience are already asking for USD$500 NETT so if you factor in the taxes the company has to pay for the employee, it should amount to roughly USD$600 GROSS. The private sector is being being squeezed for higher salarys' because the Goverment has raised the minimum wage sclae for its employees and they say it is to make up for Inflation and therefore, private sectors are expected to pay more also.

Originally Posted by Carrot007

TIPS for KTV girls
In local KTVs, tips should not exceed 200K VND.
In international KTVs, tips should not exceed 300K VND.
There will be girls who are contented with whatever amount you give and there will ALWAYS be girls who are never contented and make a big fuss to try and get more from you.
Sometimes I give more because they provide good service or speaks good body language, but never because they speak good english. Hahaha !

The only language I understand in KTVs are BODY LANGUAGE. WHich reminds me...have to go KTV again very soon.....miss my "spot lights"

[whoisdey]

Video of street action in VN (Hanoi). Prices are not up to date, this being a year ago. It is an investigative report from a local news station. Maybe samsters should come here and be a reporter.



Apologize if this is old news to you.

[sexlegend]

Originally Posted by Carrot007

Just to share some additional info:

TAXI
Mai Linh is the bigger taxi company in VN ...

WAGES
The monthly wages of the fresh grads from university used to be around USD 200-300 ...

TIPS for KTV girls
In local KTVs, tips should not exceed 200K VND ...

Just to add my 2-cent opinion.

Recently, my company gave me tis taxi cards: one each for Vinasun & Mai Linh. Find it veri usefull. You just sign off watever fare tat u take and the taxi companies will bill it to ur office at end of every month. At least u dunt need to pay cash everytime and the driver also less likely to ketuk you. Just a suggestion.

Salaries for local staffs are very subjective. For us foreigner co, guess we look for those guys who have prior working experience with foreign companies (at least they can speak english and understand our expectation). For tis reason, we pay premium unless the company dunt mind training up those young chikus. FYI, my local managers are paid USD 1K to 2K, and they perform their job upto our expectations.

KTVs ... hmm tips wise, wat bro mentioned here are market price. To add, in places like Catwalk or Royale, they do charge the tips in the bills ... but I usually pay additional VND 300K for the gals. Though these places are on the higher spectrum, I do find gals who are ok (meaning not too money-minded i.e. they do go out with you during the weekend without asking for $$$, dinner, movies and score at your home).

[vlover]

Originally Posted by whoisdey

Yes, get a local number. Auto roam works but use a local number, no arguments there. You may be right about who owns which operator, but I find that Mobifone works less well than Viettel in the city, and the opposite in the provinces. SIM cards are cheap, so I carry both.

For vlover, all the SIM card telcos have GPRS. I do not know about the CDMA telcos, like HT Mobile and S-Fone.

yo bro..

I got a local number (mobifone) the other time.. but didnt try to see if GPRS works.. Now I know that GPRS works, do I need to call the teleco that I am using to apply? Cos in Singapore, if you have a new SIM card or phone, you need to call up your service provider to apply.. Sorry for asking so much.. need to clear the air in case of emergency if need to be online.. so that I can chiong ktv/wash hair/have a great sexxion in peace..

rgds,
vlover

[Thom07]

Originally Posted by vlover

yo bro..

Hi You managed to merge yr Chatchat card values together already?

[Beijunda]

Originally Posted by whoisdey

Yes, I did mean ANNUALLY.. as you Singapooreans would say, mistake la. $800 annually seems low to me, but that is the "official" number. I first said it was around $1000.

I do not know how you can pay $40 USD for a manager at a factory - maybe it is a local owned factory? Foreign factories have minimum wages of 1 million VND for the city ones, 900k for the bigger provinces. See this: ..... WELCOME TO MOF WEBSITE .....

Of course if you run the factories here, you have to deal with strikes (like the Nike factories) even if you pay the minimum. So the actual pay is more.

I agree with you Carrot that you (I) should not pay more just because they speak good English. What I probably should say is that we will like the girls, and rate her as having good service, if we can talk to her well. For most of us, that means either English or Chinese. Easier to find English here.

So the girls who speak English well tend to get more money in tips because we can have a good time with here. Same for her, if she cannot understand us, it is not easy for her to have a good time with us.

As for Taxi, I hardly ever have a problem with them overcharging me. In Hanoi, maybe, as routes are far, but in HCMC, everything is close and overcharge means an extra 2,000 VND that I do not notice.

There are three rates of taxi classes for Mai Linh, the small ones (Matiz, Kia Morning.. more in Hanoi, hard to find in HCMC), the 4 seaters (Toyota Vios, Chevy Gentra), and the 7 seaters (Innova, Jolie). The 4 and 7 might have the same flag fare, but the per KM rates are different. At least that is what the cute female driver told me when conversation with her. Hard to find female drivers Also the new (less than 1 yr) drivers for Mai Linh are not allowed to drive the 7 passenger taxis.

I never ever said I paid USD40 for a manager at a factory leh, have I?

As for charges for taxi companies, I am saying SASCO charge higher than many other companies available at the airport. I am not keen about the formula of how the different companies charge.

[Beijunda]

Originally Posted by Pearl

Kekeke

U very early le bro.. Last nite until now didnt sleep ah??

No lah, got a early flight to take this morning. Now I am back in SG to settle some personal issues. Will be back again in HCMC in 2 days

[Beijunda]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Dude....

Have been driven by female drivers on numerous occasions. (VInasun & Mailinh) and trust me...it is not an experience i would want to go through again....

I have once with Vinataxi (Comfort Delgro)

[vlover]

Originally Posted by Thom07

Hi You managed to merge yr Chatchat card values together already?

yo bro...

thanks alot man.. helped me so much.. didnt had the trouble to keep remembering the card no when calling.. the speed dial function also not bad.. cos their numbers very long la.. came in useful.. thanks man..

rgds,
vlover

[whoisdey]

Originally Posted by vlover

Now I know that GPRS works, do I need to call the teleco that I am using to apply? r

I believe there is different procedure for pre paid or post paid cards. My phone is thru company, so my procedure may be different than you.

Best is to google gprs + your VN telco name to get the gprs setting and try it. May work or may not. If does not work, then you need to go to the authorized telco center, not just the shops to buy top up cards. The centers are where you can pay the post paid bills. They may have to turn it on or provide the settings for your phone correctly or something. Sometimes they have to reset accounts - technology is this country is difficult like that.

Calling them for gprs is a waste of time because they dun understand you.

[whoisdey]

Originally Posted by Beijunda

I never ever said I paid USD40 for a manager at a factory leh, have I?

Ok, semantics, whatever. The average factory worker does not make $40 because the minimum wage for a local factory is $35 and most of the workers actually work in FDI factories with higher minimums as shown above.

I would rather discuss fun girls than money.

[Beijunda]

Originally Posted by whoisdey

Ok, semantics, whatever. The average factory worker does not make $40 because the minimum wage for a local factory is $35 and most of the workers actually work in FDI factories with higher minimums as shown above.

I would rather discuss fun girls than money.

Sure!! I will be back I mean in HCMC on 30 April. Lets gather and talk about ladies!!!

Yo!