Vietnam compared to Thailand for living

[Suua]

Hello Forum members,
Just thought I'd ask the opinions of members that have made the move to Vietnam(if any have).
I've recently visited, and found the place to be very nice.
For me:
The weather is MUCH nicer than Thailands (cooler, but still lovely and warm).
People seem nice.
Similar cost if not slightly cheaper.
Internet not as fast.
Food not so good.
Pavements much better than Thailands.
Better driving standards, although still haphazard.

What are the positives, and what are the negatives???
Answers keenly awaited.

[oakdale160]

I wonder how many posters that have lived in Thai then moved to VN and yet follow the HHF there are.
Wouldn't ex-pat forums in VN be a better source of info for you.?
I have visited 4 times, with each of my children for about 10 days and twice for conferences about 4 days each.
The thing that I have noticed is how improved it has been each visit. Their tourist board is much more pro-active, one result of that is the English speaking abilities is much better than Thai. But, vacations, visits are not a good experience to assess long-term stay pros and cons.

[buksida]

Went a few years ago for a visit (not move) so not sure how much of this still applies but my findings were:

A LOT cheaper to eat/drink there, beer & wine a fraction of the price
Accommodation about the same
Internet depends where you are, both countries heavily censored so it will be slow
Visas hassle free, long stayers welcomed instead of treated like criminals
Plenty of teaching jobs without needing an astrophysics degree
Driving more chaotic but fewer accidents and fatalities so safer generally
No police roadblocks/shakedowns in tourist towns
Trash levels about the same, but no soi dogs
Not as noisy, Thais are obsessed with noise, Nam is much quieter
Service level/tourism way ahead of Thailand, they make an effort
Shopping on a par, no department stores outside Saigon, but they have huge markets
Weather depends where you are, Nam has epic typhoons, Thailand has floods and smog

This was a few years ago but I would say that Vietnam will have improved while Thailand has deteriorated. I'd move there tomorrow if I didn't have so many ties to this place.

[migrant]

Went a few years ago for a visit (not move) so not sure how much of this still applies but my findings were:

A LOT cheaper to eat there,
but no soi dogs

Hmmmmm

[Big Boy]

[buksida]

Tastes like chicken ...

[Suua]

Many thanks chaps,
Yes, I will investigate expat forums as you suggest.
I was hoping that folks who had made the move would perhaps keep an eye on HHF still.
I will also ask a good friend I am visiting this afternoon (HCMC), as he moved here a few years ago.
(I wanted more than one persons view)...hence my post.

Internet in Da Nang ~50Mb so not too bad.
Like your comments re-Visa and teaching.
Da Nang was very clean on the whole in comparison to Thailand.
Very few dogs roaming around....probably saw less than 5 in my 4 days there.
Building is exploding there too....construction of hotels/resorts/condos abounding.
Noticed a Mall under construction too....so looks like the shopping centres are coming.
Weather is blissful in comparison, but I was not there during any typhoon, so hard to judge.
Cars/motorbikes beeping horns were noticable.
Agree about the level of service/tourism.....largely due to education levels I imagine.

Thailand used to be a fun place, but as you say, has deteriorated exponentially.

[BOZ]

Check ThaiVisa forum... A guy made a very good honest post there about a month ago... interesting read for sure....

[PeteC]

I miss the beeping horns here, before it became grounds for immediate execution by an offended driver! My Toyota Tiger pick-up from 1993 actually had an electric big bus horn installed with a separate button when the need arose to make your presence felt.

I wonder if Thai tourists in Vietnam throw things and have a hissy fit when drivers honk at them for whatever reason. Would love to see video on that.

[wenshidi]

Check ThaiVisa forum... A guy made a very good honest post there about a month ago... interesting read for sure....

Do you happen to have a link?

[stretch]

Lived hua hin 10 years spent a week in Vietnam Xmas you won't get me back there in a rush.

[sateeb]

Stretch, you are the master of the one liner. Care to enlighten us mere mortals as to where and why?

[VincentD]

Slightly off topic..

I miss the beeping horns here, before it became grounds for immediate execution by an offended driver! My Toyota Tiger pick-up from 1993 actually had an electric big bus horn installed with a separate button when the need arose to make your presence felt.

Haha, yes.
At one time used to have a change-over switch between my regular horn and a set of Fiamm air horns on my other cars. Got the dogs out of the way pretty quick.
An associate at work had a train air horn mounted under his Tiger pickup - it wouldn't fit anywhere else, and had it's own compressor and air tank. Talk about soiled undies..
Anyway..
Back to topic..

[stretch]

Stretch, you are the master of the one liner. Care to enlighten us mere mortals as to where and why?

I found the people very friendly the things that put me off mostly the driving on the wrong side of the road and found the food quality compared with thailand third rate and the island of phu quoc is a rubbish dump .

[jamborab]

Worked in Vung Tau for a year. Great place, food and drink very cheap and a great choice of restaurants and bars. 3 beaches and a golf course. Only 2 hours south of HCMC on a ferry. A bit smaller than Hua Hin but much cleaner and a great indoor market and a shopping mall. Would go back in a minute