A new Vietnam Weekly is out now, covering the ongoing power shortage & efforts to reduce energy use, as well as HCMC’s insane proposal to build a gigantic residential/tourism area and international port in Can Gio.
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Michael Tatarski
@miketatarski
Ho Chi Minh City-based journalist and cyclist. Subscribe to my newsletter, the Vietnam Weekly
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Worth breaking my Twitter embargo for this: over the weekend Nguy Thi Khanh, the Goldman Prize-winning clean energy advocate and founder of GreenID, was released from prison early. She was serving a controversial two-year sentence for alleged tax evasion.
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A new Vietnam Weekly goes out tomorrow morning, covering Hoi An's proposed & quickly withdrawn tourist entrance fee, as well as official threats against TikTok. Sign up here:
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Just a fraction of today's new "followers." Have never seen it this bad.
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The new Notes feature from Substack is now available to everyone. I'm going to start posting there more frequently as this site continues to degrade. Join me! open.substack.com/pub/read/p/not
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"The building of gender identity law would clearly demonstrate the high regard that [Vietnam] holds for the values of humanity and the spirit of protecting vulnerable communities and 'leaving no one behind' in its policies, Trí said."
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Quang Ninh topped the annual Provincial Competitiveness Index for the 6th straight year, while HCMC fell 13 places to 27th. It scored especially poorly on "unofficial expenses" and "dynamism of the provincial government."
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"He said many foreign tourists who experienced his company's luxury cruise tours complained that 'Ha Long is full of garbage' and decided right then and there that they did not want to visit the bay ever again."
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For those interested, is hosting a webinar on "How to end human trafficking – Lessons from the front line” tomorrow at 3pm Vietnam time & Thursday at 7am Vietnam time. Should be fascinating.
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“Thanh, 70, and Phuong, 42, were arrested for abusing trust to appropriate others' property, according to investigators from the Ministry of Public Security.”
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Vietnam's biggest airport is being built, but the construction is threatening the health of those who live nearby.
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Vietnam's textile and garment exports saw their largest Q1 drop in value since 2009.
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That is a screw-up, though I'm curious about who is looking at Hoang Sa and Truong Sa on Grab.
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“Officials will continue to encourage them to relocate and hand over their land. If they fail to cooperate, the district will take coercive measures.”
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Vietnam next week, Sen. Jeff Merkley told a news conference in Hanoi on Saturday, as part of Washington's efforts to move diplomatic relations with Hanoi on to a higher level this year.
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The organizer of the Oceanman race to be held in Nha Trang next weekend has been fined for posting a mislabeled map, and the event has been cancelled by the Department of Culture and Sports in Khanh Hoa for an unspecified breach of the law.
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Huge turnout this morning for a ride organized by the Dutch consulate to advocate for a bike-friendly HCMC. Hopefully next year’s event can be longer!
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Twitter has killed outgoing links to Substack. What a stupid, petty place this has become.
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Headline is likely an empty threat, but TikTok is now getting the same treatment as Facebook, YouTube, etc.
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This project is a pure fiasco.
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"Many other foreign firms attending the event called for reducing the time it takes to process applications They said it took seven to 10 days for the city merely to accept applications submitted online."
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At the point where about 1 out of every 10 new followers on here is an actual person. So nice.
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"This has serious implications for Vietnam, as its doctrine, training, and most of its inventory are of Russian origin. This will push Hanoi to accelerate the diversification of its arms imports away from Russia, but this will be costly & time-consuming."
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"At a press conference Thursday, deputy spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang described assumptions made in the film 'MH370: The Plane That Disappeared' as 'untrue, baseless and inaccurate reflections of Vietnam’s efforts.'"
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In the new Vietnam Weekly: is the country’s economic center of gravity shifting away from HCMC? And Long Thanh’s construction dirt creates big problems in Dong Nai.
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That is a *lot* of trees, though this intersection desperately needs to be improved. It’s a huge bottleneck.
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Can't think of a better illustration of the city's real estate woes: two of the most valuable land plots in D1 (which have been empty for years for...reasons) may become public toilets. tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-lay-dat
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Instantly iconic photo from Zing News of one of the last remaining households within the Long Thanh Airport construction site. The family has yet to agree to resettlement compensation. zingnews.vn/nhung-ho-dan-c
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Insightful new Net Zero newsletter on tightening EV tax credit rules in the US that will surely be of interest to VinFast if they expect to seriously compete there.
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Search & rescue efforts continue after a helicopter with 4 tourists and a pilot on board crashed into Ha Long Bay last night. Three bodies have been found so far.
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A new free-to-read Vietnam Weekly arrives tomorrow morning, covering Long Thanh International Airport's huge dust problem, HCMC's anemic economic growth, and more. Sign up here:
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One of my worst traffic fears here is getting obliterated by someone blasting through a red light.
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According to Forbes, Vietnam's current billionaires collectively lost over $4 billion in asset value last year, while Nova Group chairman Bui Thanh Nhon dropped out of the list.
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"Most significant is that if current rates of sand extraction continue, stocks of exploitable sand in the Mekong will be exhausted within 10 years, undermining development that depends on sand and the very existence of the delta."
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"Overall air quality, however, improved throughout Southeast Asia last year, with seven of nine countries in the region recording a decrease in PM2.5 concentrations across the year. Only Vietnam and Laos saw air pollution levels worsen."
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Another subscriber-only Vietnam Weekly is out now, covering the blockbuster conclusion of the repatriation flight investigation which uncovered millions of dollars in bribes and recommended charges against 54 officials.
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The sprawling repatriation flight investigation has ended with bribery charges proposed for 54 people, including numerous former high-level officials who took millions in cash. Will send out a paid newsletter on this tomorrow:
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