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[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Errm no understand leh, that is his exact SBF nick leh (carrot007) "Chai Tao James Bond" is what I termed him and is not his SBF nick here as Chai Tao (Carrot in hokkien") and James Bond (is 007)

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

Yea yea...knew what you meant lah...

[iicycold]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

So sweet looking, can drop on my doorsteps instead????

drop 2 yr outside doorstep sure end up inside yr room like tat...lol

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by iicycold

drop 2 yr outside doorstep sure end up inside yr room like tat...lol

Errrmmm no lah the Ao Dai already dunno ended up where liao the moment the SSSSYT step into my room.....

Cheerios........SS08 ^_^

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Errrmmm no lah the Ao Dai already dunno ended up where liao the moment the SSSSYT step into my room.....

Cheerios........SS08 ^_^

caught you in airport again...this time rare occasion on Monday departure...when did you started returning on Monday...

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam ministry suspends Tuoi Tre Online

The newspaper has also been given a VND220 million (US$9,500) fine

By Son Luong / Tuoi Tre News Tuesday, July 17, 2018, 09:53 GMT+7



Vietnam’s press watchdog has suspended Tuoi Tre Online, the Vietnamese-language online platform of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, for three months over journalism and publishing violations.

Tuoi Tre Online, accessible at tuoitre.vn, will temporarily stop publishing new stories for three months from July 16, according to a decision issued the same day by the Authority of Press under the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The order, signed by Luu Dinh Phuc, directorate general of the Authority of Press, states that Tuoi Tre Online reported untrue information by misquoting Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang in a June 19 article, and information “splitting national unity” in the reader comments of a May 26, 2017 story.

The news site was asked to rectify the false information and pay a fine of VND220 million ($9,500). Tuoi Tre Online published the corrections on Monday night.

The suspension only affects the online Vietnamese publication of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Tuoi Tre newspaper, one of the country’s largest dailies by circulation.

[Hurricane88]

Tropical storm enters East Vietnam Sea, bringing heavy downpours

The typhoon, the third to hit Vietnam this year, will have direct impact on northern and north-central provinces

By Duy Khang / Tuoi Tre News Tuesday, July 17, 2018, 11:00 GMT+7



While a tropical depression off Vietnam’s north-central coast is weakening, another one has evolved into a storm after entering the northern part of the East Vietnam Sea.

The first tropical depression was located at coast between Nghe An and Ha Tinh Provinces in the north-central region as of Tuesday morning, packing winds at 40 to 50km per hour.

It will travel southwestward in the next 12 hours and weaken into a low-pressure zone, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

Meanwhile, another tropical depression, first formed northeast of the Philippines, entered the East Vietnam Sea and become a typhoon, named Son-Tinh, on the same day.

This is the third storm to hit Vietnam this year.

As of 7:00 am, Son-Tinh was located at about 250 kilometers northwest of the Philippines’ Luzon Island, with wind speed recorded as 60 to 75km an hour and gusts at up to 100km per hour.

The storm is expected to travel northwest in the next 24 hours and located at about 350 kilometers east of the Vietnamese coast from the northern city of Hai Phong to Ha Tinh Province by Wednesday morning.

In the next 24 to 48 hours, it will weaken into a tropical depression.

The typhoon is forecast to have direct impact on provinces in northern and north-central Vietnam, especially those in coastal areas, bringing heavy downpours from Tuesday to Thursday.

In Hanoi, rainfall may be accompanied with strong gusts.

Water level of several rivers in Ha Tinh Province is rising rapidly, posing high risks of inundation, flashflood, and landslide.

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam’s Airbnb hosts suffer from growing competition

The competition among Airbnb hosts is getting fierce and demanding a lot of effort but bringing only a few million dong of profit per month

By Bao Anh / Tuoi Tre News Monday, July 16, 2018, 18:04 GMT+7

Many Airbnb hosts in Vietnam who rushed to rent properties only to list them on the peer-to-peer lodging marketplace have had to swallow a bitter pill as they prove less competitive than those who do so with their own houses.

Airbnb, founded in 2008, is an American home rental platform based in San Francisco that lets people list, find, and rent short-term lodging in 65,000 cities and more than 191 countries across the globe.

The company does not own any properties. It acts as an intermediary between those who want to rent out space and those who are looking for space to rent.

As Airbnb continues to revolutionize in the accommodation-sharing market, many Vietnamese have attempted to join the competition in the Southeast Asian country.

According to incomplete data, about 35 percent of the accommodation-sharing hosts in Vietnam manage over two listings, or properties available for rent, a high rate compared to other foreign countries.

Some win, others suffer

But unlike the foreign markets where most of the listed places on Airbnb are legally possessed by the hosts, a large number of Vietnamese have cashed in on the service with properties they rent, not own.

Thuy, a resident in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2, partnered with friends to rent and refurbish several apartments on Pasteur Street in District 1, and listed them on Airbnb.

“My initial investment of about VND800 million [US$35,200] did not get bigger but smaller after one year, which effectively means I incurred losses,” Thuy told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Thuy said that she would stop listing on Airbnb to retain the remaining capital.

Tinh, a host with two accommodations located on District 1’s Pham Ngu Lao Street, shared with Tuoi Tre that he has just transferred his properties and completely withdrawn from Airbnb to focus on his main job at an international bank.

“Initially, when my intention was to make better use of my spare rooms, everything was easy to manage but when I started renting another apartment [to list on Airbnb], things got complicated, costing me a lot of time for management,” Tinh said.

The situation is similar to when Vietnamese people took out bank loans to buy cars to drive for Uber or Grab, only to suffer losses as the competition became more intense.

Meanwhile, those who simply rent out space available in their houses still enjoy good business results from the tech-based lodging marketplace.

Hien, an Airbnb host in District 7, said that her tenants often prefer long-term booking.

“My guests are mainly Japanese. We usually hold cultural exchange activities on weekends,” Hien said.

Fierce competition

According to Kenneth Atkinson, chairman of the advisory firm Grant Thornton, the use of vacant space for rent on Airbnb used to be seen as a profit-making model thanks to the eagerness of individuals.

They managed to handle many problems, from finding new customers to replying to tenants’ messages, to maintain high customer ratings.

However, as the competition in Vietnam is getting fiercer, Airbnb hosts must exert more efforts to keep their business running, even though it can bring in only a few million dong of profit per month, Atkinson underlined. (VND1 million = $48)

In 2017, the total number of three- and five-star hotel rooms in Vietnam rose to 101,400, up ten percent from the previous year, while more than 10,000 rooms in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were made available on Airbnb in the same year.

Hosts who jumped into the Airbnb game without paying much attention to such factors as occupancy rates or rental rates could be the first to face consequences, according to the Grant Thornton chairman.

In the meantime, Michael Robinson, general manager of Caravelle Saigon Hotel, assessed that online travel agents would have to ‘keep an eye’ on the development of Airbnb in Vietnam.

People who plan their trips online may prefer Airbnb to an online travel agent when it comes to hotel booking, as the former, which allows people to rent an apartment or only a spare room, is more suitable for families, especially those with children, Robinson said.

“This is not to mention the quality of Airbnb services in Vietnam has been quite good," Robinson said.

[Hurricane88]

Vietnamese patients neglect health insurance due to long waiting time

Many choose to apply for ‘premium services,’ which cost a lot more but save them a great deal of time

By Duy Khang / Tuoi Tre News Monday, July 16, 2018, 17:05 GMT+7



An increasing number of patients in Vietnam are giving up on their health insurance plans and agree to pay for premium services, due to the endless wait and many other troubles during their health examinations.

Health insurance was previously embraced as it can cover up to 80 percent of a patient’s medical bill.

However, one of the most excruciating drawbacks to be able to get the insurance coverage is that patients have to wait for ages for their turn to see the doctor.

This is always the case for major hospitals in big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, which have been overcrowded by not only local patients but those from nearby provinces.

Many insured patients have no choice but to ditch their insurances and apply for ‘premium services,’ which cost a lot more but save them a great deal of wait time.

The long wait

At around 9:00 am on July 12, Nguyen Thanh Chung, a 34-year-old resident from the southern province of Dong Nai, arrived at the Oncology Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for a cancer screening.

Chung registered for an insurance-backed examination, which cost him VND39,000 ($1.7), and was given the queue number of over 300, while the hospital had only served a little more than 100 patients.



One of the infirmary’s staff members warned that Chung might not be able to have his check-up within that day due to the long wait, advising that he should apply for the examination service with a premium cost.

For VND200,000 ($8.7), Chung would only have to wait for five or six people before his turn, the employee said.

A similar recommendation was also given to T., 45, another patient from Dong Nai.

“No one can wait that long,” T. said, referring to the 200-strong crowd in the wait, before paying for the check-up service.

Statistics of the hospital showed that only 32 percent of patients use their health insurance for check-ups.

While many were willing to neglect their insurance policies because of the wait, others were not allowed to benefit from their insurance plans due to the lack of a ‘transfer paper.’

According to regulations, a health insurance plan is only considered valid if used at the same hospital the patient has registered.

If they want to use the insurance at a different infirmary, a ‘transfer paper’ signed by doctors at the original hospital is required.

In order to obtain the ‘transfer paper,’ patients must first undergo a health check-up at the hospital that they register on their insurance.

After the examination, doctors at the infirmary will decide whether or not the patients should be transferred to another facility.

Patients can also ask the doctors to sign a ‘transfer paper’ for them, but the request is not always accepted.

This hurdle only makes people less inclined to use the insurance.

When reality strikes

As more and more patients choose to pay high fees to get their health checks quicker, the wait for this kind of service becomes longer and the process is not as quick and easy as promised.

L.T.H., a Ho Chi Minh City resident who paid for such service at the Oncology Hospital, said that the queues are often very long, while doctors do not have enough time for each patient.

H. added she sometimes had to wait nearly a day for her turn, or even had to pay extra costs for overtime services.

On July 13, P.T.M.P., a 60-year-old resident in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, had to ask for her money back as she could not wait any longer at the Hospital for Traumatology and Orthopaedics.

She arrived early in the morning and waited until 5:00 pm that day.

Nguyen Xuan Ngoc, 53, hailing from the south-central province of Binh Thuan, also found himself in a similar situation.

Ngoc has received treatment for his degenerative spine conditions at a hospital in Binh Thuan, which was registered on his health insurance, without any positive results.

As previous doctors refused to give him a ‘transfer paper,’ he had to pay for regular services at the Hospital for Traumatology and Orthopaedics in Ho Chi Minh City.

“I arrived at 5:00 am and was still unable to complete the check-up by at end of the day,” Ngoc said.

[iicycold]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Errrmmm no lah the Ao Dai already dunno ended up where liao the moment the SSSSYT step into my room.....

aiyo,brother...so rush 4 wat? step inside rm aso mus need time 2 slowly slowly take off her ao dai then shiok ma...lol...immediately take off out where got song...my kkj aso need sm turn on 2 marikita lei....lol



...little by little...slowly...by slowly...

( Click to show/hide )

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

caught you in airport again...this time rare occasion on Monday departure...when did you started returning on Monday...

Oops.....guilty as proclaimed.......

Now mixture depending on ticket prices but majority still returning on Sundays liao........

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Vietnam’s Airbnb hosts suffer from growing competition

The competition among Airbnb hosts is getting fierce and demanding a lot of effort but bringing only a few million dong of profit per month

By Bao Anh / Tuoi Tre News Monday, July 16, 2018, 18:04 GMT+7

Many Airbnb hosts in Vietnam who rushed to rent properties only to list them on the peer-to-peer lodging marketplace have had to swallow a bitter pill as they prove less competitive than those who do so with their own houses.

Sinkapor people will say "vege goot"

Initially Airbnb was developed so that those genuine property owners can maximise their own property instead of leaving a room or whole apartment vacant but these idiots start to rent people's properties and re-rent them out to tenants again, sama sama those property speculators whom buy & resell immediately causing property prices to skyrocket

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by iicycold

aiyo,brother...so rush 4 wat? step inside rm aso mus need time 2 slowly slowly take off her ao dai then shiok ma...lol...immediately take off out where got song...my kkj aso need sm turn on 2 marikita lei....lol

Oh I can wait of cos..........










Its my little bro that can't...........

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Oops.....guilty as proclaimed.......

Now mixture depending on ticket prices but majority still returning on Sundays liao........

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

why guilty and I am not justice...

noted on your Monday return...so no chance to catch you @ airport departure becos I hardly return on Sundays....

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Sinkapor people will say "vege goot"

Initially Airbnb was developed so that those genuine property owners can maximise their own property instead of leaving a room or whole apartment vacant but these idiots start to rent people's properties and re-rent them out to tenants again, sama sama those property speculators whom buy & resell immediately causing property prices to skyrocket

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

haha...well when ppl thinks airbnb is lucrative biz which obviously not...think the best biz is those ST hotel with popular FL...even if each ST cost 100k and imagine they can reap at least 1mil for the same room with clients going for cheap bonks...

[Hurricane88]

Steady pun pee pee...lixi paid using device...

___________________________________________

Gifting the bride and groom with money is part of the Vietnamese wedding culture, and a couple in Hanoi has added a touch of technology to the practice, accepting the gift via a payment device and a scannable QR code in lieu of conventional envelopes.

A video has surfaced on Facebook earlier this week of the one-of-a-kind wedding, where a couple happily instructed guests to send them wedding money via a mobile payment terminal with their bank cards, or scan a QR (Quick response) code with their smartphones.

One only needed to type in the amount of money on the groom’s smartphone and insert their card to the payment device, according to the video seen by Tuoi Tre News.

The groom would then process the next steps of payment on the same smartphone and have the guests sign on the device’s screen to complete the transaction.

The couple was standing next to a table, where two cards with the QR code were placed for guests to scan with their smartphones and complete the money gifting process in less than 30 seconds.

Video of Vietnamese couple receiving wedding money via payment device goes viral

The bride and groom also allowed guests to scan a QR code to transfer the money in the blink of an eye

By Bao Anh / Tuoi Tre News Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 07:19 GMT+7



As per the tradition, guests will place cash in envelopes and put them in a box at the entrance to the wedding venue.

Many guests to the ceremony were apparently surprised by the new but strange way of giving the money gift, while some were confused, not knowing how to use the payment device.

Even though the video only went viral on the Internet earlier this week, the bride and groom, Tu and Ha, told local media that their wedding actually took place in March. They also confirmed the authenticity of the video.

According to a friend of the bride and groom, the couple only wanted to make use of the payment device equipped in their shop on the wedding day, believing that their friends, most of who work in the financial sector, would find the payment method familiar.

In addition, the young couple also prepared a wedding card box for those who wanted to follow the traditional way of gifting.


A guest scans the QR code to gift money to the bride and groom in this screenshot captured from the video.

The footage has suddenly attracted hundreds thousands of views on several Facebook pages in the past few days.

Many social media users have showed support to the use of technology in such a traditional practice for its quickness and convenience.

Some even revealed that they already have a habit of electronically transferring money to the bride and groom before the wedding, instead of bringing the envelopes.

But many also said that the scene of people using their cards to make a transaction before entering the wedding venue makes it look like they are paying for a meal.

Critics say the Hanoi couple has ‘commercialized’ their wedding, and “it is quite odd that the bride and groom will immediately know how much the guest gives them with such a way of gifting,” one Facebook user commented.

The viral video also reminded people of another clip of guests swiping their cards to transfer money gifts at the wedding of a Chinese couple, which also caused controversy on social media.