Frenchman retells overcharged taxi ride in Ho Chi Minh City, 25 years on A driver points to a taxi meter in this photo taken in Ho Chi Minh City. Tuoi Tre Editor’s note: It has been a quarter of a century since Vincent was fooled by a cabby on his very first visit to Ho Chi Minh City, but the Frenchman has not forgotten a single detail of the experience, as he nostalgically shared with Tuoi Tre News. The series of articles about taxi scams is very interesting. Thieves and scams certainly reach a nuisance level but we should not forget this is hardly a new practice in Vietnam, just like other countries. I am French and I was lucky to come to Vietnam a long time ago. The first time I landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport was in July 1991, almost 25 years ago. I remember landing at night, in the early evening, when only a few taxis were waiting there for very few passengers. One middle-aged driver approached me, took my suitcase and threw it in the trunk of his Renault Dauphine. Some of your readers might remember the white and blue paintings of those French cars from the 1960s. In 1991, there was no Internet, no Google and no readily available street maps of Ho Chi Minh City. A friend of mine had given me the address of Kim Do Hotel, on Nguyen Hue Street, but I had no idea if the airport was close to the city’s center or was tens of kilometers away. Being cautious about taxi drivers, in any country of the world, I used the best advice for the prudent tourist whose dollars are always a sweet target for scammers of all kinds: I asked for the price before boarding the car. The driver answered: "50 dollars.” You can certainly see the good deal it was for the driver from Tan Son Nhat to Nguyen Hue in 1991. On the principle of good bargaining alone, I answered “15 dollars!”, thinking the real price had to be around $25 and we would settle somewhere between the two offers. To my surprise, the driver accepted right away my $15 bid. I said to myself: “Sh…! He must have got me.” I guess the right price in 1991 must have been around $1.50. I have the same story for Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, where I was asked $13 for a bus ride between the airport and the city. I think I paid for every passenger. 'Exercise common sense' Tourists, in any country in the world, must remember that they are perceived very often as nothing more than walking wallets. In a country where some people earn 10 percent of a foreigner's salary, sometimes less, tourists shouldn’t be surprised when locals rely on their creativity, even if dishonest, to get those much needed dollars. And what are we really talking about, VND300,000 or $15, when those same tourists often have $900 iPhones in their bags? Of course, scammers and thieves tarnish the proud image of Vietnam, but Vietnamese citizens themselves are victims, so everybody must fight it. I think that tourists must also exercise common sense. Get information beforehand on the prices. It is everywhere on the Internet. Do not expose wallets or valuables. Choose reputable companies. I am annoyed too when people confuse me with a tourist and try to cheat me. But at the same time, I cannot stop being amazed by the genuine creativity of those same people. TUOI TRE NEWS