24.06.

2017 “Red light” districts in Ho Chi Minh City – My Hanoi

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“Red light” districts in Ho Chi Minh City

MARCH 14, 2017

“Wanna have some pleasure for 300,000 dongs? Rent of room

included.”

Most men riding their bikes alone in some streets in Ho Chi Minh City would
find themselves the target of these sex solicitations in public, regardless
whether it is during day time or night.

Part 1: “Red light” districts in Ho Chi Minh City

Part 2: Street prostitutes cum robbers
Part 3: Vietnam ladies’ dens for foreigners in the city

Though banned in Vietnam, prostitution has never been completely

eliminated – driven underground during police crackdown campaigns and
thriving when police enforcement is lax.

The “butterflies of the night,” as the prostitutes are commonly referred to by

the locals, ply their trade around certain streets in Ho Chi Minh City, some
riding motorbikes, others on bicycles or just standing under the tree shades
on street pavements.

Picking up one of the girls on the streets to have a few brief moments of
sexual pleasure, male customers sometimes get more than what they have
bargained for. As some men are getting ready in the toilet, the girls
disappear from the hotel, together with their wallets, money and cell
phones. Sometimes, the prostitutes, working in cahoots with mafia gangs,
beat up their customers and rob them of all their money.

One of the current hot spots in Ho Chi Minh City is Hoa Binh Park, located
on the corner of Hung Vuong and Nguyen Chi Thanh streets, lying in the
border between two districts 5 and 10.

Just spotting a man pulling his bike over to answer a phone call, a girl riding
an expensive motorbike approached him and asked, “Looking for pleasure?

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24.06.2017 “Red light” districts in Ho Chi Minh City – My Hanoi

Three knots (slang for VND300,000 or US$15), rent of room included.”

Getting no response, she moved on to another man sitting on his bike

nearby. They had some brief exchanges and, apparently after agreeing on
the price, rode away together on their bikes.

It was a brief scene a Tuoi Tre journalist witnessed on Nguyen Chi Thanh
Street on August 24.

On a stretch of street that is only 500 meters long, running from Nguyen Chi
Thanh Street to Hoa Binh Park, prostitution activities seem to go on around
the clock. The girls just need to cross the street to enter another jurisdiction
to escape in case of police raids or ID checks.

Mr. Sau, a taxi motorbike rider in the area, said, “Prostitutes parade
themselves on this street every day from early morning till mid night. They
used to cruise the street only at night but recently have started to hang
around here all day long.”

It is estimated that around 40­50 “butterflies of the night” work this stretch of
the street.

“The police raided the area some months ago, bring down the prostitution
activities for a time, but the problem has re­surfaced recently,” said NVT, a
night watchman of Ward 9 in District 5.

Other streets, such as Le Tuan Mau and Kinh Duong Vuong in District 6,
Hong Bang in District 5, Cong Hoa in Tan Binh District, 23­9 Park in District
1, Linh Xuan Bypass in Thu Duc District and An Suong T­Road in District
12, have also seen prostitutes publicly waving down passers­by.

A sex worker who introduced herself as Lan admitted, “I had a customer at

7:00 am early morning today.”

“It doesn’t really matter whether it is day time or night time. As long as a
guest has money, anytime is ok.

“Recently, many men want to do it during day time. And supply comes after
demand,” she said curtly, bringing our conversation to an end.

To be continued

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24.06.2017 “Red light” districts in Ho Chi Minh City – My Hanoi

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FILED UNDER: HO CHI MINH CITY

TAGGED WITH: AN SUONG, BUTTERFLIES OF THE NIGHT, CITYPART, CONG HOA, HO CHI MINH CITYPART, HOA BINH PARK,
HONG BANG, HONG BANG IN DISTRICT, HUNG VUONG, KINH DUONG VUONG, LE TUAN MAU, LINH XUAN BYPASS, MINH
CITY, MR SAU, NGUYEN CHI THANH, NGUYEN CHI THANH STREET, PARK IN DISTRICT, RED LIGHT, ROAD IN DISTRICT,
SLANG FOR VND, TAN BINH DISTRICT, THU DUC DISTRICT, TO BE CONTINUED, TUOI TRE

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