Drink spiked on Saturday night Bui Vien - please warn others

This old rule has been around for a long time - NEVER accept a drink from strangers

There used to be a small police station on Bui Vien. If it is still there,  suggest you report this incident. Ask your hotel staff to help you with this, as the police may not speak English.

100% right mate...but when you're chattin to some people and having a good time, you've had a few beers and you're travelling it's pretty common for people to buy beers for eachother, so it seemed innocent enough well until it wasn't...just sharing my experience so people can be aware to never accept drinks in these situations as you have said

Hi Ralph I already spoke to the people I was staying with and they suggested against this for reasons I'm not willing to talk about here...I'm leaving now so not going to go down that route but thanks for the reply

As Fred said, don't accept drinks, the next person this happens to will say the same thing...'Im on holidays and having fun', unfortunately these guys know that and it will never stop.

Are you male or female? I automatically assumed male for some reason but then why would they try to drug you? No indication in your profile or post.

If your a guy I guess they wanted to rob you. If you're a lady, they probably wanted to rob and rape you.

I'd keep an eye out for them during the rest of your stay there. I'm not a big fan of Bui Vien, I don't see the appeal of foreigners grouped together sitting opposite each other in their enclave staring at each other.  But chances are these guys spend every night down there. Get a sneeky pic of them, confront them... warn others.

Got to ask what their motive was too and whether you were actually drugged... get a test. I thought I had been drugged one time in the sticks. At the time, I was confused and disorientated after having just a few sips of a strong beer. I went to sleep for a couple of hours and slept it off. With hindsight, it was probably more a case of me not being acclimatised, culture shock, heat exhaustion, jet lag and then drinking alcohol which got me confused and paranoid.  I was drinking with strangers but none would have had any motive to drug me.

I'm not someone who gets wasted to the point I can't walk or remember what's happened. I drink to have a good time but know my limits so this was unusual and first I time I had ever been in a situation like that.

If your a guy I guess they wanted to rob you. If you're a lady, they probably wanted to rob and rape you.

Assuming the OP is a man (It reads like that), you're assuming the Australian and his mates are straight.

Fred wrote:

If your a guy I guess they wanted to rob you. If you're a lady, they probably wanted to rob and rape you.

Assuming the OP is a man (It reads like that), you're assuming the Australian and his mates are straight.

That's true...

I don't know exact numbers,  but i would bet that it's as high as 99% of these cases it's men drugging women to commit sexual crimes.

There is a sad truth that some people use date rape drugs to get what others don't want to give.
That can be robbery or much worse.

..and then there are those that get miffed at missing out...   

Bazza139 wrote:

..and then there are those that get miffed at missing out...   

The bar is named so you might consider wandering along and asking any hunky Australians you see if they want to buy you a drink.

On a more serious note; stick to the advice given above and watch out for very naughty boys .... and girls.
The old advertising slogan, "Sex sells" is also valid in dodgy bars. Girl offers man a drink, he thinks nice things about her body, gets spiked and BANG, wakes up in a hotel bed with all his possessions stolen.

I got drugged in Bangkok, central business district at mid-day. god knows how. robbed of everything found in a side street comatosed.

In hospital for two days, the detective told me this happens to about 12 foreigners in Bangkok alone EVERYDAY!

SEA really isnt safe. the drugging and robbing epidemic is ignored by the corrupt, racist police who dont even pretend to investigate crimes against foreigners, or in Scambodia, demand bribes and then still dont bother investigating, hah.

Thaiger wrote:

I got drugged in Bangkok, central business district at mid-day. god knows how. robbed of everything found in a side street comatosed.

In hospital for two days, the detective told me this happens to about 12 foreigners in Bangkok alone EVERYDAY!

SEA really isnt safe. the drugging and robbing epidemic is ignored by the corrupt, racist police who dont even pretend to investigate crimes against foreigners, or in Scambodia, demand bribes and then still dont bother investigating, hah.

You seem to have been drugged with sour grapes.
Why the whole of SEA when you were hammered in Thailand?

Because its happened to so many friends and colleagues of mine too, yes not malaysia etc, but thailand and cambodia.

It is a terrible crime that often leaves the victim with permanent amnesia, effectively ruining their lives yet it is just ignored by police.

Fred wrote:

Thaiger wrote:

I got drugged in Bangkok, central business district at mid-day. god knows how. robbed of everything found in a side street comatosed.

In hospital for two days, the detective told me this happens to about 12 foreigners in Bangkok alone EVERYDAY!

SEA really isnt safe. the drugging and robbing epidemic is ignored by the corrupt, racist police who dont even pretend to investigate crimes against foreigners, or in Scambodia, demand bribes and then still dont bother investigating, hah.

You seem to have been drugged with sour grapes.
Why the whole of SEA when you were hammered in Thailand?

Cognitive dissonance..?   Why bother being selective when you can get
  blanket coverage..?    Good G rapes are hard to find: like good men.

     ..besides, you're not a hard man, Fred...     

      Too much wooly softness...     

In defense of Universal Bar, I firstly have known the owner over the years and secondly, while I'm not a fan of Bui Vien or Universal Bar, it is rather one of the good places there. That said, I am sure that if the owner or his half ton bouncer would have known about this, the 2 Aussies would have been dragged to the police station which as nearly next door.

Getting drugged in Bui Vien is a known problem, usually by prostitutes. Furthermore, it's a notorious place for fake spirits, so best is to stick to your bottled beer or stay away from the area.

Last time I accepted a drink from a girl in Saigon, I ended sponsoring her to Canada. That was some powerful drug in that beer, took me for than seven years to recover ;-)

That small police is still there on Bui Vien, by the way ... still open and active.

Thanks for your reply Snake...in fairness the staff and people working at Universal (and I'm sure owners too) are nothing to do with this, but I mentioned the bar not because it's a bad place but just incase this is a regular haunt for these 2 assholes that decided to do this...I still think people should go there as it's decent, especially for sports but just people should keep their eyes open in there is all I was aiming to say, not undermine the place itself so thanks for your post

Do not waste your time reporting this to the police; they are too often inept, discourteous or disinterested in assisting you. For the most part, police are very non supportive of foreigners.

Grateful if you can describe the Aussie guys who you think drugged you, Redm... because I have friends in the Saigon Hash (House Harriers) who drink at that bar quite often.  If you're worried about saying too much on here, please email me:  linhmartin [at] yahoo.com

I caught up with an Aussie guy I met in Hanoi last week here in HCMC last night.  We went out at 6pm starting at Bui Ven then to a couple of sky bars and ended back up at Bui Ven just after midnight. My gf and I went home around 1 but he stayed on his own, not wasted, we'd both drank the same amount of beers through out the night and as far as I knew it was a good night.

I missed a call from him at about 2:30 a.m this morning, then woke up to all these confused messages from him as well as a video of him with the sweats, eyes rolling back, hardly able to talk and asking for help, saying he'd been drugged.

Turns out when we left he went to a massage parlor, they offered a beer on entry which he took and that was it. Lights out. Woke up naked, 4 million VND  gone, phone gone which he somehow managed to get back then fell down the stairs while leaving hurting his back.

Crazy story I know. Lucky he's back at his hotel safe but will be a few days recovering for him.

Very strange .......

A guy goes to Bui Vien st,,,,drinks for Eight & a half hours,,,,then goes to a whore house,,, has another beer,,,,gets naked,,,somehow “loses” $200 bucks,,,,falls down the stairs on the way home,,,,is in a sweat,,, garbled speech,,,,but finally makes it home,,,,got a headache now.

Very odd behaviour .....😆

Is Sherlock in da house....?

Yogi007 wrote:

Very strange .......

A guy goes to Bui Vien st,,,,drinks for Eight & a half hours,,,,then goes to a whore house,,, has another beer,,,,gets naked,,,somehow “loses” $200 bucks,,,,falls down the stairs on the way home,,,,is in a sweat,,, garbled speech,,,,but finally makes it home,,,,got a headache now.

Very odd behaviour .....😆

Is Sherlock in da house....?

I'm shocked and mystified. I'm afraid my memory concerning drinking beer is a little limited as I don't drink any more and I was always so seriously smashed when I drank with the lads I have limited memories of the evenings.
I've never used the services of a professional lady so I have little idea of the charges and how many brothels are prone to stealing their customers' phones.

There is another explanation but I'm sure it isn't accurate so I will refrain from suggesting he got stewed out of his head, lost his phone down the bed sheets and spend the cash on shagging.
Ner - impossible.

Drink spiking is quite common around the Pham Ngu Lao area.

Yogi007 wrote:

Very strange .......

A guy goes to Bui Vien st,,,,drinks for Eight & a half hours,,,,then goes to a whore house,,, has another beer,,,,gets naked,,,somehow “loses” $200 bucks,,,,falls down the stairs on the way home,,,,is in a sweat,,, garbled speech,,,,but finally makes it home,,,,got a headache now.

Very odd behaviour .....😆

Is Sherlock in da house....?

I agree mate, it's a pretty funny/stupid post to read online, just getting his messages on the phone I was laughing but after watching the video it looked pretty apparent he was most likely drugged.

Ha ha ....
The male of the species huh....

Pretty girls ,,alcohol and the weak link in the chain.

Most of us (Yogi included) still fall for the same three card trick every time. Tell your mate not to worry too much about it.    He's in good company.

The likes of Tiger Woods, Boris Becker , Bill Clinton,  Hollywood Moguls, etc etc all have the same weak link in the chain.    Even a former Australian Prime Minister was found wandering the redlight district of New Orleans without his trousers , muttering incoherently about being fleeced.

Haha indeed man. I never see or experience any of these dodgey things, I just hear about them. I put it down to having a Vietnamese girlfriend, I think she's a bit of a force field from all the shady bullsh*t.