Is it time for Vietnam to legalize prostitution?

Always a tough one.

Personally the idea of paying for sex turns me right off, I just couldn't do it. But I know people who have.

In terms of regulation and hopefully increasing safety for the women I think it's a good idea but really, it's a tough topic. If it was done right, then yes. But it would really need to be done properly and have some time spent on it.

The same debate comes up back home in Ireland quite a bit also.

amberlulu wrote:

A friend of mine suggested that I start a new topic. So here it goes: Is it time for Vietnam to legalize prostitution?

Well, according to VietNamNet Bridge – Colonel Ho Sy Tien, acting head of the Investigative Police Agency on Social Order, Ministry of Public Security, said that it will be easier to control prostitution if it is recognized as a job, ruled by special regulations.

What are your thoughts on this?

This should prove an interesting topic indeed ! 


Paid for or not - - - I really don't care what the good Colonel says - or his reasons, which I'm sure are quite logical in themselves.
There can be much wider implications to simply 'Pay and Play' - - - sometimes.

My sweet, peaceful, calm, tender, loving partner once told me that if I EVER played up behind her back and she found out about it, (which I'm sure she would) I would wake up one morning minus a part of my anatomy!

Seem to recall reading some news articles, over the last year or two, from the USA, Canada, and I think the UK, where VN wives had done this to their cheating husbands.
Seems a popular method of revenge for these sweet ladies to use.

Needless to say, this is one person who WON'T be putting it to a test !


In the earlier days of my mis-spent youth, while traveling from Western Australia to the eastern states, we had to stop and change trains at a place called Kalgoolie. A gold mining town.
In Kalgoolie there was / is a somewhat imfamous place - HAY STREET - well known for it's brothels.
While waiting for the train to leave Kal, one of our favourite past times was to wander up and down Hay Street. Laughing at the 'ladies' and their 'customers'.

"My sweet, peaceful, calm, tender, loving partner once told me that if I EVER played up behind her back and she found out about it, (which I'm sure she would) I would wake up one morning minus a part of my anatomy! 

Needless to say, this is one person who WON'T be putting it to a test !"

@Flip465: Your wife and I have the same DNA makeup: We may not know Karate...but we do know KRAZEE!"

Surprisingly, considering the VNese are allegedly conservative, this has been kicked around by the National government for a few years.

In TP HCM there are over 800 pick-up points alone.

A survey done two years ago reveal that approximately 46% of married males associate with prostitutes, so there is a market.

From what I read the government interest is in health related matters and civil affects and police.

As you might expect, the Cong An have their long arms outstretched collecting "pavement rental fees".

There have been a couple of cases involving Foreigners in the Pham Ngu Lao area acting as pimps.

If you pass along certain parts of Nguyen Chi Thanh Street there are women on foot and motorcycle plying their trade quite openly and not seeming to cause unhappiness to residents. The circulating motorcycles are a pain but once you know the area it's OK for driving.

VNese males frequently can be seen driving up to a foot prostitute, pull down her gust mask, check out her appearance and make a deal.

The mobile prostitutes tend not to wear masks, and as are most VNese are very good at reading facial body language.

The police do crack down on pimps but not the guys who rent motorcycles to them.

Other areas are 'seasonal', as in end of the month, such as Hau Ba Trung, near Dien Bien Phu or Nguyen Thi Minh Khai - the bridge to Quan Binh Tanh - the latter usually has young females out during the day, carrying motorcycle helmets.Both these areas have housewives and single parents out at the end of the month.

In Hue, TTH province, there is one main intersection where hookers gather after 22.00H. I often passed by that corner when returning to my hotel and was accosted, in a friendly way, and learned a particularly well dressed woman was $50 a go.

There are a couple of well known houses of disrepute, one is in a new part of Hue where business men spend their lunch breaks and a more dubious place on Han Ma Tu (Dap Da dam and hang a right). The Peoples Committee thoughtfully erected a HIV warning notice right opposite the place.

What I detect is that VNese don't look down on prostitutes as they do in the West, more along the lines "It's Money".

VietNam has a healthy attitude and might well accept the concept of licenced, controlled prostitution.

P.S. I don't use their services but learn about them whilst doing certain types of research.

Buzzer wrote:

Always a tough one.

Personally the idea of paying for sex turns me right off, I just couldn't do it. But I know people who have.

In terms of regulation and hopefully increasing safety for the women I think it's a good idea but really, it's a tough topic. If it was done right, then yes. But it would really need to be done properly and have some time spent on it.

The same debate comes up back home in Ireland quite a bit also.

@Buzzer: "The world's oldest profession", as they say, has been quite a controversial topic for many countries. In the USA prostitution is illegal in 49 out of the 50 states and is usually classified as a misdemeanor.

Some argue that if it was legalized there would be less Pimp violence, decrease spread of STD's due to better monitoring/education, and increase Tax base.

People against it, say it will increase human trafficking, violates the right to enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health because violence, disease, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and AIDS.

So, I was surprised to read this issue in the VN News. I always thought it to be one of those "social evils" that people don't talk about.

legalizing prostitution is not a way of controlling it. its not easy to control it, and if they really want to handle the situation with ease, they should start within the government .. if people have their enough money to spend for school, to spend for their children or family needs, they wont have to do such things. if only the government is providing what they need, if only the government is spending the money collected from every single persons salary, tax and etc. properly. everything would be ok. well these are my own opinions though. but every country have their own rotten part. even my country. but legalizing such thing is definitely not the solution. its like killing the fire-burning  house using air. they'll just spread. the government should focus on the right way not on the easy way.

amberlulu wrote:

"My sweet, peaceful, calm, tender, loving partner once told me that if I EVER played up behind her back and she found out about it, (which I'm sure she would) I would wake up one morning minus a part of my anatomy! 

Needless to say, this is one person who WON'T be putting it to a test !"

@Flip465: Your wife and I have the same DNA makeup: We may not know Karate...but we do know KRAZEE!"

HAA-HAA !  Lucky for me - I have no desire to be with any other female.

Did get a few strange looks at the gym from some of the other guys when I expressed my view about NOT messing around with other women for any reason.
Some of they seemed to think it is OK to leave the 'little woman' at home looking after the kids while they go out and play 'Russian Roulette with the lives of their lives and the lives of their wife / partner.
If for no other reason than respect for loved ones, anyone thinking of playing around should stop and think about HIV / AIDS and all the other nasty 'social' diseases around these days.

Besides - ONE loving wife / partner should be more than enough to keep any man happy and stop him from straying.

( climbs down off soapbox )

I'm not the type who enjoys the company of prostitutes, but I do enjoy hear the stories my friends bring back about their exploits, e.g.

"She stole my laptop!"

"She stole 20 Million VND!"

"I looked down and saw a hand come from under the bed and grab my pants!" (which held his wallet). 

My personal favorite was when one guy had a medical problem and asked me to give him a diagnosis, since I was an Army medic back in the day.  We're at school and this guy wanted me to take a look at his "little buddy" and give my opinion as the the STD he had contracted!  I told him my fee was $1000 and he balked.

I saw the effects of STD's during my time as a medic.  SOP was to be gentle with the soldier the first time, but if they came back we were instructed to "go deep" while swabbing a sample for the lab.  That means taking a q-tip and sticking it down Mr. Happy's throat. 

I'd say there are over 800 pick up points on PNL alone.

From what I hear - there is only one country in ASEAN that legalise prostitution - Singapore. However, that does not mean you can start going around looking for girls or for the girls to start looking around for customers. There are rules to this. (not sure if this is complete)
1. The "legal prostitute" need to go for medical checkup every two weeks. They do carry some kind of identification!
2. They cannot go after the customers. The customers have look for them. They are located in Geylang.

I guess one reason for this is that the prostitutes will not go underground that will make it more difficult to track. eg for diseases

Of course there are many illegal ones around. However, if you are caught "sleeping" with them, the police will arrest or deport them. You (the customer) will not be charged.

How does the Vietnam authority handles such cases?

There was an interesting article in the news a few weeks back :

http://tinyurl.com/cqtqabf

Similar findings have been found in other countries to more or lesser extent. While legalisation may not be the solution it at least gives the girls a chance to work without fear (from prosecution at least) and can help to prevent many other risks associated with the profession. I think there is a fine balance in going down the route of legalisation as other countries manage it well, such as the USA(certain states) and Aus, while not legal in Denmark it is tolerated to some extent although the current conservative leaders are trying to clamp down a little more and cite cases of trafficking etc. have increased.  Thailand has its system in place, I think prostitution is illegal, but they have laws for entertainment that they use to get around these.  Interestingly the UK has some of the most confusing laws, prostitution is not illegal, but solicitation is, brothels are illegal as is more than one girl working in a house even if one of them is not a sex worker!

Risks of theft, muggings etc. well yes that happens(here and elsewhere), sadly due to the fact it is illegal and encourages the criminal element to be involved, I am not saying legalisation would stop this, but surely it would help reduce the chances if the girls were working in legal premises.

Personally I think we all pay for sex one way or the other, be that cold hard cash…. Wine and dine… or gold bands on fingers…. At least with sex workers you’re not paying them to stay, you’re paying them to leave.

Should it be legalised here? I am not the person to ask, do I think it should be illegal anywhere ? No I think it does more harm than good.
If it is legalised of course there are a huge number of questions it then poses, where and how to facilitate the areas are one? But I guess that’s another discussion point.

violating a woman's right? do you think they really want that kind of job? think about it. they don't have choice, if only they had 1 im sure they'll grab it. but of course the government wont focus on the needs of others.

and 1 more thing, legalizing prostitution, fr those who are married.

try asking your partners opinion.

specially women .

I had a newly arrived teacher ask me "Why do some hotels charge by the hour?" I told her that most Vietnamese only sleep one hour a day, so there's no need to maintain a house.

In Hue, TTH province, there is one main intersection where hookers gather after 22.00H. I often passed by that corner when returning to my hotel and was accosted, in a friendly way, and learned a particularly well dressed woman was $50 a go.

There are a couple of well known houses of disrepute, one is in a new part of Hue where business men spend their lunch breaks and a more dubious place on Han Ma Tu (Dap Da dam and hang a right). The Peoples Committee thoughtfully erected a HIV warning notice right opposite the place.

"What I detect is that VNese don't look down on prostitutes as they do in the West, more along the lines "It's Money".

VietNam has a healthy attitude and might well accept the concept of licenced, controlled prostitution."

**@Jaitch: Only "$50 dolla, to make you holla?"
Thanks for your input. Some really detail info about specific streets. Good heads up.

"As you might expect, the Cong An have their long arms outstretched collecting "pavement rental fees"

** Man, corrupt cops. Why am I not surprised? We can devote a whole new thread on this topic alone. I hear many angry VN citizens striking back at the cops. Either trying to out-run the Cong An, or physically attacking them even. This is certainly a hot topic.

MichaelChan wrote:

From what I hear - there is only one country in ASEAN that legalise prostitution - Singapore. However, that does not mean you can start going around looking for girls or for the girls to start looking around for customers. There are rules to this. (not sure if this is complete)
1. The "legal prostitute" need to go for medical checkup every two weeks. They do carry some kind of identification!
2. They cannot go after the customers. The customers have look for them. They are located in Geylang.

I guess one reason for this is that the prostitutes will not go underground that will make it more difficult to track. eg for diseases

Of course there are many illegal ones around. However, if you are caught "sleeping" with them, the police will arrest or deport them. You (the customer) will not be charged.

How does the Vietnam authority handles such cases?

**Thanks for your input on Singapore Michael. I'm surprised to hear that prostitution is legal in Singapore. A country renown for its squeaky clean image and strict rules and regulations; From what I understand, you can get fined for jaywalking, littering, chewing gum, not flushing the toilet, eating, drinking or smoking on the MRT?

The fact that the "legal prostitute" need to go for medical checkup every two weeks is a good thing. To slow down the spread of STD's.

I guess the flip side to the coin of legalization is it creates a demand which may encourage human trafficking gangs. Is this a problem in Singapore?

amberlulu wrote:

I guess the flip side to the coin of legalization is it creates a demand

I'd say the demand is already there, given that prostitution happens everywhere.

Legalisation would not imo increase demand but serve to help protect the women. If the women are working "legally" and have regular check-ups etc then part of that process would be to ensure they are working willingly?

Obviously if they are working "illegally" then they will be outside the screening processes etc. and as much at risk as they are now.

Maybe it's a naive viewpoint as I'm not expert and its probably not as simple as that but that has to beat the current situation, where all the women are working illegally and no checks are carried out etc.

@Amberlulu - I understand, you can get fined for jaywalking, littering, chewing gum, not flushing the toilet, eating, drinking or smoking on the MRT?


... Which is why Singapore is alway refer to as a "Fine" city !

Ha! Ha! - the demand is always there for the oldest profession in the world. Legal or otherwise.

laidbackfreak wrote:

amberlulu wrote:

I guess the flip side to the coin of legalization is it creates a demand

I'd say the demand is already there, given that prostitution happens everywhere.

Legalisation would not imo increase demand but serve to help protect the women. If the women are working "legally" and have regular check-ups etc then part of that process would be to ensure they are working willingly?

Obviously if they are working "illegally" then they will be outside the screening processes etc. and as much at risk as they are now.

Maybe it's a naive viewpoint as I'm not expert and its probably not as simple as that but that has to beat the current situation, where all the women are working illegally and no checks are carried out etc.

That's the way Germany chose to regulate it.  The ladies live in a brothel and the authorities will inspect on occasion.  The ladies also use egg timers to let them know when your time is up. Tick, tick, tick, tick....DING!

The answer is NO! simple as that. legalising prostitution will attract more tourist for the wrong reasons making places in vn more seedier..