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In my experience, you can find apartments that are furnished in VT without much trouble. Those are usually in the tower blocks and skinny hotels though. I'm not sure about houses. There are probably plenty of listings online.

@ChoculaD

Hi ChoculaD.Take a look at a recent thread, here, particularly post #3.

With regard to your furniture and appliances, I'd definitely take them with me. I've shipped a house-load of furniture twice now, Saigon - T.P.Thai Nguyen, then T.P.Thai Nguyen - Phu Quoc. I'll try to find name of the mover I used and let you know. I'm almost sure he does a HCMC - Vung Tau run.

Thanks. Furnished apartments are more expensive, and usually I don't like the furniture. Uncomfortable chairs, etc. Aidan, I know about Nhatot, also batdongsan.

Aidan, thanks a lot. I'd love to know who the mover was and if it cost you a fortune or a reasonable amount.

Also I've thought about Phu Quoc as a place to live and breathe clean air. DId you like it? Why did you leave?

    Aidan, thanks a lot. I'd love to know who the mover was and if it cost you a fortune or a reasonable amount.
   

    -@ChoculaD

In my experience the best way to discover the reasonable price for anything in Vietnam is to make sure that you search for it without disclosing that you are a foreigner and by avoiding any information source that is specifically directed toward foreigners, such as an English language website.

I just searched for "Công ty chuyển nhà" and one of the first Vietnamese websites listed actually publishes their rental rates for different sizes of trucks, plus their additional rates for extended distances (the translation function in Google Chrome can help you read it).

I don't know anybody at the business and I'm not promoting them but you can check them out and look at the price list and get an idea as to what's reasonable:

thanhhungvnDOTvn

@ChoculaD

Aidan, thanks a lot. I'd love to know who the mover was and if it cost you a fortune or a reasonable amount.

I was just trying to add that info to the post. I got distracted here and ran out of the 1 hour allotted for edits.

Saigon - Thai Nguyen (~65K north of Hanoi) cost 18 million VND. I used a local guy who had a team pack everything, bring to the train station and load it all (including a larger motorcycle), then a member of his net picked up from the train station in Hanoi, brought everything to Thai Nguyen AND reassembled everything (thank goodness! two large dressers, two very large wardrobes, bed, kitchen table/chairs, and much more, the whole she-bang).

Thai Nguyen - Phu Quoc was substantially more, at 40 million, and did not include reassembly (groan). Took me two weeks to sort everything. It was so much more expensive as I decided to go with a single truck, no midway offloading, direct from Thai Nguyen to Phu Quoc without the truck even being opened.

I'm thinking I could do the same move, with the same amount of furniture, Saigon - Vung Tao using "a guy with a truck" for probably less than 10 million.

Also I've thought about Phu Quoc as a place to live and breathe clean air. DId you like it? Why did you leave?

Contrary to my expat.com member name, I'm still in Phu Quoc. I was going to change my member name but that would have had consequences regarding "My Time-line", forum searches, etc. I can't remember the details but it seemed, at the time, to not be something with much benefit. Clicking on my avatar will show me as being in Kien Giang Province (but there was no option to choose Phu Quoc from within the province).

The air here is, in my not so humble opinion, the best I've lived with in the past 7 years. Steady ocean breezes, never gets hot like it did up north or even as hot as Saigon.

Do I like it here? I very much enjoy the big city life, amenities, services which are lacking in Phu Quoc. When I want/need an electronic component, or a certain tool for one of my many DIY projects, oft times it's not possible to source it on the island.

Then why am I still here, you might ask? There are times I've considered moving, but a (substantial) financial interest combined with personal commitments stymie any thoughts of that.

I do miss Saigon.

Thanks Aidan. So the truck was put on a ferry to Phu Quoc? I can't think of any other way it could have arrived there.

As far as moving goes, did you also move a refrigerator and washing machine? And have it disassembled and re-assembled? That and my bed would be the most challenging parts of my move. Most of the other stuff should be pretty easy. No very heavy furniture.

I would like to live in Vung Tau but it would mean a lot of difficulties, as my dentist, accountant are in HCM, and I thought that FUTA had big buses to VT but I'm not sure they still do. I've inquired about that. The minibuses are very dangerous.

    Thanks Aidan. So the truck was put on a ferry to Phu Quoc? I can't think of any other way it could have arrived there.

Yes sir. There are (at the very least) 2 large commercial ferries running from Ha Tien (and maybe from Rach Gia too? not sure). Trucks, cars, containers and cargo come that route.

As far as moving goes, did you also move a refrigerator and washing machine? And have it disassembled and re-assembled? That and my bed would be the most challenging parts of my move. Most of the other stuff should be pretty easy. No very heavy furniture.

The fridge and washing machine were covered in cardboard and then shrink wrapped. Same with all the other pieces, after disassembly in Thai Nguyen. Unfortunately, no, they did not reassemble upon arrival at my home here in Phu Quoc. It was a royal pain for us, as the wardrobes are quite large and heavy (doing a quick tally in my head, I believe each wardrobe consisted of 14 pieces. very dense heavy wood). Fortunately the dressers required no reassembly, just unwrapping and placement in the home. Same with washer, livingroom table, chairs, couch etc. I think about 50+ boxes as well, plus plus plus. Oh, and lots and lots of tools, both power and hand.

I would like to live in Vung Tau but it would mean a lot of difficulties, as my dentist, accountant are in HCM, and I thought that FUTA had big buses to VT but I'm not sure they still do. I've inquired about that. The minibuses are very dangerous.        -@ChoculaD

I think there's a speed ferry service from Vung Tau to D1. Takes ~1.5 hours, I believe. I'm in agreement with you about the minibuses being dangerous (and the sleeper buses, and the taxis, and the private cars, and the whatever!). All of my visits to Vung Tau were from Saigon/return, riding my own motorcycle. I trust "me" with me, more than I trust "me" with anyone else.

If I had my druthers (which I don't), I'd choose Vung Tau over Phu Quoc because of its proximity to Saigon.

Now, if I really had my druthers I'd be living in Saigon, but that's just me, of course.

I've been trying to reach the chap who moved us from Thai Nguyen, but no reply from him yet.

        Thanks Aidan. So the truck was put on a ferry to Phu Quoc? I can't think of any other way it could have arrived there.

Yes sir. There are (at the very least) 2 large commercial ferries running from Ha Tien (and maybe from Rach Gia too? not sure). Trucks, cars, containers and cargo come that route.

    -@Aidan in HCMC

Like ?

@OceanBeach92107

Thar she blows!

Thanks AIdan for the information. I'm still looking for recommendations for reliable and economical mover, whether I move to VT or decide to move to different place in Saigon.

I understand the speedboat to VT costs twice as much as the minivans. That's also a consideration if one is making a lot of trips back and forth.