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Hi, my name is Peter McDonald and I have actually been living in Vietnam for since February 2014, cannot understand why it has taken me so long to join up to Expats.
I live in An Phu area with my wife Ann and our hometown ( as the Vietnamese call it ) is Melbourne Australia.
I'm the General Director of Ramsay McDonald Group a company that is mostly involved in the TCF Industry. (Textile, Clothing and Footwear)
As a Textile Engineer, Mechanical Engineer and having a long history in the Global Textile Industry, my company has become a strong believer and supporter of the dynamics associated with the Vietnamese Textile manufacturing Industry where we have been able to provide our knowledge and skills to assist many Vietnamese companies ( large and small ) develop their businesses into high tech operations capable of meeting international standards to ensure export sales to all of the important global markets.

On a personal note, my wife Ann and I have built some wonderful friendships with many Expats from all over the world. As Expats we all are very transient people and move quite freely from one country to the next ( whether it be for business or just travel) its a unique experience to be able to develop friendships with people from varying cultures and demographics, and to be able to cultivate these chance meetings into long term friendships, is indeed a pleasure that I believe, is only found living within the Expat community.

We are back in Melbourne over this TET period but will return to HCMC mid February
Peter & Ann McDonald

Peter McDonald wrote:

Hi, my name is Peter McDonald...

Welcome to the Forum.

Must be special good luck to be the first new member posting in this thread.

Cheers!

Hi everyone. I came across this website and decided to sing up. Me and my wife are considering moving to Da Nang in not so distant future.
I’m professional painter in Sydney and would love to bring my knowledge and skills to Vietnam. Start painting/decorating business and integrate to construction/renovation community.
Also we would like to meet people  like us for casual hang outs.

Peter McDonald wrote:

Hi, my name is Peter McDonald...

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

...special good luck to be the first new member posting in this thread.

The first new member in this thread and the first new member this new Lunar Year.

Welcome to the forum, Peter.

dew_point wrote:

Me and my wife are considering moving to Da Nang in not so distant future.

Also we would like to meet people  like us for casual hang outs.

It won't be difficult to do so in Da Nang as it's the most popular destination for new expats at the moment.

Welcome to the forum, Michael.

Thank you Julien, I would love to introduce myself.  My name is Brad and I moved here to Vietnam two months ago.  I am working as an English teacher at Aston Bang Tha Hai in district 10.  I have been an English teacher for more than 10 years, travelling the world and living in Mexico, Mauritania, China, Russia, and Egypt.
    I am interested in knowing about the medical facilities here - are all the hospitals safe to go to?  What about specialist clinics such as dermatologists, etc.?  Which do you recommend?
   Cheers to all of you and I will be happy to share whatever information I have.  For example, I am now taking French lessons at IDECAF, so if you are looking for a French discussion club, I can hook you up ; )

Hope to hear from you all,

Brad

bradwelljackson wrote:

I am interested in knowing about the medical facilities here - are all the hospitals safe to go to?  What about specialist clinics such as dermatologists, etc.?  Which do you recommend?

Welcome to the forum, Brad.

You'll need to start a separate thread for those questions because this is the general introduction thread for new members.  Alternately, as health care in Vietnam has been among the top discussion subjects for years now, there are many, many existing threads on this forum, so if you do a search, I'm sure you'll find most if not all the answers for which you're seeking.

bradwelljackson wrote:

I am now taking French lessons at IDECAF, so if you are looking for a French discussion club, I can hook you up ; )

If the proposal is aimed at Julien, I'm sure he won't need it, and he probably will not have the time to follow this thread to respond.  As Julien lives in Mauritius, I don't think he needs a club to speak his mother tongue.

If the general forum members are whom you wish to address, please start another thread on that subject as well, so you'll receive more attention based on the title of your new thread.

Thank you for this, Ciambella.  It looks like I need to research things a bit more before I make my posts ; )

My name is John and I plan on restarting my life in HCMC.

I'm 30 years old and I plan on teaching english there for a couple years before possibly starting a business there with my (suprisingly considerable) savings.

I'd love to maybe avoid avoidable mistakes and firm up my plans.

I visited Danag in December (2018) and I really like the city.  I only spent 4 days. I am worried about transportation as I can't ride a motorbike myself. I want to spend more time next time and meet some expats. I am an Asian American from California.

Hello my name is Paul,
                                         I am exploring the idea of a "working semi retirement" in Vietnam. A life time of work ,starting at 15 .... 2 compression [one a year ago] fractures and a stroke a decade ago I feel it is maybe time to at least explore this idea. I will be looking into renting costs/options for the period of the year that I would be there. Medical considerations and any  other recommendations/options are of interest too. I am sure that I am not taking into consideration many things and would welcome any input ,on any subjects I am overlooking, that anyone would like to share.

Hi, my name is Alan, I am a retired oil exploration rig manager. I have travelled a lot, visited, lived & worked in many countries. I have lived in Vietnam for 10 nearly 11 years. I lived in Tay Ninh, Trang Bang & now Saigon. My favourite place in Vietnam is Da Lat & i visit there at every opportunity.

Welcome to the forum, DogChild and Sammy.

@Sammy:  My husband and I don't ride motorbike either.  There's always taxi, Grab, xe ôm (motorbike taxi), and what we do daily: walking.  Xe ôm would be the most convenient and least expensive (second from walking).  After a few rides with different drivers, you may want to ask the person you like the most to be your driver.  Not exclusively, of course, but anytime you call, he'll be there to pick you up.  I've known many people, both locals and foreigners, who do that.  The driver will even do all kinds of shopping or picking up take-away food for you.

Paul RC wrote:

I will be looking into renting costs/options for the period of the year that I would be there. Medical considerations and any  other recommendations/options are of interest too. I am sure that I am not taking into consideration many things and would welcome any input ,on any subjects I am overlooking, that anyone would like to share.

Welcome to the forum, Paul.  I suggest that you create new thread/s on the subjects of your consideration, that way, you'll receive more attention from members who don't read this introduction thread.

alanjohnconnon wrote:

Hi, my name is Alan, I am a retired oil exploration rig manager. I have travelled a lot, visited, lived & worked in many countries. I have lived in Vietnam for 10 nearly 11 years. I lived in Tay Ninh, Trang Bang & now Saigon. My favourite place in Vietnam is Da Lat & i visit there at every opportunity.

A belated welcome to the forum, as you're not exactly a newbie anymore.  Thank you for your contribution on the thread re: pollution mask.  Da Lat has always held a special place in my mind as I spent a lot of time there in my youth.  Its beauty back then was much more natural than now, and walking for miles up and down the hills was the daily routine for the residents.

Hey, dew_point  welcome to the forum  I see your forte is:
I’m professional painter in Sydney and would love to bring my knowledge and skills to Vietnam. Start painting/decorating business and integrate to construction/renovation community.

Well yes there is a big market for this, but what I have found outside the big cities is the painters are  mediocre at best, but very CHEAP  (just keep your eyes closed concerning safety of the worker, shower shoes or barefoot is the name of the game here)   I had my 3 story house painted - inside and out, including an ornamental iron fence/gate 18mtrs x 100mtrs squared (black and gold) for about 100 million baht..............had a huge portion of my grounds concreted w/rebar and Green outdoor carpeting for another 45,000,000 dong....(15 men leveling ground by hand, planting rock by hand, mixing concrete by hand, get my drift??) Contrary to popular belief, good lawn grass doesn't grow well in Vietnam soil in the Delta)............I did have all my cathedral windows replaced with aluminum 2 plane glass, keeps the house very cool (Vietnamese/German company that builds to order, very nice work) for another 350,000.000 dong  but they export to Europe so quality is top notch.  Just had all fluorescent lights replaced as well to LED (which is mandatory by 2022 for all buildings in Vietnam for 25,000,000.   I am first in this area to do this.   Get my drift??  don't expect big paychecks - the company I had do most of my work has 120 laborers, working 20-30 projects in the Mekong Delta at once and it is DIRT CHEAP...............so lower your expectations now  -  and lower them again when you arrive and start up your company.     Words to the Wise...........Cheers and Good Luck.  Chuc Man Na Moi

tunnelrat69 wrote:

Just had all fluorescent lights replaced as well to LED (which is mandatory by 2022 for all buildings in Vietnam...

Amazingly progressive.

I am also surprised that Long An On-Grid (feed back into the power grid) solar systems supports.

Andy Passenger wrote:

tunnelrat69 wrote:

Just had all fluorescent lights replaced as well to LED (which is mandatory by 2022 for all buildings in Vietnam...

Amazingly progressive.

I am also surprised that Long An On-Grid (feed back into the power grid) solar systems supports.

Much easier to mandate progressive behavior in a one-party system... 😉

Thank you. I might just have to do that or buy me a tricycle :-)

Hi there!
My name is Violeta Vasiljevic. I'm currently living in Belgrade, Serbia a place like no other. I plan to move to Nha Trang, Vietnam to start a business. Would be my first time visit. 

What type of business are you thinking of starting?

Hi, would be opening a school for kids. 

Senbonzakura wrote:

Hi, would be opening a school for kids. 

Nice, I plan on teaching english for a couple years then starting a restaurant or bar type establishment in Vietnam 😊

Nice, not a bad idea at all, what type of restaurant will be? 

Senbonzakura wrote:

Hi, would be opening a school for kids. 

Can I work for you? :-)

Senbonzakura wrote:

Nice, not a bad idea at all, what type of restaurant will be? 

Not sure yet, I want to spend some time there before hopefully finding a dinning/bar niche that is waiting to be filled.

Plus I'd like to make friends/socialize a lot before starting a business 😂

Sammy50 wrote:

Senbonzakura wrote:

Hi, would be opening a school for kids. 

Can I work for you? :-)

When i open my school, why not, there still time 

DogChild wrote:

Senbonzakura wrote:

Nice, not a bad idea at all, what type of restaurant will be? 

Not sure yet, I want to spend some time there before hopefully finding a dinning/bar niche that is waiting to be filled.

Plus I'd like to make friends/socialize a lot before starting a business 😂

Cool, everyone should plan before starting 

I wonder if there is a market for Nepal food in Vietnam expat cities:-)

Amazingly progressive.

I am also surprised that Long An On-Grid (feed back into the power grid) solar systems supports.


I have Solar panels for Hot Water, have had it for five years now, works just fine.     I am building  river house on my Property on the Mekong River - it will all be powered by solar, I'll have city power as well, but only use when needed...............same German company that did my thermal windows in my house will do the Solar power.

tunnelrat69 wrote:

Amazingly progressive.

I am also surprised that Long An On-Grid (feed back into the power grid) solar systems supports.


I have Solar panels for Hot Water, have had it for five years now, works just fine.     I am building  river house on my Property on the Mekong River - it will all be powered by solar, I'll have city power as well, but only use when needed...............same German company that did my thermal windows in my house will do the Solar power.

I also get German Windows (IGS), but only the frames are German (glass and assembly in Vietnam).

Also the photovoltaic panels are from Germany (AE Solar).

Unfortunately I bought an Off-Grid Inverter in advance (otherwise I would use an On-Grid Inverter without batteries).

If you also want to install an off-grid system with batteries you can PM me if you are interested in an information exchange.

Hi everyone! My name is Grace, I have been in Vietnam since July 2018. I’m working here as a flight attendant. Nice to meet you all 

I'm not a big fan of the new LED or the old fluorescent lights. They're not people-friendly. A study has discovered that exposure to LED lights can cause irreparable harm to the retina of the human eye.

There are full spectrum alternatives that are much healthier to use.

wildwildwest wrote:

I'm not a big fan of the new LED or the old fluorescent lights. They're not people-friendly. A study has discovered that exposure to LED lights can cause irreparable harm to the retina of the human eye.

There are full spectrum alternatives that are much healthier to use.

The blue light component is the problem and does not only affect LED luminaires.

However, this is only relevant for computer monitors (but with computer monitors and smartphones you can reduce the blue part).

With LED lighting this is not a big problem as you usually don't look directly into the light source.  It is also a problem especially with high light intensity.  And I think in an apartment few people want a floodlight.

But we should not discuss that here in this thread.

Actually, a very recent study near the end of last year conducted in Spain indicated that it wasn't just computer monitors that could be problematic. The study was specifically done on the low-cost bulbs you buy for lighting. You can read up on it here:



Anyways, hi to the newcomers, and I hope you all have safe lighting in the place you're staying in here. I know in places like Vietnam especially they tend to cut corners in accommodations, so if you're new in town you'll want to make sure you have good lights.

Gracehong wrote:

Hi everyone! My name is Grace, I have been in Vietnam since July 2018. I’m working here as a flight attendant. Nice to meet you all 

Welcome to the forum, Grace.  Which airlines are you working for, if it's not too personal of a question?

.

Ciambella wrote:

Gracehong wrote:

Hi everyone! My name is Grace, I have been in Vietnam since July 2018. I’m working here as a flight attendant. Nice to meet you all 

Welcome to the forum, Grace.  Which airlines are you working for, if it's not too personal of a question?

..more importantly, can we get discounts..?     

Hi, I'm Ged, visiting Hoi An for the month of April with a view to living there eventually. It would be great to meet up with some expats while there and get to know all the info to better guide this big decision. What's the best way to organise this folks?
Many thanks.

DocGed wrote:

Hi, I'm Ged, visiting Hoi An for the month of April with a view to living there eventually. It would be great to meet up with some expats while there and get to know all the info to better guide this big decision. What's the best way to organise this folks?
Many thanks.

A Facebook group.

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Danang / Hoian Expats Support Forum