Thai police are investigating the death of a 55-year-old Russian tourist who drowned off Phi Phi Islands in Krabi Province, around 800 kilometers from Bangkok. The tourist arrived in Krabi Province from Phuket with a tour guide late last weekend and went snorkeling at Monkey Bay, The Phuket Express reported …
Read More »Vietnam to expand list of eligible countries for visa exemption
Vietnam will waive visas for more countries and extend the length of stay for foreign tourists to speed up the recovery of tourism, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Wednesday. The list of eligible countries for e-visa issuance will be expanded, the prime minister said at a conference on post-Covid …
Read More »FPT Long Chau, Novartis partner on pharmacist training program
FPT Long Chau and Novartis Vietnam have entered into a cooperation to improve the health care of cardiovascular patients and the skills of Long Chau pharmacists. The training program will kick off on March 15, starting with a seminar on “Heart failure management” as part of the heart protection project. …
Read More »Central bank seeks to reduce banks’ loans to their shareholders
The State Bank of Vietnam is seeking to reduce the amount banks can lend to their shareholders as part of efforts to prevent manipulation and reduce cross-ownership. It wants to reduce the maximum loan a bank can give a customer to 10% of its capital from the current 15%, and …
Read More »Hanoi firm defrauds 4,000 with $17M Ponzi scheme
The top management of Hanoi firm Bankland have been arrested for allegedly defrauding 4,000 people with a Ponzi scheme and offering shares to the public without permits. Chairman Quan Van Duong and deputy chairwoman and CEO Nguyen Thi Nhu were taken in Tuesday for “appropriation of property” along with three …
Read More »Chairman’s dream of making Hoa Sen Housing billion-dollar retail giant has to wait
The chairman of steel giant Hoa Sen Group hopes to make subsidiary Hoa Sen Home the country’s biggest distributor of construction materials, but two years on, teething troubles continue. After opening 100 new stores last year, Hoa Sen Home now has 112 outlets that sell almost everything needed to construct …
Read More »Southern land prices fall 25%
Land in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces has dropped 10-25% since January as indebted investors continue liquidating their properties. According to real estate consultancy DKRA Vietnam, HCMC and it’s environs have seen only 16 successful transactions this year. The market’s low liquidity has been a problem since mid-2022 …
Read More »Bali’s badly behaving foreigners banned from renting motorbikes
Authorities on the Indonesian resort island of Bali are considering prohibiting foreign tourists from renting motorbikes after a string of reckless and deadly accidents across the island. “Tourists will have to travel using cars from travel agents. They are not allowed to use motorbikes or any vehicles that are not …
Read More »In unprecedented slump, no beachfront properties sold for 2 months
For the first time in 10 years no beachfront shophouses, villas and condotels were sold in the first two months of the year, property service provider DKRA Vietnam said. Some developers offered discounts of 30-40% for shophouses but yet found no buyers amid the difficult economic situation and drying up …
Read More »Chinese growers put Vietnamese durian, dragon fruit in risky oversupply
Vietnamese dragon fruit is at risk of oversupply, while durian prices will likely plummet as China, the local fruits’ largest importer, continues growing an increasing amount of the two trees. Durian sold in a store in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/ Hong Chau Late last month, China announced its dragon fruit …
Read More »