Nothing much has been posted so far to
help mongers find ladyboys in Vietnam. Stickmanbangkok reviewed a few
personal trips in Vietnam but never reported ladyboys. The so
accurate Redcat has never created a page dealing with Vietnam.
Ladyboys mongers forums are controlled by farang lobbies with
interests in Pattaya brothels or related activities so they don’t
really accept information that could overshadow their businesses.
Therefore, the scarce information that can be found on the web is
questionable and Vietnamese sources much more reliable than what
Westerners can post, provided they can find and use them properly.
No
one came back from Vietnam with a vision that encompasses enough
information to have an obvious idea of the Vietnamese ladyboys
community. We managed to gather enough information though to shed
misconceptions and dispel fake ideas. Here are a few misconceptions
that we want to point out to restore basic truths.
- there is no ladyboy in Vietnam. WRONG.
Yes, there are ladyboys in Vietnam maybe as many as in Thailand. - the communist administration has prohibited ladyboys.
WRONG.
Although ladyboys are discriminated by the population more particularly in the north, homosexuality and ladyboys have always been accepted by the communist administration. Many of them work in the media as singers or TV show performers.
- Vietnamese ladyboys are flat chested femboys.
WRONG.
They manage to find money to pay for surgery. The Vietnamese administration has recently developed medical centers to practice mammoplasty and SRS but Vietnamese ladyboys used to go to Bangkok to have surgery before and keep on going there. Many Vietnamese ladyboys are post operated and claim they are normal girls.
- No one will ever find ladyboys in bars. WRONG.
You will find girls and ladyboys in night bars to entertain customers. Ladyboys are mixed with bar girls in these bars. Although barfining is prohibited, it’s still possible to invite one to your hotel room.
Is
it legal to pay to have sex with a ladyboy in Vietnam ?
NO, it's not. We have added a translation of the order of 17th March 2003 “to prescribe the prevention and combat of
prostitution”. Having sexual intercourse for payment or other
material benefit is punishable by law. The risk for a customer is
administrative sanction (warning, fine and/or deportation) or
examination for penal liability (sentence to prison or extradition)
if spreading STDs or the prostitute is underage.
There
had been a few crackdown periods after 1974, in the 1990’s and
after 2013. By the end of last century the Vietnamese police had
cleaned up visible prostitution in the streets, bars and roads. In
2013, repression changed since prostitutes would no longer be
sentenced to imprisonment in reeducation centers. However, fining
prostitutes (especially those working along highways), closing bars,
deporting foreign customers (handed over to the judicial authorities
of their country when punishable by law with a prison sentence) made
p4p almost invisible in Vietnam.
In
the Vietnamese society that has the inbuilt conservatism it’s very
rare to see lovers holding each other hands. So p4p in public places
is not accepted.
It
seems however that police sometimes tolerates some activities in some
places. A few massage places in which you can have a sex massage (but
neither BJ nor real sex) remain open and sometimes well established
with an official activity of hairdressing or massage. What Vietnamese
people can’t accept in public places will be tolerated if
discreetly done backwards. Discretion remains the master word. One of
the best fields to meet ladyboys discreetly remains Internet, not the
classical web2.0 but new apps that search engines cannot penetrate.
Even Vietnamese master degree students in computer science don’t
figure out all that can be done with what they have in their hands.
Never underestimate the Vietnamese police. They are probably smart
enough to know what’s going on but they seem to accept dating that
helps ladyboys financing their transition as long as escorts remain
discreet. So always keep in mind you should never draw attention to
your mongering activities.
Hotels
Hotels rules
The
most complex question is whether hotels are or may be ladyboy
friendly. You will often find hotel rules displayed prominently in
the lobby or in a corridor. They sometimes state that prostitutes are
not accepted in the premises. Other rules inform customers that
guests are not accepted after 6 PM or later in the evening. However,
in spite of these rules, ladyboys are often accepted in the hotel or
serviced apartment. They can be accepted for one of the following reasons :
- your guest comes and leaves before indicated time.
- night receptionists are cool or young guys. They daren’t
oppose an unwelcome guest entering the hotel.
- night receptionists sometimes ignore rules. They are also so
surprised to see a foreigner invite a ladyboy that they prefer to
avoid an issue.
Short time hotels
Another
common solution
consists in meeting in short time hotel. You will see several
Vietnamese words meaning “hotel”. Hotels, boutique hotel are used
for travelers or tourists. You can also find serviced apartments.
“Nhà khách” is used for guest houses. “Nhà nghỉ”
are motels (although they exist in big buildings). But the word you
need to know is “khách sạn”, This means hotel particularly
small hotels where young people meet secretly. These hotels propose
rates for 1 hour (usually 50,000 VND), 2 hours (usually 70 or 80,000
VND) or for the night (usually 200,000 VND).
It can be an excellent
solution if you’re broke and want to sleep as a cheap charlie, but
khách sạn are mainly used as short time hotels. If you fear your
hotel to make problems when you invite a ladyboy, ask her if she’s
got a khách sạn. Ladyboys usually have their habit in a
neighborhood. When ladyboys post adds, they sometimes add in which
district they welcome clients in a ST hotel. Otherwise, a few of them
accept to go to your hotel for a higher price.
