Vietnam By Email And Internet

Vietnam likes the Internet. Cybercafes are truly everywhere in larger cities, and your odds of finding somewhere to get online—even in more out-of-the-way towns—are pretty good. Consequently, pricing is very competitive and you’re unlikely to save money by shopping around, as long as you’re not looking for Internet access in relatively expensive tourist-heavy districts (though these places tend to have more features like USB connections and CD burning). The average range you’ll pay in any major urban area is 100-500 per minute. It is also worth noting that the Vietnamese government requires cybercafe owners to restrict access to sites containing “bad and poisonous information,” licensing them to fairly arbitrary acts of surveillance and censorship (see Don’t Read This).

Though in some places it’s possible to forge a remote link with your home server, in most cases this is a much slower (and thus more expensive) option than taking advantage of free web-based email accounts (e.g., www.hotmail.com and www.yahoo.com). Internet cafes are listed in the Practical Information sections of major cities, but in Hà Ni and H· Chí Minh City they pop up about every other building. Keep an eye out for wireless access in big cities; many Internet cafes often provide free wireless access for customers.

More Staying Connected in Vietnam

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