How was your week?
This week, the focus is on an article by reader Thao Phuong, who shared her experience travelling overseas and hearing Vietnamese tour guides criticizing tourism back home.
“One
time in Paris, when we were driving pass a long bridge, a tour guide said to
us: ‘Please pay attention! This bridge has several spans but vehicles can run
smoothly. In Vietnam, bridges are bumpy, which exhausts us.’ When we cruised on
the Seine River, the guide started to mention the Nhieu Loc canal in Saigon:
‘Ho Chi Minh City has plans to turn Nhieu Loc canal into a tourist site like
the Seine, but we will probably have to wait for a few generations,’” she
recalled.
In the article, Thao Phuong found it lame to compare Vietnam with other developed countries since the former is still growing and encountering several difficulties, especially poverty.
“Despite the many drawbacks that we see every day, we cannot deny the positive changes in the country in recent years. I hope the tour guides will stop comparing and putting negative messages into tourists’ minds,” she wrote.
Thao Phuong’s letter to Tuoi Tre has elicited different reactions from our readers. Some agreed that Vietnamese tour guides are not professional enough and do not think thoroughly before speaking.
“I'm sure most Vietnamese guides in these countries are self-taught and are not required to have any special accreditation or special knowledge. Finally, since you're paying for their service in the first place and seem quite content to write Tuoi Tre readers about this, why don't you simply tell the guides that you are not happy with their attitude?,” wondered Carl Robinson.
“Don't take it so hard Thao, you should simply tell them that it’s also easy to spot a Vietnamese tour guide, they are the only ones standing around complaining about their homeland,” wrote Class Clown jokingly.
In a response article, Dao Thien Kim said she found what the tour guides said to be all truths and poverty is not an excuse for not feeling ashamed of the differences between Vietnam and other developed nations.
“I know that our country is poor and many people are still needy. I also see positive changes in the current development. However, it is not because we are poor that we accept bumpy roads and potholes caused by careless or corrupt constructors. It is not because we are poor that we feel ashamed to be told that we have no money to buy luxuries or goods which are more expensive than back home. Above all, it is not because we are poor that we are unaware of keeping public areas clean by not littering everywhere,” she reasoned.
Besides comments from readers who are tourists and are concerned about Vietnam tourism, we also received feedback from current and former tour guides about this issue.
“Since childhood, we were educated to see the truth and have our own points of view. The stories told by those tour guides were not meant to badmouth the country. They are opinions of a responsible person. Probably the author herself had some bad experience and became hostile to the tour guides?” wondered My Hanh, a former tour guide.
Minh Nhat, an English tour guide who has been taking foreign tourists around the country, had another view. He shared that local tour guides should never badmouth Vietnam to either domestic or foreign tourists.
“As a cultural ambassador, no one wants to talk bad about their own country and people. In reality, tour guides are not painters who only offer beautiful images of their homeland. Tourists are very sensitive and can find out if we tell the truth or not,” he wrote.
In the article, Thao Phuong found it lame to compare Vietnam with other developed countries since the former is still growing and encountering several difficulties, especially poverty.
“Despite the many drawbacks that we see every day, we cannot deny the positive changes in the country in recent years. I hope the tour guides will stop comparing and putting negative messages into tourists’ minds,” she wrote.
Thao Phuong’s letter to Tuoi Tre has elicited different reactions from our readers. Some agreed that Vietnamese tour guides are not professional enough and do not think thoroughly before speaking.
“I'm sure most Vietnamese guides in these countries are self-taught and are not required to have any special accreditation or special knowledge. Finally, since you're paying for their service in the first place and seem quite content to write Tuoi Tre readers about this, why don't you simply tell the guides that you are not happy with their attitude?,” wondered Carl Robinson.
“Don't take it so hard Thao, you should simply tell them that it’s also easy to spot a Vietnamese tour guide, they are the only ones standing around complaining about their homeland,” wrote Class Clown jokingly.
In a response article, Dao Thien Kim said she found what the tour guides said to be all truths and poverty is not an excuse for not feeling ashamed of the differences between Vietnam and other developed nations.
“I know that our country is poor and many people are still needy. I also see positive changes in the current development. However, it is not because we are poor that we accept bumpy roads and potholes caused by careless or corrupt constructors. It is not because we are poor that we feel ashamed to be told that we have no money to buy luxuries or goods which are more expensive than back home. Above all, it is not because we are poor that we are unaware of keeping public areas clean by not littering everywhere,” she reasoned.
Besides comments from readers who are tourists and are concerned about Vietnam tourism, we also received feedback from current and former tour guides about this issue.
“Since childhood, we were educated to see the truth and have our own points of view. The stories told by those tour guides were not meant to badmouth the country. They are opinions of a responsible person. Probably the author herself had some bad experience and became hostile to the tour guides?” wondered My Hanh, a former tour guide.
Minh Nhat, an English tour guide who has been taking foreign tourists around the country, had another view. He shared that local tour guides should never badmouth Vietnam to either domestic or foreign tourists.
“As a cultural ambassador, no one wants to talk bad about their own country and people. In reality, tour guides are not painters who only offer beautiful images of their homeland. Tourists are very sensitive and can find out if we tell the truth or not,” he wrote.
How
about you, our readers? Do you feel ashamed to have your short-comings pointed
out to you? Do you get annoyed at hearing someone, especially a person of the
same nationality, badmouthing your country? Share with us your opinions
regarding this issue via expat@tuoitre.com.vn
Have a relaxing weekend!
Have a relaxing weekend!
TUOITRENEWS
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