Taxis in Vietnam plagued by scams? Think again  If you think taxi service in Vietnam is plagued with rip-offs and scams, think again as a foreigner has recently confessed on Malaysian newspaper that Vietnamese cabbies are “very courteous and polite” and that “the fear of being cheated was not there at all”. Sobrie Shafie from Bangi, a small town in Selangor, Malaysia made the comment in a short article headlined “Taxi drivers can learn from Vietnamese” published on the Star Online at thestar.com.my on December 28. In case you want to read the whole story, here it is: I have just returned from Vietnam and what impressed me most about the country was the efficient taxi service in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Metered taxis are readily available and willing to take you to any destination without any hassle. The drivers that I came across were very courteous and polite. For a foreigner like me, the fear of being cheated was not there at all. I cannot help but compare their service and what we have back in Kuala Lumpur. Here we hear about foreigners being overcharged, taken for a ride and cheated. In a developing country like Malaysia it is indeed very sad to note the existence of these ill-mannered taxi drivers. Their actions tarnish the good image of Malaysia. Much has been done but the problem still exists. What else could we do? Of course, there are many negative stories about fraudulent taxis in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on Vietnamese newspapers but wait, there exist scams of some sort in all major cities in the world. Just watch the Scam City series by Conor Woodman and you’ll know what I mean. In Vietnam, there are also many good cabbies and drivers returning lost bags are not rare. In May, 2012, Nguyen Van Dung, 34 - a poor taxi driver in the central province of Quang Tri - returned an unclaimed property and cash worth around VND1 billion (US$48,000), to its owner. One month later, it was reported that Tran Van Quy, a driver for the Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Air taxi firm, returned lost assets worth more than US$20,000 in total to a passenger. Good and bad people co-exist everywhere. So before deciding that cheating is blatant in Vietnam as I have heard so many of my expat friends complain, think again. NGUYEN VU (AN EXPAT FROM VN)