Illicit pedicab drivers boldly ‘mug’ foreign tourists in Ho Chi Minh City Minh (in white shirt) and Long (R) – two illicit pedicab drivers – are seen fleecing two foreigners on Le Loi Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on June 20, 2015. Tuoi Tre A group of pedicab drivers illegally operating in downtown Ho Chi Minh City have been found fleecing foreign travelers in a bold manner just like “mugging,” a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper investigation has found.  The group comprises about 10 members, who mainly search for foreign guests around Ben Thanh Market in District 1 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Each of them covers his pedicab number plate with a piece of cloth to avoid being identified after overcharging cases. Such pedicabs, operating without a license, are usually called “xích lô dù” by locals.  Every morning, “xích lô dù” usually target foreigners at the four gates of the market, and on the sections of Le Lai and Le Loi Streets near the Quach Thi Trang Roundabout. Whenever they face any adverse reactions from their guests, they flee to streets nearby, including Nguyen Duy Ninh and Ham Nghi. Grasping cash from the wallet On June 23, upon seeing a foreign woman walking in front of the east gate of Ben Thanh Market, Hung, one of the illicit drivers, pushed his pedicab close to the women. Hung then held the woman’s hand and repeatedly invited her to get on his pedicab for a ride. The woman finally agreed and Hung drove her to the intersection of Ton That Tung and Pham Ngu Lao Streets, about 1.2km away. After dropping the woman off there, Hung used body language to ask for payment, and the woman opened her wallet, but then showed signs of refusing the fare demanded by the driver through his body language.   Hung (in white shirt) is seen taking US$200 from an Australian woman, Lucy, in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on June 23, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre Hung immediately grasped some banknotes that were exposed from the wallet and then got on his vehicle and rapidly rode away, leaving the woman petrified in amazement on the street. The foreign victim is Lucy, an Australian, who came to the city as a tourist. Lucy told Tuoi Tre that before she got on Hung’s pedicab, they agreed to a fee of $20 for her ride, but at the destination, Hung charged as much as $200, so she refused to pay. “He stretched out his hand to grab money from my purse. This made me vey astonished and angry,” Lucy said. On June 25, an Australian man and his wife and their two small children fell victim to Hung, who drove them to the front of the Reunification Palace on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 1. Similarly, after gesturing, he charged the couple $100 by taking $50 from each of their wallets. Despite the couple’s response against the ‘mugging,’ Hung smiled brazenly and drove his pedicab away. The foreign man told Tuoi Tre that they had come to Vietnam for the first time, so he did not know about transport prices. “We feel very unhappy as we did not think he could overcharge us at such a high price.” On June 24, Minh, another illegal pedicab driver, consented to give Chang Lee, 28, a Taiwanese tourist, a ride for VND150,000 ($6.87), but at the destination, the driver requested the foreign man to pay VND1.5 million ($68.7). Chang insisted on paying VND150,000, but Minh did not agree. A quarrel occurred and Chang held Minh by his wrist, requesting that both go to a competent agency for settlement. At this moment, Long, another member of the illegal pedicab group, came to intervene and helped Minh escape. Four days earlier, Minh and Long cooperated in fleecing two foreigners after each of the drivers drove each of the guests on a 30-minute sightseeing tour around the city.   Minh (C), an illicit pedicab driver, tries to overcharge a Taiwanese man, Chang Lee (in white T-shirt), on June 24, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre Minh grabbed $100 from the open wallet of one of the foreigners and escaped while Long was doing the same trick with the other. On June 25, a group of six New Zealanders told Tuoi Tre that they were forced to pay a total of VND6 million ($275) for a street tour of the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, the Reunification Palace, and the Saigon Central Post Office. N., a Vietnamese man residing on Tran Hung Dao Street in District 1, said he often sees foreigners mugged by such pedicab drivers. There were cases in which the drivers ‘escorted’ their foreign guests to ATM booths, where the foreigners were forced to withdraw cash to pay exorbitant charges to their transporters, N. said. A representative of the District 1 Pedicab Association said that such overcharging by illegitimate pedicab drivers is harming the image of legal and honest pedicab drivers in the city, and is also detrimental to the local tourism development. Police have received no report Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhat Thanh, deputy head of the District 1 Police Bureau, said that police officers have recently received no reports about the ripping-off and ‘mugging’ of foreign travelers by pedicab drivers. In 2014, the district police handled two cases of overcharging and in one of the cases, two illicit pedicab drivers were prosecuted for “property robbery by snatching” after they grabbed more than VND1 million ($46) from the wallet of a foreigner.   In the other case, some pedicab drivers were given administrative penalties for ripping off foreign passengers. Thanh noted that most fleeced or ‘mugged’ victims did not report their cases to police officers. Therefore, the official asked that anyone suffering from overcharging or other harm from pedicab drivers should report their cases to the nearest police station for help. “We never tolerate or cover up any illegal acts,” the official said. Tuoi Tre News