It is said that one should expect to be stopped and squeezed for money by customs officers if they are going to leave Vietnam via Tan Son Nhat International Airport with some small gifts in their luggage.

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B.L., a Vietnamese-American, had a hands-on experience with this when he was leaving Ho Chi Minh City for Japan on Tuesday morning.

L. was asked to tell a customs officer what was in his luggage when he passed the baggage scanner at Vietnam’s largest airport, he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper later the same day.

The overseas Vietnamese said he was carrying a made-in-Vietnam karaoke player, which was gifted by a family member, only to be told to present the receipt for the device.

“They wanted to see the receipt to charge me a 10 percent tax on its value,” he said.

L. added it was not the first time he had visited Vietnam, but such a request was the most unreasonable one he had ever received.

The officer insisted L. show out the invoice, or he would not have his baggage passed.

The overseas Vietnamese said he has no idea why he has to keep a receipt for something he does not want to claim a VAT refund for.

“How would tourists dare to buy goods in Vietnam and bring them back to their countries anymore?” he wondered.

The passenger eventually had to compromise and left Vietnam unhappily without filing any complaint or report to the airport operator as he did not want to get into trouble before a long-haul flight, he said.

N.T.A., a resident in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, has also witnessed customs officers at the airport extort money from passengers for their gifts.

A. was waiting to go through the security scanner to leave for Singapore when he saw two employees of a tourism company pulled over by a customs officer, who asked the two to present receipts for a couple of clogs in their luggage.

One of the passengers insisted that the clogs were of low value and they were only presents the company wanted to give to its Singaporean partner, but the officer kept shaking his head, A. recounted.

“The tourism guys finally gave up and left the clogs behind to be able to pass the checkpoint,” he said.

Many Tuoi Tre readers on Wednesday also shared their bitter experience with airport customs.

Kevin Le, an overseas Vietnamese, said he was stopped by the Tan Son Nhat customs prior to his flight leaving the country just because there was a set of teacups, made by famous Vietnamese porcelain manufacturer Minh Long, in his luggage.

“After persuading them for a while, I was allowed to pass through the checkpoint, and their manner was like they had just given me a great favor,” Le wrote to Tuoi Tre.

“Vietnamese with foreign passports like us are always dealt with in such a way by everyone at the airport.”

Vu Quach, a Vietnamese Canadian, was not lucky enough to board his flight back to Canada two years ago without having to pay the customs officers.

The overseas Vietnamese had problems with two bottles of fish sauce his family had given him as gifts.

“The customs officers kept intimidating me until I gave them $20, which also earned me their friendly behavior,” Quach said.

Paying money seems to work as Ngoc Tuan, another reader, did succeed in getting past the customs by doing so in January.

“The officer said the weight of my luggage almost exceeded the 20kg limit, and I asked them if there was any solution that did not require me to leave some of my stuff behind,” Tuan said.

“He laughed at the question, and when I gave away a $5 banknote, thing just went smoothly.”

That seems quite cheap a price to get things done.

“Just VND200,000 [nearly $10] is OK,” reader named Le Quy Binh said, adding he has “been there, done that” many times.

Executives have no idea?

Tran Duc Minh, deputy head of customs at the airport, said he is on a business trip and had not been briefed about the issue.

He admitted it would be “no good” if such complaints are proven to be true.

Minh said the airport customs will review their procedures and “get to the bottom” of, and have solutions for fixing, the issue.

“All products manufactured in Vietnam are not subject to tax declaration or payment,” he said, adding karaoke players and clogs are no exception.

An executive at Tan Son Nhat admitted to Tuoi Tre he had received similar complaints about the harassment of the customs officers toward passengers.

“We have kept the customs department informed of such complaints,” he said.

The official added that there are hotlines and suggestion boxes at the airport for passengers to voice their opinions, but “we have yet to receive any complaint against such inappropriate behavior of the customs officers,” he said.

But this does not sound convincing enough.

“I’ll eat my hat if executives at the airport are in the dark about this,” a reader commented.

Have you, your friends, family members or relatives ever been in such a situation? Write us your story in the comment box below, or email us at ttn@tuoitre.com.vn. We are more than happy to listen to your stories.

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