Editor’s note: Two expats in Hanoi have told Tuoi Tre News their view about the capital city’s plan to extend the mandatory closing time for service-oriented business past midnight.

With all services in Hanoi currently required to close before 12:00 am, too early for many foreign visitors, the curfew lifting move is intended to appease Western visitors and stimulate the capital’s languid tourism sector.

Cameron Lucy (English teacher in Hanoi):

I think that they should not make the curfew later, the thing that makes Hanoi great is that it is a crazy and noisy city, but then at night becomes a peaceful place.

Hanoi is slowly becoming more like Bangkok which is a bad thing! If people want to party all night, Hanoi is not the place, let the locals sleep, they work hard enough already!

Bangkok is full of fast food places and convenience stores, the streets are crowded overnight with drunk people which means that there are many pickpockets and prostitutes there.

Of course Hanoi has crime too but nowhere near as much as Thailand!

I have stayed in Bangkok a few times but I am always kept awake by the noise and light pollution there!

Ogbu Benneth Chima (Nigerian, student at British Vietnam University in Hanoi):

The news of extending Hanoi curfew time to early hours is a welcomed development as such will increase and retain the number of visitors.

Night life is a major factor that can positively or negatively impact on tourism, visitors are most likely to choose destinations with great night and of course nightlife encourages more spending which is good for the economy of the host country.

Comparing tourism in Vietnam and Thailand, we notice a great gap.

Thailand has 55 percent returning visitors while amazing and beautiful Vietnam has got just 5 percent return.

The difference could be as a result of various factor, however the most audible of all factors is the fact that Thailand has got a legendary night life which is quite attractive to most visitors.

The city of Bangkok keeps buzzling all night with so much activities. That explains the difference in the statistical numbers.

Improving night life in Vietnam could be a great turning point for the Vietnam tourism industry.

Great night life means more visitors, more jobs, more government earning, and after all, overall GDP growth.

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