Young children persuading their parents to let them ride a tricycle ‘taxi’ has recently become a common sight in a park in District 11, Ho Chi Minh City.

To suit the small children the tricycles, which are also called Vietnamese rickshaws or pedicabs, or trishaws with passengers sitting in front of drivers, have been downsized and decorated with lights and colors.

“Tricycle please!” shouted one child in a park on the premises of Lac Long Quan Apartment Building in District 11.

This is the game the child plays with his tricycle toy, which was rented by his parents.

Toy rental services have attracted an increasing demand from young parents in the city trying to please the transient desires of their children.

They are cheap and allow children to switch to a new toy after a certain period of time.

Tricycle, a favorite toy

Not as large as a genuine tricycle, which is a human-powered means of transport in Vietnam, a toy tricycle is about 80cm tall. It can carry a child sitting in front as a passenger and another child sitting behind as the driver.

Parents often take turns to bring their children to the park, which is the only place in the city that offers toy tricycles for rent, after work.

It costs just VND15,000, or 75 U.S. cents, to hire the toy for half an hour.

It is so enjoyable that many children refuse to leave their toys when the rental period ends.

Not only are the tricycles toys, but they also help children exercise, satisfying both parents and kids.

Doan Thanh Yen, who lives on Vu Tung Street in Binh Thanh District, likes taking her 7-year-old daughter to the park, which is around 10km from her house, to play.

“She enjoys pedaling a tricycle and chatting with other kids,” she said. “We will take her back to this park in a few days when we are free.”

The ‘tricycle for rent’ service in the park started around six months ago, and it runs in the evening from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

The toys are owned by Dinh Cong Trung, who has 20 tricycles for rent.

Trung said he and his brother manufactured the toy tricycles in his factory on Minh Phung Street in District 11.

“The toys are exactly like genuine rickshaws, except they are scaled down in size.

“Children are active so it is obvious that they would like this toy,” he said.

Toys for rent

New and big, imported toys such as sliding chairs, swings, kitchen kits and building blocks are also available for rent in parks and at home to please city children.

Tin Tin Store in Hiep Binh Chanh Ward of Thu Duc District offers a large variety of toys for rent.

A customer admitted that, “I used to buy toys for my child, but they cost so much money and he only enjoys them for a little while before moving on to other toys.

“Spending two or three million dong [US$96-144] on a toy that won’t be used for long is expensive. So now I just want to rent them for him.”

She added that she takes her child to the store every two or three months to hire new toys.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, the shop’s owner, recalled that her business began from her desire to find new toys for her children two years ago.

All the toys at her store are imported from the U.S., Japan, and Europe, she said. She has to import new toys regularly to attract clients.

In District 2, parents can visit Toys4rent, owned by Nguyen Hoang Duong. He imports new toys every month.

Parents can also visit websites that offer more contacts for toy rentals. Such toys can also be ordered for delivery and returned from home.

Often, parents have to pay a deposit of 100 percent of the value of the toy, which is refunded in full once the toy is brought back. The actual rental cost is usually around 10 percent of a toy’s total value.

On return, toys are cleaned and sterilized before being given to a new client.

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