Hundreds of thousands of local migrant factory workers and students, who are working and studying in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighboring provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai, are rushing home for the coming Lunar New Year, or Tet, holiday.

Vietnam is set to celebrate Tet, its biggest festival, on January 31, which is the first day of the Vietnamese lunar calendar. The festival will last at least until the third day. 

Many factory workers and students hailing from other provinces and cities have been preparing to head home for the celebration since last week.

They can be seen gathering every day at a busy junction in the southern hub’s District 9, which borders Binh Duong and Dong Nai, to catch long-haul buses for trips to their hometowns, mostly located in the central and northern regions of the country, hundreds or even over 1,000 kilometers away from the three localities.   

Along the highway opposite the Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry in Thu Duc District, dozens of students and migrant factory workers have been seen waiting to take buses home nearly every morning over the past few days. 

Fares up by 50 percent

Those workers and students who want to go home on these busy days are all ready to accept a 50 percent increase in bus fares, compared to normal days.    

A bus ticket for a trip to the northernmost part of the central region – including Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, and Ninh Binh Provinces – now costs VND1.2 million (US$57), a 50 percent hike from the previous VND800,000 ($38).

Passengers who are unwilling to sit for many days may opt for sleeper buses that feature bunk beds instead of normal seats, but they will have to pay even more: VND1.5-2 million ($71-95) for a ticket.

Dat, a worker from Thanh Hoa Province, said his family had planned to return home, but they are going to stay in HCMC during Tet because they cannot afford the expensive fares.

Opportunity for unlicensed buses

A surge in fares following rising demand for transportation ahead of Tet has created a chance for unlicensed bus operators to benefit.

These operators offer affordable prices in return for a diminished level of safety, as their vehicles are usually in poor condition, while the drivers tend to drive fast to ‘save’ time.

These days, one can easily spot these vehicles cruising areas near the entrances to the Mien Dong Bus Station in HCMC and Hong Lam Bus Station in Binh Duong to pick up passengers.

The drivers can also be seen around the Xo Viet Nghe Tinh - Dinh Bo Linh intersection through to the Binh Phuoc Bridge in HCMC to look for passengers eager to return home for Tet celebrations. 

Many of them try to evade state transport inspectors by pretending to fill their tanks at gas stations, but they are in fact waiting for their passengers.

Some vehicle operators choose to dispatch employees to many places to find potential passengers. When they see them, they will call the drivers to pick these passengers up on the spot.

"Despite the poor quality and unsafe factors, I have had to choose this type of vehicle to save money. It is a pure sacrifice,” Tran Anh Thu, a native of Quang Ngai working in HCMC, said of her decision.

Some 65 percent of 270,000 active employees working at 13 HCMC industrial parks are migrant workers, according to the municipal Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs.

Surging travel demand

According to Thuong Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Mien Dong Bus Station, its passenger traffic has increased by 50 percent to some 30,000 passengers per day since January 18.

The number of passengers is expected to continue rising sharply from January 23, when the station will start to impose a 60 percent surcharge, Hai added.

While the Mien Dong Bus Station accommodates vehicles traveling northwards, the Mien Tay Bus Station is the main location for those offering services to the Mekong Delta.

The latter station management said the number of passengers is also forecast to go up and will peak at around 60,000 passengers per day on January 28 and 29.

Local transport experts forecast that some 1 million people residing in HCMC will travel to other regions by buses, trains and airplanes during the the Tet holiday, while some hundreds of thousands of others will use their own motorbikes for traveling during the period.