An agency under the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications is slated to call on the developer of Pokémon GO to restrict the virtual monsters from appearing at inappropriate locations across the Southeast Asian country.

Vietnam will insist that Pokémon not be ‘released’ at sensitive and dangerous places, including expressways, railways, pagodas, temples, and historical attractions, according to the document.

“We will request that Pokémon GO developers follow Vietnamese law and ensure that their game leaves no negative impacts on our society,” Le Quang Tu Do, deputy head of the ministry’s agency for digital information, said on Wednesday.

The agency will also demand that the game maker “ensure the rights, interests, and safety of Vietnamese players,” particularly information security.

Pokémon GO was developed and published by Niantic Inc., a software developer that grew from a Google-nurtured startup.

Do stated that the Ministry of Information and Communications will “send this document to companies related to the viral game in Vietnam.”

Since launching in Vietnam on August 6, Pokémon GO has raised a myriad of safety concerns after local 'trainers' quickly became addicted to the augmented reality game currently played by over 100 million people worldwide.

As in other countries where the game is available, accidents and robberies where Vietnamese ‘trainers’ had their mobile devices snatched during game play started being reported shortly after the launch.

A mother in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat was reportedly so busy ‘catching ‘em all’ earlier this week that she neglected her son in a trolley that was later blown into a lake by a strong wind.

Vietnamese Pokémon GO addicts were also willing to ruin the national map in order to avoid taking a few extra steps to get to a PokéStop.

After being notified of these Pokémon GO-related issues, the information ministry publicized a set of recommendations for local addicts “based on experience from other countries facing the same problems.”

The set of warnings calls on players to stay cautious and protect their privacy and personal data; not play while driving; and beware of fake or clone apps which may contain viruses or malware.

“Finally, we recommend that public servants or state officials not play Pokémon GO during office hours,” Do said.

The official added that his agency has closely cooperated with Apple, Google and Microsoft in managing numerous games published by these companies in Vietnam.

“These firms have told us that they are willing to cooperate and handle any game that violates Vietnamese law,” Do said. “We will ask them to help remove violators.”

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