Vietnamese district settles decade-old meal debt after restaurant owner goes public with online post

On Friday, a district official confirmed that the local government had settled the outstanding debt with Minh Mui Restaurant, located in the district’s Thach Giam Town.

“After the owner of Minh Mui restaurant provided all the necessary documentation regarding the debt for meals provided to local officials prior to 2019, Tuong Duong District paid the full amount of over VND44 million,” the district official said.

Phan Thi Thanh Mui, the restaurant’s owner, confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the payment had been made via bank transfer.

Previously, Mui had posted on social media, including invoices and documents showing the unpaid debt, which went viral on Wednesday.

According to Mui, from 2011 to 2015, the district office repeatedly ordered meals for official events at her restaurant, but the debt remained unpaid.

Mui said that after her post went viral, the Tuong Duong District office contacted her and cleared the debt.

The post has since been removed from social media.

Mui, who has run the restaurant for over 20 years, explained that after each meal, district officials asked her to record the debt and promised to pay later.

After repeated attempts to collect the payment, she resorted to posting invoices online.

She also noted that her family no longer operates a restaurant in the district and felt no pressure after publicly revealing the debt.

A district official earlier admitted the difficulty in arranging funds to settle the debt, citing the district’s economic challenges as a poor mountainous region.