Vietnamese Arming Themselves For Protection

Confidence in local police is low

Last Wednesday, Timothy Chandler was walking along Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City when a man riding a motorbike approached and snatched a camera from his hand.

The thief, 24-year-old Huynh The Phat, sped away but was quickly arrested not so far away by two patrolling plainclothes police officers who had secretly followed him.

The Englishman got back his camera and police are pressing robbery charges against Phat.

This is one of the street robbery stories with a happy ending. Such stories are rare.

Most of the time, the robbers get away and are never caught, and some of the time, the stories have very tragic endings.