Đồi Nhái Beach. 47-year-old man from Hoa Binh catching tiny snails to sell to lobster farms. Working ten hours, he makes around $20. On his best days, he earns twice as much. He once raked in hundreds of dollars a day dealing in illegally tapped rubber sap, but he gambled much of it away, a habit which cost him his marriage. His wife was a singer with some notoriety.
Though this work is exhausting, at least he doesn't have to deal with a boss. This regiment can't last much longer, so he's half scheming of opening an eatery with a partner in a Cambodian border town, with its Chinese owned casinos catering to Vietnamese and Chinese. He's never been to Cambodia. It's not a good plan.
2 comments:
It's nice to see another forty seven year old making some mistakes, working it out and continuing to dream a bit. Is twenty dollars a day enough for a roof and food?
Hi Troy,
Many Vietnamese live on less than that per day. This man spends 200,000 [$8.10] a day on food. A good banh mi sandwich is only 20,000 and a great bowl of noodle soup with meat is 40,000 or even less. Cooking simple meals at home costs much less.
I didn't ask if he had children. He did say he lived alone. In Vung Tau, you can get an acceptable room for less than $100 a month.
Linh
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