What to arrange before you need it in Da Nang — evacuation cover, a named hospital, a doctor's letter — and what never to put in your body. Rabies, methanol and the drug laws are the ones that kill or jail people.
5 do · 3 never do
Local plans rarely fund evacuation — check the policy names it.
For serious trauma or a cardiac event, the realistic destination is Bangkok or Singapore, and an air evacuation runs into six figures. Read the policy for the words evacuation and repatriation; if they are absent, assume you are paying.
Source Official — embassy advisory
Know which one you would go to, and have the numbers offline.
Family Medical Practice runs 24/7 multilingual care; Vinmec and Hoan My handle inpatient work. Save the numbers offline, and keep your address written in Vietnamese to hand to a driver or an operator.
Source Community-reported
Limits are as low as seven days for some medications.
Bring a letter naming the drug, dose and condition, keep everything in original labelled packaging, and check the category — controlled and psychotropic medicines carry short allowances and can be confiscated at the airport.
Source Official — Vietnamese decree
Rabies kills roughly 75 people a year in Vietnam.
Get routine and travel vaccinations done at home, where they are cheaper and documented. Any bite or scratch from a dog, cat or monkey is a same-day hospital visit for post-exposure treatment — rabies is effectively untreatable once symptoms begin.
Source Official — embassy advisory
Never drink the tap water anywhere in Vietnam.
Bottled or filtered water only, including for brushing teeth if your stomach is sensitive. Busy stalls with high turnover are the safer street-food bet; be wary of pre-cut fruit sitting warm and ice from unmarked bags.
Source Official — embassy advisory
Penalties are severe regardless of amount.
Vietnam prosecutes possession and trafficking at the harshest end of the regional scale, and quantity thresholds escalate quickly. There is no recreational tolerance, and consular assistance cannot alter the outcome.
Source Official — Vietnamese decree
E-cigarettes and heated tobacco are banned nationwide.
The ban covers sale, possession and use, and devices are taken at the airport. Leave them at home; nicotine pouches and cigarettes remain legal if you need a substitute.
Source Official — Vietnamese decree
Two tourists died in Hoi An from tainted limoncello.
Methanol contamination is the risk, and it is invisible and untasteable. Drink sealed, branded bottles you watch being opened, and treat unlimited free-pour cocktails at hostel prices with suspicion.
Source Official — embassy advisory
Strongly yes, and the policy must name medical evacuation and repatriation. Serious trauma or a cardiac event means an air evacuation to Bangkok or Singapore that runs into six figures, and hospitals here expect payment before they treat you.
Family Medical Practice runs 24/7 multilingual care; Vinmec and Hoan My handle inpatient work and have English-speaking staff. Save the numbers offline and keep your address written in Vietnamese to hand to a driver.
Bring a doctor's letter naming the drug, dose and condition, and keep everything in original labelled packaging. Controlled and psychotropic medicines carry allowances as short as seven days and can be confiscated at the airport.
Treat any bite or scratch from a dog, cat or monkey as a same-day hospital visit for post-exposure rabies treatment. Rabies is present in Vietnam and effectively untreatable once symptoms begin.
No — bottled or filtered water only, anywhere in Vietnam, including for brushing teeth if your stomach is sensitive. Be wary of ice from unmarked bags and pre-cut fruit that has been sitting warm.
Stick to sealed, branded bottles you watch being opened. Methanol contamination of homemade or unsealed spirits is the real danger — two tourists died from tainted limoncello in nearby Hoi An — and it is invisible and untasteable.