Vietnam Exposed My Lack of Education
Hanoi, Vietnam - December 2025
As I packed for Vietnam, I was thinking more about food, pagodas, and scenic bays. I didn’t think much about Vietnam’s government, even when the visa application wanted to know my religion. I didn’t know there are only five communist countries in the world and didn’t know about Vietnam being one of them. (Go ahead, see if you can name all five.) During my time there, I realized my education in geopolitics is really lacking.
Displays at the Ho Chi Minh Complex
We started seeing the hammer and sickle flags right away during our first tour. Day One we visited the Ho Chi Minh Complex, which included government buildings, Ho Chi Minh’s home, his cars, office, and bunker. It was a Monday, so the mausoleum wasn’t open and we missed seeing the embalmed body. It was immediately clear that our guide was a Ho Chi Minh fan. According to him, Ho Chi Minh lived humbly and gave up everything for the good of his people.
Vietnamese are taught to revere him from an early age, and it’s hard to dispute his devotion to his country. It’s easier to dispute some of his tactics, but he was clearly an impactful leader.
Later in the week we flew to Ho Chi Minh City. Exiting the terminal, there was a billboard that had a distinctly communist look, even without knowing the text. The translation: “Promote patriotic emulation movements and achieve accomplishments to celebrate the Party Congress at all levels, the 12th Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, and the 14th National Party Congress.”
Billboard outside Ho Chi Minh Saigon Airport
Since coming home, I’ve read about Vietnam and communist history, so now I know at least a little bit more. Home ownership in Vietnam is among the highest in the world at around 90%. The statistic is misleading because the government retains ownership of the land itself and individuals have “land use rights.”
I thought tax rates might be high, but they actually appear to be similar to the U.S. There are five tiers for wage income: 5, 10, 20, 30, and 35%. And they have all the typical taxes on business income, interest and dividends, real estate sales, inheritances, etc.
The Communist Party tightly controls all media. It startled me to see a notice on TV stating the content was not compliant with Vietnam’s advertising regulations. I was planning to post the photo on social media until I realized it might come across as being critical. According to the New York Times, “Vietnam remains one of Asia’s most repressive countries. Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are highly restricted, with critics of the government often being imprisoned. More than 160 people are currently locked up in Vietnam for exercising their basic rights, according to Human Rights Watch. Many of them are journalists, bloggers and environmentalists who have been imprisoned for expressing dissenting views.” I decided not to make a comment about censorship while I was in the country.
A screen that regularly popped up during commercial breaks.
I grew up thinking of communism as gray, oppressive, and poor. On the surface, Vietnam appears to be a typical capitalistic society, vibrant and hustling. I guess we’ll see if the country’s rapid economic growth, tech advancements, and declining poverty rates loosen up government control over bureaucracy and the media.
And the next time I travel, I’ll study up on the country’s government and geopolitics.
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More Information
In January 2026, Vietnam published goals for development, defense, and international diplomacy, partly in response to the challenges of Trump’s tariffs.
The New York Times published an article in 2025 about Vietnam’s communist government and the recent change of leadership.
This opinion columnist says “I’m in communist Vietnam – sometimes it feels more functional than America.”
The Netflix documentary “Turning Point” was highly recommended by one of our travel companions for a perspective on the Vietnam War.