I love living in this country for a lot of reasons. The weather, the food, and especially the affordability of almost everything really appeals to me and many other people that also call this place home. There is one downside of living here that I can think of and it is entirely up to the individual whether or not you fall victim to it though and that is how easy and inexpensive it is to access alcohol.
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In most of the world alcohol is also very accessible, but I am not aware of anywhere else on the planet that it is basically everywhere and also damn near free. Beers at a bar cost less than a dollar and as far as having them at home is concerned, you can easily fill up the fridge for 1/4 what it would cost in other countries.
For me, when I was living in the USA being a drunk was not something that is socially or legally acceptable outside of college and you can get in a lot of trouble for being drunk in public. Many people have their lives ripped apart because of alcoholism and here in Vietnam, getting to that point is a lot more accessible than others simply because it is not uncommon to see people walking down the street with a beer or even driving a vehicle with one clearly in their hand.
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I wouldn't say that I am an alcoholic by any means and I am a pretty functional person that never blows off his obligations in life because of booze. Hell, I'm hungover as crap right now and am still sitting at my desk. I did sleep in by a lot though and I always feel like a jackass when I stay in bed until almost noon.
Last night was a prime example of how easy it is to fall into a drunk trap in Vietnam: I went out for "a few drinks" with some friends last night and the next thing I know it is hours later and I barely remember the last parts of the evening. The really nutso thing about all of this is the fact that even though my "few drinks" turned into hours at the pub, my total bill was less than $15. It's wonderful that it is that cheap but it is also a problem because there is no financial motivation for me to not do this. When I lived in USA going out for a heavy night would get expensive quickly and that is why I rarely did it.
I have been here for years and I have never had a night that I regretted because of how much my tab was at the end of the night. I shouldn't complain though and I just need to use a bit more self-control. It could be worse: Booze could be easily accessible AND expensive and that would just suck.
In the expat community there are a ton of drunks in it here. There are some people that I have actually never seen at all unless they were drunk and well, I'm happy to state that I am definitely not at that point and have no intention of ever becoming it. It's a real problem in the expat communities and I believe we are probably regarded by the locals as being a bunch of pissheads. Fortunately, outside of one incident I don't know of anyone that has caused a big scene and a fight that the police had to get involved in. I'll save that story for another day but it was so bad that no one has seen the guy since the day that incident happened.
It's a very real issue where I live as well and probably in every expat community around the world. Most of the people I know are daily pub crawlers and outside of going to the pub they don't really have much else of a life. I'll admit i overindulge as well in a way that I would not do if I was back in my home country. If you can keep it in check I suppose it is harmless enough but I have seen some extremely unhealthy expats who don't really seem to care. Most of them smoke too.
Everyone I know either stays home or goes out and has too many. There doesn't seem to be a happy middle ground. Ok, I know a person or two that just has a few but these people are rare. It seems to be an all or nothing way of life for most people.
It's easy to look at most of the people I know an say they are alcoholics and if that is the case at least they are in a place that they can get away with that for very little money.
Alcohol dependence amongst expats is a real thing here in Thailand. I don't think beers are as cheap as Vietnam but still way cheaper than any western country. Like you I know people that I only ever see drunk. I hope I don't go down that road one day...:)
It is a real concern of my own because it is really easy to fall into that trap. When you can go out and have a great time for almost no money and it is right around the block, it's kind of tough to resist!
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I was wondering about this as the lifestyle along with cheap booze would definitely get some individuals in trouble. The affordability is something that could lure you in if you weren't careful.
Most of the people around here are kind of proud of themselves if they go a few days without drinking at all. It's kind of funny that someone would want or expect recognition for this.
But in moderate countries like ours, it is not at all easy because our country has traditionally a large Muslim population. So the chances of getting drunk are very limited here.
Which country is this? Indonesia? I remember when I was in Malaysia that alcohol was very expensive compared to other SE Asian countries and perhaps this has something to do with the relatively large Muslim population. I don't think I have ever seen a Muslim person in Vietnam. I'm sure there are some somewhere.
Similar situation here in Cambodia, super cheap alcohol, a language barrier, no family members or friends from one's home country live here, and the locals have a "if-it-doesn't hurt me enjoy" attitude. This perfect storm is a killer for someone with little self-control.
Kind of related, but many of my female foreign friends have expressed the difficulty in finding a partner here. They're uninterested in local guys due to height differences and the male dominant situation of most relationships here. There are few foreign guys, but many of them are lost to bars and/or only interested in local ladies, so I do sympathize with these ladies' predicaments, seen many of them leave just to go to a country with better chances of finding a healthy relationship.
This is also very true here. It seems to be a "playground" for men but women don't get much attention. The Vietnamese men rarely even attempt to date a foreign girl and like you said, the other expats are much more interested in the locals.
I only know one foreign woman that is in a relationship with a Vietnamese man but basically every foreign man I know is in one.
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