Khôi Phạm

in Culture

What Can Vietnamese License Plates Tell You About the Vehicles and Who Drives Them?

There was a game I used to play with my dad whenever we would stop at a traffic light. He would point to a random license plate in front of us and quiz me on where it came from.

in Travel

Mũi Né Among Top 10 Trending Travel Destinations Globally in 2026, Booking Says

Travel site Booking.com dubbed Mũi Né “one of 2026’s trending travel spots,” reflective of the international attention and domestic emphasis the beach city is currently receiving.

in Music & Arts

Euphoria, Ruin, Nostalgia: Tracing Hanoi's Changing Skyline by Its Soundtrack

From loudspeakers broadcasting construction anthems during wartime to melancholic ballads mourning vanished street corners, Hanoi's soundtrack reveals a city that has never quite learned to live in its present tense.

Paul Christiansen

in Rewind

In 'Cú Và Chim Se Sẻ,' a Director's Radical Empathy for Saigon's Less Fortunate

“They can do what they want. The city owns the zoo. They could sell all the animals here. They could turn it into a golf course. We’re just little people — you and me.”

in Loạt Soạt

In 'No Man River,' Dương Hướng Highlights the Raw Pain of Postwar Survival

Dương Hướng’s No Man River (Bến không chồng) was first published in 1991 and won the Vietnam Writers' Association Prize for Fiction. Translated into English by Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh, it captures the brutal reality of conflict in Vietnam from 1945 to 1979.

in Music & Arts

Nguyễn Đức Tín Weaves Spirituality, Faith, Everyday Life Altogether in His Paintings

Can a painting reflect who we are, even if we can’t see ourselves thoroughly? And how does faith guide us forward in life?

in Film & TV

Liên Bỉnh Phát Makes History as 1st Vietnamese to Win Best Male Lead in Taiwan

Vietnamese actor Liên Bỉnh Phát recently made history at one of Taiwan’s most prestigious national award ceremonies.

in Travel

An Ode to Vũng Tàu, Saigon's Unwavering Summer Crush

I recently took a trip to Vũng Tàu after a long summer of cultural research, which had me traveling up and down Vietnam. It had been seven years since I’d been back to the homeland, and 19 since I’d last seen the beaches of Vũng Tàu, when I was only 16. It felt like returning to a high school crush, and it made me think of the words of Trần Thiện Thanh, who once wrote, “Nhớ lúc xa xưa mười sáu trăng tròn…” I won’t say I wasn’t looking for something familiar, poetic, and possibly even as sappy.

Back Arts & Culture

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer Sunday Rewind

Saigoneer's staff highlight their favorite articles from the past week.

in Music & Arts

Sai Gon Art Map: Call For Submissions

Saigoneer, Saigon Artbook, Dia Projects and Alternative Art Area are in the process of producing a handy map of art-related activities and venues in Saigon – from galleries to street art.

in Culture

10 Photos Of The Amazing Vietnamese Spider-Men

While some Vietnamese cities have begun to move their tangled nests of electricity wires underground, they are still a ubiquitous feature of many urban neighborhoods.

in Music & Arts

Vietnamese Women’s Revolutionary Roles Depicted In Propaganda Posters

In the context of France-Vietnam Year, the Musée du quai Branly is presenting an installation of Vietnamese propaganda posters exploring the various representations of women in Vietnam from the 1950s ...

in Music & Arts

Saigoneer Chats With Suboi, Saigon’s Queen of Hip-Hop

Suboi recently returned from a series of successful US shows and wall-to-wall American media coverage. ­We sat down with Saigon’s “Queen of Hip-Hop” to ask about her experiences in the US, whether...

in Culture

Hue’s Heritage Threatened By Development, Time

In a recent piece for The New York Times, Edward Wong warns that many of Hue’s World Heritage sites and perhaps its very soul are slowly deteriorating as a result of development and environmental fact...

in Culture

[Video] Nha Trang Driver Learns Why Lessons Shouldn’t Be Done On City Streets

This video should serve as a friendly reminder that novice drivers should avoid busy streets when trying to up their skills. You probably shouldn’t be driving a fancy Mercedes SUV either...

in Music & Arts

An Interview With Jazz-Fusion Trio The Drops

Forming in 2008, with Guitarist Frederico Casagrande, saxophonist Christophe Panzani, and percussionist Tom Poor, Casagrande and Panzani sought to continue a previous partnership in a new band. After ...

in Film & TV

[Video] Short Film Perfectly Captures Slices of Life in Vietnam

Unlike some of the more pensive Vietnamese travel videos we’ve come across in the past, Oliver Astrologo’s “Reverie of Vietnam” is a short film composed almost entirely of quick and explosive cuts.

in Film & TV

New Web Series Highlights Viet Kieu Who Have Found Themselves, Success In Vietnam

“Employed Identity” is a new web series created by Vietnamese American director, Bao Nguyen, for the Center for Asian American Media and PBS.  

in Film & TV

May Movies At Saigon’s Alternative Film Venues

There’s a bit of everything in store this month at Saigon’s alternative film venues, from some recently acclaimed independent films and genre classics to the two most talked about documentaries from t...

in Music & Arts

Vietnamese Artist’s Spin On A Classic Piece Of Propaganda Art

Triet Nho, the artist behind the stop motion banh mi video we posted back in February, has been trying his hand at a different medium – watercolor.

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer Sunday Rewind

Saigoneer's staff highlight their favorite articles from the past week.

in Music & Arts

Vietnam Photo Tips: The Juxtaposition

When taking photos of people in a dynamic environment (and here I am talking specifically about Southeast Asia), it is very important to keep one’s photos as simple as possible. Capturing something to...

in Music & Arts

Pop Superstar Katy Perry Coming To Saigon Next Month

American pop star, Katy Perry, will be making her way to Saigon next month to attend an event organized by Forbes Vietnam.

in Music & Arts

7 Incredible 360° Panoramas Of Saigon

These spiraling photos are the work of Hồ Ý, a graphic designer who moved to Saigon in 1999.

in Arts & Culture

Saigoneer Sunday Rewind

Saigoneer's staff highlight their favorite articles from the past week.

in Film & TV

Film Screening: March: Art Walk Presents “Ánh” and “Mùi”

Part of Sao La and Freeland’s community art project, March: Art Walk, aims to bridge the gap between Saigon’s contemporary art scene and the general public. To that end, on March 11, the project scree...

Brian Letwin

in Film & TV

This Film Beautifully Captures The Daily Life Of Vietnamese

Wander in Vietnam is not your typical Vietnam travel video as this short film’s beauty lies in its simplicity.

in Music & Arts

Saigoneer’s March Art Picks

Last month was, without a doubt, the most extravagant (artistically speaking) in the past four years; Saigon was a theatre unto itself with a variety of art shows and exhibitions. Here are some of our...