Hotel staffs in the red-light districts have often become reluctant witnesses to tricks and traps set up by prostitutes to rob or steal money and other assets from their male clients. Usually, a client who appears loaded enough with money will fall victim to their traps, with the aid from other male gangsters who are also their pimps.
While he was trying to cut a bargain with her, she abruptly left the room. NVD rushed out after her only to run into three rough-looking men waiting outside who punched him in the face and asked him to pay VND, if he did not want to be beaten up. After taking VND, from him, they further demanded that he pay another VND, to cover for their fuel cost to get to the motel. Not wishing to risk his life, NVD bitterly complied with the request. In the face of these incidents, hotel staffs often choose to stay out as they do not want to get involved in fights and fear retaliations from gangsters.
Nguyen Van Hoa, a staff of a hotel at Phu Lam round-about, said he has seen many men rushing out of their hotel rooms to chase after the girls who have stolen their pockets while they are in the restroom. In another case, a male client stood helpless under the threat of a knife, to see the prostitute taking away his wallets after warning him she would not give him back his ID should he report to the police. Drunken men have also fallen prey to these crimes after being lured into hotel rooms, Hoa added.
The poor man did not know he was walking into an ambush -- a pimp had been lying in wait for his victim under the bed -- until it was too late. Report by District 6 police department shows that 17 prostitutes in Phu Lam round-about have been arrested this year for cheating and stealing.
Investigation by Tuoi Tre showed that most street prostitutes in those red-light areas work under the protection of pimps and have to pay them for their protection services. I can take care of you, for both food and protection, but you have to pay me half of your earnings. An old man living in a jungle in Vietnam claimed himself as Sgt. Residents in the northern Vietnamese provinces of Lai Chau and Ha Giang are trying their best to help one another rebuild their lives after floods took a heavy toll on the two localities last month.
