SAIGONNEZUMIHow to be stopped by the Traffic Police in Saigon
Yesterday, after I crossed the Saigon Bridge on my way back from An Phu, I saw a Frenchman pulled over by the traffic police.
The traffic policeman actually crossed the street to pull a truck over. As he signaled the truck to stop, the Frenchman rode his Honda Wave in the same lane as the truck. I am not sure he realized that motorbikes must stay in the right lane (I got a ticket for being in the left lane 4 years ago).
The man got angry and started staring at the policeman. As he was staring down the policeman, he ran into another motorbike!
That settled it. He finally pulled over and I think the policemen took his motorbike and rightly so.
On that note, I have seen traffic police stopping foreigners but one thing I did notice, the foreigners were dressed in shorts and looked like tourists. the man above wore shorts and a tank top.
It looks as if the traffic police are signalling tourists more than Expats. A shirt and tie seems to keep the police away I heard.