Hey my wife and I just had a massage in HCMC and they were great. They charged $350,000VND!! No problem. Then before we paid they wanted us to rate the massage with a strongly suggested $300,000VND tip for each of us. Is this normal? We don’t mind tipping but that seems excessive. Can anyone explain? TIA
Share your experiences or just ask people a question? Click to see the community
Got a question or an idea you want to discuss? Start a discussion here to get opinions and connect with other members.
Have a story, valuable experience, or a detailed guide to share? Contribute a high-quality article to enrich our community.
To ensure quality, all new posts are not immediately visible on search engines like Google, Bing... Our team prioritizes reviewing high-value, insightful posts to feature publicly. You'll receive a notification when your contribution is selected!
Ha Giang
Hanoi
Ho Chi Minh City
Ha Long
Sapa
Mekong Delta
Da Nang
Hue
Hoi An
Ninh Binh
Da Lat
Nha Trang
Phan Thiet
Phu Quoc
Quang Binh
Quy Nhon
Vung Tau
Thai Nguyen
Tiếng Việt
한국어
中文 (中国)
日本語
ไทย
Deutsch
Español
Destinations
Instagram
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Threads
Tiktok
Vietnamese here. I think the main issue here is the fact that you were asked to tip. This is sadly cringe and leaves a bad taste for sure and tends to ruin things everything afterwards, whatever the amount was asked. My principal is if you have the privilege of a higher currency, of coming in and out of SE Asian countries from Western ones–especially also if you’re white– regardless of whether tipping is part of the culture or not, it’s about generosity and proportioning your reality and the weight of a dollar vs for the locals and the services they provide. It’s actually so embarassing and tiring to hear ppl who can afford the tip argue about the amount and weird principals like the tip should only be 10% or shouldn’t equal the price of a massage, etc etc. Locals are always extremely happy and grateful to accept no matter the amount. They are also incredibly generous if you’ve really gotten to experience the culture without entitlement and judgements foreigners often have. Whether you wanna give 50k or 500k, it’s your own practice of generosity as a visitor, and more likely than not, a more privileged one. Again, I think here it’s just that they asked for it, which is a shame and in my experience, rare, and happens during desperate times like Tet, and in high tourist areas. Sometimes it’s gonna happen and it’s part of the tax people pay as tourists. Your tip, whether you resented it or not, did at least it goes right into their hands and their families at a very needed time.
I am not sure why massages are more expensive than Thailand but I noticed the same. Thailand massage $9.00 usd tip 3.00 usd. The tipping in Vietnam is going overboard. They try and slide in a tip without you knowing at restaurants then want a tip on top. I just don’t like the whole tipping culture. If you don’t ask you don’t receive
Yea. They will do that either because they think you’re well off or that you are a foreign tourist. You don’t have to. Tip some, they’ll give you a stink eye look, but you’ll never have to see them again.
Come on people. When you pay $ 4 and hour for massage you can afford a big tip. Poverty and hunger is prevalent. Where is your humanity?
Price should be as advertized. No sneaky hidden fees. I higher price doesn’t have to be an issue, just be clear and honest.
Great service = great tip. We tip everywhere we go…if the service is good.
50000 tip
Tipping never should’ve been brought from the west. The U.S. history of tipping began as a way to exploit newly freed slaves. Businesses used them for free labor and customers would tip them which served as their payment. Basically slavery wages were subsidized by customers. Gross practice that encourages poor wages to workers to this day.
$350,000VND ? Why prefix with “$”. I scribed 00’s, high value, significant contracts VT and don’t recall this as being the way in which Dong content was presented.
So I been to vietnam many times, and that is normal there, they even said that on their menu, the service you paid go to the business, and the tips go to the worker. If you not comfortable you can always leave but most massage place in vietnam that’s how they do it.