[latchkey]

Not 'right now', it has been this way since I first moved over there in 2016 and probably even longer before that. This is also why the US keeps labelling Vietnam as a currency manipulator [1].

If you get quoted in USD there (which isn't legal, but happens anyway), the conversion rate is often ~25k.

Your best bet is to find a local viet kieu to do conversions... they tend to give much better rates than the banks. Second to that are the gold dealers, but be careful as people often wait outside to follow and later rob you.

Vietnam is a strangely rich country. It appears from the outside like people are super poor (and they are!), but the amount of stored wealth there is absolutely insane. It is as if they don't know how to spend it.

Don't forget, if you see a supercar there, which you do all the time in the larger cities, it is actually a 300% import duty, plus whatever you had to pay on top of that for coffee money.

[1] https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/vietnam-us-reach-accord-on-a...