Re: Digest for vietnam-old-hacks@googlegroups.com - 5 updates in 1 topic

[Dawson]

You know, France didn't give much to Indochina except good bread, but the only other thing worth mentioning is that it gave its pathetic bureaucracy to Tonkin and the rest.

It's kind of shitty since their invitations to the Big April Do was very specific about the aeroplane fares. They should have sorted that out before even sending invitations but... well, been there, done that, etc etc etc and so forth and so on.

73

On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 3:13 AM <vietnam-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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• Reimbursement Issues with Saigon Reunion 2025. - 5 Updates

Reimbursement Issues with Saigon Reunion 2025.

Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com>: Aug 17 05:46PM +1000 *This is very important for those who attended Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'Press Week' back in April for the 50th anniversary of the Fall/Liberation of Saigon on 30 April 1975.*   We were invited to this event by FA on the assurance that our economy airfares to and from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) would be reimbursed. As instructed by Mr Tung Pham, I submitted my invoice upon my return to Australia.   *So far, I have not been reimbursed. How about you? *   On 28 July, I FW'd a message to VOH from Foreign Affairs HCM City office that " due to certain complex administrative procedures, the reimbursement process has not yet been completed as expected" and assured us we'd be reimbursed "in the soonest possible time."   I reckon it's time we did something about this, quite frankly. Maybe another corruption Substack post from me? At any rate, certainly pretty lousy Vietnamese hospitality after making such great use of us propaganda-wise for the 50th anniversary. They invite you for a meal and then stick you with the bill. I'm really annoyed about this and told Tung so only last week.   Any other bright ideas would be most gratefully accepted.   But this is ridiculous -- even if in the end not totally surprising either, eh?   Best regards,   Carl Robinson

Jim Caccavo <jim.c...@gmail.com>: Aug 17 01:18AM -0700 I wouldn't hold my breath. I remember one reunion we had, the govt picked up our hotel expenses for the first few days, but we were expected to attend promotional programs. A long trans-Pacific flight for me now (at 81 yrs) has to be business class and they wouldn't pay for that. Also with so many of us now absent, the reunios were more of a current media event than a celebration and remembrance of past days - the likes of which we will never see again in any current or future war coverage.   On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 12:47 AM Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com> wrote:

Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com>: Aug 17 10:10PM +1000 Sorry, Jim Caccavo, but this is addressed to those who accepted Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs invitation to attend this year's 50th anniversary celebrations in April and in the good faith that our airfares would be reimbursed.   That's from whom I am requesting this information.   Carl

Jim Laurie <jimla...@gmail.com>: Aug 17 06:56PM +0200 Hi Carl. Suggest a little longer wait. On August 8 got this note from Tung   “So sorry for the delay. We'll try our best to reimburse by end of this month.”   Not a good situation - true but don't think creating a big fuss will help   All best   Jim   Sent from my iPhone   On Aug 17, 2025, at 09:47, Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com> wrote:      This is very important for those who attended Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'Press Week' back in April for the 50th anniversary of the Fall/Liberation of Saigon on 30 April 1975.   We were invited to this event by FA on the assurance that our economy airfares to and from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) would be reimbursed. As instructed by Mr Tung Pham, I submitted my invoice upon my return to Australia.   So far, I have not been reimbursed. How about you?   On 28 July, I FW'd a message to VOH from Foreign Affairs HCM City office that " due to certain complex administrative procedures, the reimbursement process has not yet been completed as expected" and assured us we'd be reimbursed "in the soonest possible time."   I reckon it's time we did something about this, quite frankly. Maybe another corruption Substack post from me? At any rate, certainly pretty lousy Vietnamese hospitality after making such great use of us propaganda-wise for the 50th anniversary. They invite you for a meal and then stick you with the bill. I'm really annoyed about this and told Tung so only last week.   Any other bright ideas would be most gratefully accepted.   But this is ridiculous -- even if in the end not totally surprising either, eh?   Best regards,   Carl Robinson   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Vietnam Old Hacks" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to vietnam-old-ha...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vietnam-old-hacks/CADHX3pkCYcSM7-V8q1TuF5DngqkZuTZ%3DkjkUfv7mmDinjO387g%40mail.gmail.com.

Calvin Godfrey <calvint...@gmail.com>: Aug 17 02:52PM -0400 Mr Laurie,   I respectfully disagree.   Kicking up a big fuss with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is DEFINITELY something Carl should do. Everyone knows diplomats LOVE being publicly humiliated by their foreign guests. And, even if they don't expressly LOVE it, they certainly respond well to it.   As a careful reader of the Old Hacks list serve for over a decade now, i can confidently say that kicking up a fuss is something Carl does exceptionally well and (almost) NEVER needlessly suffers from.   Even if Carl were not uniquely well-suited to taking on MOFA, what possible downside could there be to anyone antagonizing the consular arm of a country he or she frequently visits and (just as often) publicly maligns?   This is just one reader's opinion, but I don't think we should be so hasty in discouraging Carl from doing the Lord's work.   Sent from my iPhone   On Aug 17, 2025, at 12:56 PM, Jim Laurie <jimla...@gmail.com> wrote:    Hi Carl. Suggest a little longer wait. On August 8 got this note from Tung   “So sorry for the delay. We'll try our best to reimburse by end of this month.”   Not a good situation - true but don't think creating a big fuss will help   All best   Jim   Sent from my iPhone   On Aug 17, 2025, at 09:47, Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com> wrote:      This is very important for those who attended Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 'Press Week' back in April for the 50th anniversary of the Fall/Liberation of Saigon on 30 April 1975.   We were invited to this event by FA on the assurance that our economy airfares to and from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) would be reimbursed. As instructed by Mr Tung Pham, I submitted my invoice upon my return to Australia.   So far, I have not been reimbursed. How about you?   On 28 July, I FW'd a message to VOH from Foreign Affairs HCM City office that " due to certain complex administrative procedures, the reimbursement process has not yet been completed as expected" and assured us we'd be reimbursed "in the soonest possible time."   I reckon it's time we did something about this, quite frankly. Maybe another corruption Substack post from me? At any rate, certainly pretty lousy Vietnamese hospitality after making such great use of us propaganda-wise for the 50th anniversary. They invite you for a meal and then stick you with the bill. I'm really annoyed about this and told Tung so only last week.   Any other bright ideas would be most gratefully accepted.   But this is ridiculous -- even if in the end not totally surprising either, eh?   Best regards,   Carl Robinson   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Vietnam Old Hacks" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to vietnam-old-ha...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vietnam-old-hacks/CADHX3pkCYcSM7-V8q1TuF5DngqkZuTZ%3DkjkUfv7mmDinjO387g%40mail.gmail.com.   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Vietnam Old Hacks" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to vietnam-old-ha...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vietnam-old-hacks/C5283CA8-C1E1-4193-BB51-D9F3CBE640DA%40gmail.com.

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