From 28-February-2020 Vietnam halts the visa exemption policy to South Korean Nationals. This is a temporary measure to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus into Vietnam. South Korea is another country apart from China with surging numbers of newly infected cases.
By far (28-February-2020), Vietnam has had 16 infected cases and all have been fully recovered and discharged from hospital. On 28-February-2020 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have removed Vietnam from the list of countries with the danger of COVID-19 community widespread transmission.
Live updates by Vietnam's Health Ministry on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Vietnam. The numbers show the figures since the beginning of the outbreak in the country.
Vietnam Airlines has started its flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Bali (Indonesia). The flights depart Vietnam at 11:10 A.M and depart Indonesia at 16:50. The flights are on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday. This is the second direct flight between Vietnam and Indonesia, the first one is between Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. All flights are with Airbus 321 aircrafts.
Cambodia Angkor Air is to fly Phnom Penh - Da Nang from late October, 2019. There are 5 flights per week: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The air firm is to fly daily from January 2020. The flight time for Phnom Penh - Da Nang is 13:30-14:50 and the return flight time is 1540-1700. Currently, Cambodia Angkor Air also flies Siem Reap - Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap - Da Nang.
In the later half of September 2019 Vietnam Airlines has started flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Phuket (Thailand) with 3 return flights per week. The flights depart Ho Chi Minh City at 15:50 and Phuket at 18:40 on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The air firm is to plan for 7 return flights per week after March, 2020.
In the initial phase from 18-September-2019 through the end of March-2020, the air firm plans to operate 5 return flights per week due to limited capacity of the Denpasar Airport (Bali): Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday. After this period, the firm is to plan for 7 flights per week. The flight times are 11:10 A.M from Ho Chi Minh City and 16:50 from Bali.
20-August-2019 Hue Authorities have decided to increase the fees to the tourist attractions in Hue as follows:
Cambodia bans people (tourists and locals) from eating and partying in the area of the Angkor Wat Temple and on the lawns around this famed temple. Vendors are prohibited from renting out mats or hammocks to the visitors on these lawns, too. All these acts are considered to have negative impacts on this World Heritate Site as well as the environtment around it.
9-August-2019 Due to bad weather and flooded runway that Phu Quoc Airport flights were halted from 09:00 A.M to 20:30. The airport has resumed its normal operation after 20:30.
Due to Typhoon Waphi that flights to/from the Cat Bi Airport in Hai Phong and the Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh (Halong Bay) are canceled on 2nd and 3rd August, 2019. Air carriers have increased the flights to/from the Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi to meet the increasing demands.
Halong Bay Authority has stopped granting permits to boats and overnight cruise junks to make tours on the bay from 10 A.M on 1-August-2019 due to the expected strike of the Wipha Typoon (No.3 Typhoon in the East Sea of Vietnam in 2019).
The Plain of Jars of Laos has been inscribed to the World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in July 2019. There had been much mystery around these jars and it is mostly believed now that they are for funerary practices in the Iron Age from 500BCE to 800CE.