Hanoi street vendor fined after seeking triple price for 'non la' from foreign tourist
Police in Hanoi have fined a street vendor for attempting to charge a foreign tourist over three times the intended price, more than US$32, for a ‘non la’ (Vietnamese conical hat) in the city’s Old Quarter, following an incident captured on security camera footage and widely shared on social media.
Officers from Hoan Kiem Ward police on Monday worked with the woman involved, identified as N.T.T., born in 1981, over the incident that occurred on Hang Gai Street a day earlier.
The move followed a report from Nguyen Van Duy, a nearby hotel manager, who witnessed the incident through the hotel’s security camera and intervened to stop the transaction.
At the police station, T. initially claimed she had intended to sell a ‘non la’ to a female foreign tourist for VND250,000 ($9.5).
However, the video footage provided by Duy showed a different sequence of events.
Confronted with the footage, T. admitted her misconduct, acknowledging that overcharging foreign tourists damages Vietnam’s image and offering an apology to the visitors involved.
Local police subsequently fined her VND225,000 ($8.6) for illegally selling goods on the roadway.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Duy said the footage shows a female tourist, accompanied by another foreigner, trying on the conical hat offered by T. before taking out a stack of cash to pay.
As the tourist displayed banknotes of various denominations, T. quickly pulled out two VND500,000 ($19) notes and returned only VND150,000 ($5.7), implying a price of VND850,000 ($32.3) for the hat -- more than three times the intended rate.
Duy explained that T. signaled she could not communicate in a foreign language, prompting the tourist to show all the cash she had so the vendor could indicate the amount she wanted.
After noticing the unusually high price on his camera feed, Duy rushed out and asked the vendor to return the money to the buyer.
T. initially claimed she had taken only one VND500,000 note, but the tourists insisted she had taken two, consistent with what was recorded on camera.
An image taken from security camera footage shows an attempted overcharging incident involving N.T.T. (R), a street vendor, and a foreign tourist in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, January 11, 2026. Photo: T.N. / Tuoi Tre
Following a brief argument, the vendor returned money to the tourists, though Duy said he could not be certain whether the full overcharged amount was repaid.
Having operated his business in the Old Quarter for many years, Duy said most local vendors provide honest and professional service, but he warned that repeated overcharging incidents by a small group of street sellers harm the city’s tourism image and undermine efforts to promote Hanoi as a welcoming destination.
He urged authorities to strictly handle similar violations to help ensure a healthy tourism environment in the Old Quarter.
Vinh Tho – Hong Quang / Tuoi Tre News
Link nội dung: https://news.tuoitre.vn/hanoi-street-vendor-fined-after-seeking-triple-price-for-non-la-from-foreign-tourist-10326011312592566.htm