Vietnamese man fined after letting 4-year-old son steer speedboat

According to the province’s traffic police unit, officers identified and summoned Thai Hoang T., 37, who lives in Trung An Ward, after a video circulated online showing a young boy operating a speedboat.

The clip was originally uploaded by a Facebook account named ‘Thang Oto Cu’ in the online group ‘Dam me Jetski Cano Viet Nam,’ quickly drawing public concern and prompting reports to the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department.

Investigators later confirmed the man who posted the clip is T.

He admitted he had allowed his son to control the speedboat for around three minutes while he was filming the scene and uploading it online.

He added that he had purchased the speedboat second-hand for VND150 million (US$5,690).

During an inspection, authorities discovered multiple violations involving the speedboat.

The boat’s technical safety and environmental protection certificate expired on April 3, 2017 while the registration remained under the previous owner’s name.

Police also found that T. did not possess the legally required professional certification to operate inland waterway vehicles.

Officers then issued fines for three offenses, including using an expired safety certificate, operating the speedboat without a license, and allowing an underage person to steer it.

The penalties could total up to VND20 million ($760).

Authorities also ordered him to remove the video from social media.