An English man was asked to leave Vietnam after he was discovered begging on the streets of HCM City, staying in a hotel with an expired visa.
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| Shane Wolf begging for money on HCM City's street |
Shane Wolf was born in 1944 in the UK and arrived in Vietnam on November 9 of last year, supposedly for medical treatment. When his temporary resident visa expired and his money was exhausted he resorted to frequented the intersection of Ly Tu Trong and Pham Hong Thai streets in District No1 asking passers-by for money.
Believing he had been robbed of his travel documents, some people had posted the man's situation on internet to ask others to help Wolf. However, according to Kenh14.vn, when he was offered help to go to the embassy Wolf became angry, saying that his privacy had been violated.
Wolf frequented the streets from around 3pm on. Sometimes, he stayed late and played the harmonica. By many accounts, most of the banknotes he was given were over VND10,000, a much higher value than normal beggars in Vietnam. Passers-by said that he sometimes became angry, throwing any low-value banknote given him.
Wolf also owed over VND14 million (USD666) to a local hotel where he was staying. Representatives of the hotel said Wolf's visa had been expired since December 14. They added that towards the end he would usually return around midnight to pay his daily hotel bill but seemed reluctant to seek help from the embassy. "I'd never heard about a robbery. We kept his documents so it couldn't have been true. He was treated at the Franco-Vietnamese Hospital."
On February 13, the HCM City Immigration Department said they had waived the administrative fine in Wolf's case and helped to renew his visa free of charge. However they ordered him to leave Vietnam.
