Violations in land management, construction order, sidewalk corridors, traffic safety order and the problem of soliciting, stalking, street vending and begging in Sa Pa ward ( Lao Cai ) have long been problems that need to be thoroughly handled.
Promoting the effectiveness of the two-level local government after coming into operation, Sa Pa is implementing many synchronous solutions with the participation of organizations, unions, businesses, and agencies to limit, reduce, and eventually end the above situation, building the image of a clean, beautiful, and civilized tourist area.
There are still some "sand grains"
According to the leader of Sa Pa ward, in reality, the number of people participating in soliciting, stalking and begging in the ward and some neighboring communes has decreased over the years, but it still cannot be completely resolved even though the local government and departments and branches have taken drastic measures.
According to 2024 statistics, Sa Pa ward has about 100 children and 50-60 adults who regularly participate in soliciting, stalking, street vending and begging, especially on holidays, Tet and weekends, causing a lot of trouble for tourists.
To thoroughly resolve this situation along with stepping up propaganda, Sa Pa town (old) has requested departments, offices, and agencies to propose to Lao Cai Provincial Police to develop a plan to handle subjects who protect and lead homeless children to beg and sell goods; develop attractive weekend cultural programs and activities to attract tourists; pilot a special task force model to combat soliciting, begging, and selling goods; arrange additional locations and places for ethnic minorities to sell goods...
Localities have stepped up propaganda to residents and tourists not to give money to children or buy goods from street vendors on all media and social networking platforms. Communes and wards have promoted apprenticeships, job changes, and work at businesses, restaurants, and hotels to earn more income.
With the active participation of the entire political system, in the first half of 2025, Sa Pa ward only had about 30 adults and children participating in street vending and begging. Although this situation has decreased, it still makes some tourists dissatisfied during the process of visiting and exploring the beautiful scenery here.
Returning from Sa Pa after a short trip, Mr. Vu Minh Dan (a tourist from Nghe An) shared that after 5 years of returning to Sa Pa, the situation of soliciting, stalking and begging here has decreased but has not completely ended. In fact, the situation of begging has become more sophisticated when some children wearing ethnic minority costumes appeared, playing loud music on loudspeakers, dancing to beg for money from tourists around the Stone Church area. "I will definitely return to Sa Pa but hope I will not have to witness such unsightly images again."
Upon arriving in Vietnam, Hikmah and her husband (a Malaysian tourist) chose Sa Pa as their third destination after Da Nang and Hanoi. Hikmah said that they really liked the scenery and climate here, but there were a few "flaws" that made their experience less than perfect. In the San Quan area, both adults and children of ethnic minorities constantly offered to buy items even though they expressed no interest in buying anything.
"They followed us for minutes or surrounded us, making us almost run away. Walking around and sightseeing became stressful when the sidewalks were encroached upon and we were constantly harassed." Ms. Hikmah also said that Sa Pa in particular and Vietnam in general have the advantage of natural, pristine beauty and friendly people. If local authorities and the tourism industry can solve the above "grits", it will attract tourists to come back more often.
Many methods have been implemented and initially brought about effectiveness, contributing to gradually reducing the situation of soliciting, stalking and encroachment on corridors, sidewalks... in Sa Pa. However, to be able to minimize and handle it thoroughly, the locality needs stronger solutions.
Set up "8 no's" with the peak period of "80 days and nights"
Mr. To Ngoc Lien, Chairman of the People's Committee of Sa Pa Ward, affirmed that in recent times, the work of land management, construction order, and urban beautification has achieved many positive results. Especially from 2023, with the implementation of Plan 127/KH-UBND dated March 15, 2023 of the People's Committee of Sa Pa town on restoring discipline in land management, construction order, and service-tourism business establishments in the town, it has contributed to significantly reducing violations, helping to restore urban discipline.
The movements "Green Friday", "Clean Sunday", the "Clean Sa Pa" urban construction project for the period 2023-2025, with a vision to 2030, have mobilized tens of thousands of cadres, party members, and people to participate. The rate of waste classification in urban areas reached 98.5%; nearly 200 service businesses registered to share free toilets with tourists. These efforts contribute to preserving the image of Sa Pa as a famous tourist destination, once honored by Tripadvisor as one of the top 10 trending destinations in the world in 2024.
However, recently, in the context of the new two-level local government apparatus coming into operation, the situation of sidewalk encroachment, illegal construction, environmental pollution, soliciting, stalking, and begging in Sa Pa is still complicated, directly affecting the urban appearance, tourism environment and quality of service for tourists.
Sa Pa Ward has launched the "80-day-and-night" peak period to restore discipline in land management, construction order; corridors, sidewalks; traffic safety and order; and combat soliciting, stalking, and begging to realize the goal of building Sa Pa into a model ward in urban management, civilized and modern.
In order for the "80 days and nights" peak period to be highly effective, Sa Pa ward has called on all cadres, party members, people and participating forces to uphold the spirit of responsibility, solidarity, unanimity, and together establish "8 no's." That is, no land violations; no violations of construction order; no violations of urban order; no encroachment on corridors, sidewalks, and roads; no illegal erection of 2-legged billboards; no violations of traffic safety and order; no more soliciting, stalking, street vending, begging; no covering up of violations of land, construction order, and urban order.
From July 21 to September 30, the ward focused on strictly handling violations of land and construction; clearing encroachment on corridors and sidewalks; maintaining environmental sanitation and landscape; thoroughly handling solicitation and begging; ensuring traffic safety. Working groups were assigned to each hot spot area to promptly prevent and handle incidents; and periodically report results weekly to promptly and thoroughly handle arising violations.
Statistics from Sa Pa ward show that after 4 days of launching, there are currently only about 10 adults and children participating in street vending, soliciting, and begging. Other types of violations have initially been reduced and put into order. In addition, on this occasion, Sa Pa ward continues to strengthen propaganda work; publicize the hotline 0203 3871 123 for people and tourists to promptly report, promoting community responsibility./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/kien-quyet-xu-ly-vi-pham-trat-tu-do-thi-nan-cheo-keo-an-xin-tai-sa-pa-post1051579.vnp
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