1: It's a communist country be aware of government buildings: I know this might sound like a "no shit Sherlock" but unlike in western countries where the government is an entity that generally defends your rights the Vietnamese government couldn't be further from that. 7/10 times police in Vietnam care as much about your drone as a dog taking a crap down the street unless you are flying near a government building or a military base. Out along a stunning coastline or flying over open rice patties? don't worry, the police will probably try and chat you up and take a look at your screen.
2: Expect a crowd: While flying in Thailand I noticed a distinct difference in the type of attention I received when compared to Vietnam. Due to the increase boom in tourism recently in Thailand most locals have seen a drone before. Other than showing interest in me personally they couldn't care less about my drone. NOT THE CASE in Vietnam. Expect a crowd of locals who wants to see, touch, taste, and smell everything about your "flycam" before, after, and during your time in the air. This can often create safety concerns when landing and taking off because the last thing you want is someone to get injured by your careless flying.
3: Rooftops are your friend: In America the FCC is quite stringent about which frequencies consumer products can run on and reception and interference are generally quite predictable in that if you're in an area of high interference expect signal interruptions to be quite predictable. In Vietnam I've noticed my signal quality to jump all over the place. The best solution I've found for this is flying from rooftops and waiting for double digit satellite reception.
4: Understand it's still illegal to fly without proper permitting: In the same way locals blatantly defy police without fear of repercussion in areas ranging from driving without a license to domestic violence (live here long enough and you will see a violent domestic dispute in public) don't consider the laws to be more than basic guidelines that may or may not apply to you because of your skin color and country of origin. Like a wide variety of laws and regulations in Vietnam, the regulations for flying legally are expensive and an absolute bureaucratic nightmare. I have yet to meet any local drone pilots, commercial or hobbyist, who have actually obtained the necessary permits.
5: "Tay gotta Pay": In Vietnam there is a saying "Tay gotta pay". Tay is Vietnamese for Western and in Vietnam if any damage or harm is done to a local a foreigner is expected to pay. I was recently clipped by a girl on an electric scooter while walking down the street. She hit me going nearly 30K/h and sent $3,000 of Nikon equipment flying through the air to land lens down on the asphalt. Her response was to lie about having a sick family, attempt to drive off on me, refuse to give me her information and within 5 minutes there was a crowd of locals telling her just to drive off and leave. Needless to say, I would never advocate harming someone with a UAV, but understand that if anything happens the foreigner will always be responsible.
With all that out of the way Vietnam is an absolutely beautiful place to fly and I would highly recommend it. Understand that if you do decide to fly without a permit use extreme caution and commonsense. There have been multiple people deported from Hanoi over the last year for flying in areas they weren't supposed.
