HO CHI MINH CITY — Modern day Vietnam is not exactly ground zero for sex positivity of any sort. Even something as simple as a condom is likely to be bought hurriedly on the cheap from a drug store, supermarket or roadside kiosk. But times – and tastes in condoms – are a’changin’.Ho Chi Minh City is a capital city experiencing population growth and even commercial progress. Although perhaps initially an unlikely product to promote in a struggling country with an uneasy relationship with sex, upscale condoms are increasingly becoming an object that the area’s denizens crave.
According to Associate Free Press (AFP), an increasing number of Vietnamese entrepreneurs have discovered that providing customers with choices is just as appealing to the populace of Ho Chi Minh City as it is to those who live in any other city – especially when it comes to condoms.
Although sex education is taboo within the country, plenty of people apparently manage to figure out how to slide tab A into slot B and more of them want to not only be protected from disease and pregnancy while doing so but to enjoy the experience.
In order to promote greater freedom of choice among condom users, the brothers Nguyen Khanh Phong and Nguyen Hoang Long have opened a condom boutique catering to the more sophisticated condom user.
As far as 28-year-old Phong is concerned, “Doing this business is good for the public and society.”
Fortunately, even the authorities seem to agree, because they granted the brother’s request to sell the salacious items a few short months ago and business at their Volcano condom shop is booming.
It’s also not hiding. According to AFP, the store’s glass doors are decorated with condom boxes and its walls are painted pink and lined with shelves stacked with Asian condoms.
For those wondering, the brothers report that the Fuji Shock brand of condom is the biggest seller, in spite of the fact its price tag is five times higher than the competition. In fact, Japanese condoms appear to be quite the hit with the Ho Chi Minh City crowd, with one lighting up when the user ejaculates.
“Our customers really like the design of the Japanese condoms,” Long assures.
Not all condom vendors who want to venture beyond the regional varieties carry high-tech Japanese brands. Tai Sanh’s roadside booth, for instance, is filled with the local VIP brand – but he also carries popular X-Men condom, which feature exotic rubber studs for added pleasure.
“We sell a lot,” the 60-year-old booth keeper explains, pointing out that motorcycle traffic can easily pull up to his stand and make a quick purchase.
In order to avoid trouble with the authorities, condom sellers focus nearly exclusively on the prophylactic devices, avoiding forbidden items like pornographic DVDs, sex toys or phony impotency drugs. Just last month Hanoi police nabbed a bags of aphrodisiacs and sex toys that had been stashed inside a tree on a street known for its unsavory goings-on. Producing and distributing porn or sex toys can land a convict in jail for as much as 15 years, which is not to say that locating the material is difficult.
Nevertheless, Long believes that “Vietnamese people are open-minded” and that the youth of the country are especially thinking about sex in new ways.
They may be right, given that the brothers are considering opening a second location in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as another in Tay Ninh province – and they currently offer delivery services to those too shy to pick up their own condoms.
