Millions of international visitors come to Việt Nam without any problems, enjoying good food landscapes and hospitality, showing respect to local culture. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Tâm

Tony Kuschert*

Pride for your country is something most of us hold close to our hearts. Two recent incidents – one in HCM City and one in Đà Nẵng – have pushed Australia to the top of social media comment threads for all the wrong reasons. As an Australian living in Việt Nam, I have had to process this in an unusual way.

On 21 May this year, two men of Samoan nationality walked into a restaurant in HCM City, just a short walk from Bến Thành Market, and shot and killed Lemalu Lorenzo Tovia, an alleged senior figure within a Sydney criminal organisation. Also shot and seriously injured was Sauni Sam, who remains in hospital. The suspects – Joseph Vaa, 27, and Steve Tofa, 23 entered the country on fake passports and confessed to the killing, saying they had acted under orders from a crime boss based overseas.

Tovia is believed to have been the ringleader of the so-called 'Coconut Cartel', a breakaway Sydney syndicate which had declared open war on the rival Alameddine crime network – one of the most violent organised crime families in western Sydney. Gangs have been fighting over Sydney's drug market for many years, and the number of shootings and deaths is too large to count. But this was the first of these killings to land so publicly on Vietnamese soil.

In August 2024, Vincent Atulia, 24, and Andrew Colivas, 25, died under mysterious circumstances in Đà Nẵng. The Melbourne men had taken a last-minute trip to Việt Nam with a group of friends. Vietnamese police investigated possible drug overdoses. Further speculation in Australia linked the pair to Melbourne drug networks, though it was never proven. Their families remembered them simply as young men with much love and life ahead of them.

More recently, at the end of May, a young man from Perth created mayhem inside a Đà Nẵng café, causing thousands of dollars of damage in what many are suggesting was a mental health breakdown.

CCTV footage shows an Australian man causing damage at a cafe in Đà Nẵng. — Photo courtesy of the café

They are unmistakable signs that the culture of Australian drug gangs has migrated from the streets of Sydney and Melbourne into South-East Asia. Criminal organisations that show little respect for the law at home are now pushing their reach further afield – and that is a deeply troubling development for every decent, law-abiding Australian.

The Đà Nẵng café incident is an entirely different story. This man's social media posts in the days before the rampage clearly showed he was not in a sound state of mind. One post contained just three simple words: "I need help".

This speaks to a separate and pressing issue – access to emergency mental health support for expatriates. Having lived in Việt Nam for thirteen years, I know how difficult it can be for foreigners to access professional help in a genuine crisis. Walk-in services with English-speaking clinicians remain limited, and cultural and language barriers can make seeking help feel almost impossible for someone already in distress. One could reasonably conclude that this man's actions were connected, at least in part, to that failure.

There is no doubt he did the wrong thing. He endangered people and threatened the livelihood of a hard-working local business owner. But he is not a gang member and it appears his intentions were not to kill or harm anyone. There is a very significant difference between these incidents, and it would be wrong to put them in the same basket.

There is no evidence if this suspect indeed did have a long standing mental health issue, was suffering a temporary psychosis or had a violent outburst due to alcohol or other substances, but all commentary and reports give weight to him having had an issue over a number of days.

Australians are generally held in high regard in Việt Nam. We aim to be good people. Sometimes the actions of a few cast a shadow over the many – but those few are condemned just as strongly by most Australians as they are by anyone across South-East Asia.

Việt Nam is a beautiful country full of beautiful people. Visiting here means far more than a wild weekend in a shady bar. It means learning something, giving something and becoming a slightly better version of yourself – through shared meals, conversations and laughter that only happen when you truly connect with the Vietnamese people.

That is my pride. And that is my Việt Nam. — VNS

*Tony Kuschert is a freelancer, teacher and YouTuber living in the South of Việt Nam since 2013.