Uprooted by provincial merger in Vietnam, civil servants and families struggle to adjust.
By Ni Lin
Civil servant John Nguyen has been relocated to a new workplace under a national reform that reduces the number of provinces from 63 to 34 for better governance in Vietnam.
“I chose to work in the public sector because I wanted a stable life and time to take care of my family. But after the provincial merger, my life and the lives of my colleagues have been turned upside down,” Nguyen says.
The 50-year-old officer has spent his entire life in the Binh Phuoc Province, 120 km from Ho Chi Minh City, where he has worked as an official at the provincial People’s Committee for over 10 years.
The merger of Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai into a single new Dong Nai Province is part of a national reform. Nguyen only has three months to handle changes brought by the government policy.
Nguyen shares that he has to wake up at 3 a.m. to commute from his home in Binh Phuoc Province to his new office after spending a weekend at home with his family.
The shuttle operation began in July 2025. It is still ongoing. Each week, 32 buses transport about 1,400 provincial civil servants between Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai. The 90-kilometre trip takes about 120 minutes each way.
The father of two has moved to a place that is closer to his new workplace alone, leaving his wife and two young children, aged 13 and seven behind. He stays at his dormitory during weekdays.
“I can only move to the new location myself, leaving my family behind because of a tight budget. The government subsidy is not enough,” he says.
Nguyen points out that he is given a relocation subsidy of VND 8,000,000 (US $304) a month.
“To rent a flat for four and cover moving costs for my family, I need at least VND 250,000,000 (US $9,507). My monthly salary is VND 10,000,000 (US $380). I do not have enough savings,” he says.
“My children are 13 and seven years old. I have to pay for their school fees, food, and healthcare. My parents also depend on me. There is nothing left at the end of a month,” he shares.
His wife now runs the family alone. She works as an accountant, earning about VND 14,000,000 (US $532) per month. Since the couple are both working parents, the children must take a shuttle bus service to get to school, as nobody can drop them off.
The school bus service costs the family about VND 4,000,000 (US $154) per month – a quarter of their household income.
At his new workplace, Nguyen shares a dormitory room with five other colleagues.
They cook in a pantry in the office because there is no kitchen in their dormitory, and they have to do their laundry back home every weekend.
“I have no choice. I want to keep my job, but I feel like I don’t belong here. My quality of life is much worse than before because I can’t be with my loved ones,” he says.
The civil servants’ families are also badly affected by the relocation exercise.
Alice Tran, a high school student whose family has been relocated from Binh Phuoc to Dong Nai, is also struggling with her new school life.
“Every day, I go to class, and then I go home. I don’t really have friends here.
I do not get along with my schoolmates when doing group work. A few classmates even treat me differently because I’m the new girl,” the 16-year-old student says.
“They exclude me from casual conversations and make subtle remarks about my old school. I am not invited to join after-class activities either,” she says.
“I just message my friends to stay in touch with them. It’s the only thing that makes me feel better,” she adds.
A total of 52 provinces and cities are undergoing the restructure, affecting 937,935 people, including 37,447 managerial and leadership cadres, 130,705 civil servants, and 769,783 public servants.
Political journalist Rachel Le points out that the provincial merger has affected the lives of public servants, causing frustration among the public officers and their families.
“Government officers have to be relocated far from home. The new workplaces and accommodation are often worse than before,” she says.
“This creates a gap between professional expectations and the stressful reality, affecting their morale. When officials lack stability in their personal lives, they feel unsettled, and that anxiety affects their work,” she adds.
The journalist points out that the core of the issue lies in policy intentions that do not match up with real-life experience.
According to the 2022 SCOLI (The Spatial Cost of Living Index) report, while Binh Phuoc had the second-lowest living costs in the southeast region of Vietnam, the cost of living in Dong Nai is much higher.
“The cost of living, especially in newly formed central urban areas after the merger, is typically higher. So it is inevitable that they feel upset,” she says.
*Names changed at the request of interviewees
Edited by Flavia Zhou
Sub-edited by Swara Kamble
