 Ba Be lake in Bac Kan province |
B: Thank you all very much for sharing your thinking with VOV. Igor Kore of Russia sent an email to our German section thanking them for reporting interesting stories about life in Vietnam. He said he would be delighted to visit Vietnam when the COVID-19 pandemic is finally contained.
A: German listener Martina Pohl told us that the story about Ba Be Lake in our Discovery Vietnam segment was fantastic. She said she was surprised to learn that Vietnam is now the world’s 2nd largest garment exporter.
B: Maguy Roy of France said he saw our photos of Tra Su cajuput forest. He knows that in many countries cajuput oil is used as medicine, and wants to learn more about cajuput tree cultivation in Vietnam and about tiger balm.
 Tra Su cajuput forest |
A: Cajuput oil is very popular in Vietnam. Almost every Vietnamese family has medicated cajuput oil in their house. Tiger balm is the short name of White Tiger Balm, the most popular Vietnamese balm, but its ingredients do not include cajuput oil.
B: According to its label, it contains menthol, clove, essential oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptol, camphor, methyl salicylate, and cinnamon. It’s used for common cold symptoms like a runny nose, cough, sore throat, and bronchial congestion.
A: It’s very useful for relieving pains in muscles and joints, rheumatic problems and osteoarthritis, neuralgia, spinal pain, disc and back pain, and muscle tension, such as neck stiffness. People also use White Tiger Balm to relieve the pain of sports injuries such as sprains and bruises. It also relieves itching from insect bites.
 Vietnamese White Tiger Balm |
B: Another famous Vietnamese medicated balm, which contains cajuput oil, is Golden Star Balm or Cao Sao Vang. Both White Tiger Balm and Golden Star Balm are 5-star products on Amazon and eBay, where they are much more expensive than in Vietnam.
A: Golden Star Balm began mass production in the 1970s and became very popular in northern Vietnam. Many Vietnamese business travelers brought this balm with them to Eastern European countries to use or to give as a gift. The small round Golden Star Balm tins are now familiar to many Eastern European people.
 Golden Star Balm |
B: Loc Thuy commune in Thua Thien-Hue province is considered Vietnam’s cajuput hub. It has cultivated cajuput trees for centuries to extract the oil for its benefits in treating colds, headaches, and skin irritations.
A: Visitors to shops in Loc Thuy commune can watch people extract cajuput oil from leaves. Cajuput leaves are steamed in sealed barrels. The steam is drawn off through tubes into a cooling system where it condenses into an oily liquid, which is drained into a tank and cooled to room temperature. To produce one liter of oil, 400 kilograms of cajuput leaves are steamed for eight hours.
B: Visitors to Hue often bring home several bottles of cajuput extract to use or give as gifts. The popularity of Hue cajuput oil has spread to Laos and Thailand. In 2011 Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology began issuing certificates of origin for Thua Thien-Hue cajuput oil .
 A kiln for extracting cajuput oil (tinhdautramhue.com) |
A: Ratan Kumar Paul of India listened to VOV’s English program on August 7th on the frequency of 7220 khz. He said the signal quality was good, with a SINPO rating of all 4s. He asked: “Are there any Vietnamese living in Afghanistan? What is the situation there?”
B: The Vietnamese Embassy for Pakistan and Afghanistan says there are no Vietnamese citizens currently in Afghanistan.
A: Ambassador Nguyen Tien Phong says that, at the first reports of Taliban forces entering the capital city, the Embassy posted an advisory notice on its official website, and has been staying in contact with agencies in Afghanistan to seek information about any Vietnamese citizens it might not know about.
B: On August 3rd, the Embassy coordinated with relevant agencies to bring a Vietnamese citizen who has been working for a United Nations agency in Afghanistan back home safely.
A: VOV’s news bulletins and Current Affairs segment have been covering developments in Afghanistan. You can read those stories on our website at VOVWORLD.VN.
 Special vaccination vehicle inside Thaco factory (Photo: Thaco) |
B: Kim Somneang of Cambodia asked about special COVID-19 vaccination trucks made by Vietnam.
A: The vaccination trucks were made by THACO, a Vietnamese automobile manufacturer, who has donated to Vietnam’s Health Ministry 126 trucks for COVID-19 vaccine transport and mobile vaccination.
B: The vaccine trucks are assembled using technology transferred from the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation.
A: The truck is designed to expand by extending two wings with a canvas cover. It contains a freezer, an automatic disinfection system, oxygen tanks, bandages, and other medical equipment to promptly handle emergencies in a vaccination situation.
 Vaccination vehicle reaches small residential area. (Photo: Vnexpress) |
B: At the back end of the truck there are separate stairs for entering and exiting. Easy-to-clean stainless steel tables and chairs are fixed to the floor and can be folded up and re-opened by hand.
A: When it is fully expanded, the truck has a floor area of about 15m2, which is enough space for 4 tables and 8 benches where medical staff can sit and work. On the ceiling are lights adequate for working at night and 4 disinfecting sprayers.
B: The truck has its own electric generator, but can be connected to the public electrical power system to ensure enough electricity for extended operation.
 A special vaccination vehicle (Photo: Vnexpress) |
A: The truck’s equipment can be operated by remote control. Each province has been given a vaccination truck, which costs about 80,000 USD to build. Vaccination trucks are designed to reach people in remote, isolated, or locked down areas.
B: Thank you all for tuning in to VOV’s English broadcast and leaving your comments on our Facebook fanpage. We always welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVWorld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.vn. We have more fantastic stories and videos on our website at vovworld.vn. Thank you all. Stay safe and healthy. Goodbye.