mrjonathanlam
Second Officer
Hong Kong
Offline
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Just finished a trip to Nha Trang via Cam Ranh airport. (March 2019)
On arrival, Cam Ranh airport's Vietnam customs confiscated my DJI Mavic Pro drone, verbally citing the need for a permit to fly a drone or flying camera. (This is slightly different to the previous rule where only commercial or large drones require a permit)
The Cam Ranh airport customs team then proceeded to ask for a "storage fee" of USD10 per day, which is fine if there is a clear sign or guideline on this. Upon further questioning by me, there isn't a guideline for this storage fee anywhere in the airport/customs area, nor will they provide any receipt of payment or acknowledgement of payment.
Not wishing to waste my time, I paid the total storage fee and the Vietnam customs took it and put it straight into their pockets - perhaps it's not a scam but it sure feels like it. I was able to collect the drone when flying out of Cam Ranh without any more payments, so that's the silver lining.
My recommendation is to not bring a drone into Vietnam unless you applied for a permit, which apparently is a pretty slow process, but can be done online.
Hope this is helpful.
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