Vietnam Clamping Down On Golfing Government Officials

Thanks to reader Chris for Ben Bland's story on the transport minister cracking down on government officials enjoying their golf a little too much during a down economy.

Dinh La Thang, Vietnam’s swashbuckling new transport minister, has the solution: banning officials from playing golf, even at the weekend.

The transport ministry said on its website that some senior officials were spending too much time on the putting green and, as a result, were under-performing at work during a difficult period for the Vietnamese economy.

Since the Communist government started to open up the economy in the late 1980s, golf has become increasingly popular with senior officials and businessmen in Vietnam, as in neighbouring China. Golf courses have sprung up across the country, raising concern about the rapid loss of agricultural land for developments that only benefit a handful of investors and well-heeled golfers.