When a Korean tourist’s elderly mother with memory loss went missing in the island city of Phu Quoc, panic quickly spread through the family. But thanks to the quick thinking and compassion of a local fruit shop owner, the story had a heartwarming ending.
On the evening of November 2, Hoàng Phương — who runs a small fruit shop on Tran Hung Dao Street — noticed a distressed Korean man rushing toward him. Unable to communicate directly due to the language barrier, the man used a translation app to explain that his mother had wandered off near Long Beach Mart and hadn’t returned.
Understanding the urgency, Phương immediately checked his shop’s security cameras. After scanning footage for about 20 minutes, he spotted an elderly woman with a walking stick passing by his store — the missing tourist’s mother.
Without hesitation, Phương jumped on his motorbike, taking the Korean tourist along as they searched the nearby streets. Familiar with the island’s layout, he navigated through several main roads, asking street vendors and shopkeepers for clues.
Two hours later, the pair found the elderly woman, exhausted but safe, walking alone about five kilometers away. The Korean man was overwhelmed with relief — nearly in tears — as he reunited with his mother.
Back at Phương’s shop, the man tried to give him 500 USD (around 13 million VND) as a token of gratitude, but the shop owner politely declined.
“Helping someone in trouble is just the right thing to do,” Phương said. “I wanted him to know that Vietnamese people are friendly and always willing to help visitors.”
The story quickly spread across Vietnamese social media, praised as a touching example of Vietnamese hospitality and kindness — values that continue to define the country’s tourism culture.
Phu Quoc has seen a surge in South Korean visitors in 2025, with more than 725,000 arrivals in the first half of the year, up nearly 40% year-on-year. Many travel with family, drawn by the island’s beaches, resorts, and relaxed pace of life — and now, stories like this one.
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Source: Vietnam Insider