“My name is Huynh Ngoc Vu. I am a South Korean speaking tour guide in Da Nang. I am writing this letter to express my sincere thanks to staff of the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches for returning lost property to my tourists. In particular, from December 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018, I was in charge of taking a group of South Korean visitors to visit Da Nang. During their visit to local beaches, two of my foreign tourists dropped two cell phones and one bank card. Luckily, a staff employee of the Management Board picked them up and returned them back. On behalf of my two South Korean tourists, I would like to thank the officials and staff of the Management Board for their enthusiastic support and returning the lost property to our tourists”.

It is one of dozens of thank-you letters which have been sent to the Beach Tourism Security Management Team under the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches over the past 5 years. In addition to patrolling and ensuring security and order on local beaches, team members have sometimes found dropped items and returned them to their owners.

Mr. Le Hong Khanh (first right) and Mr Tran Van Cong (centre) receiving Certificates of Merit from a representative from the Da Nang Department of Tourism for returning valuable property to tourists in 2019. (Photo courtesy of characters)

1. By finding dropped property and returning them to their owners for 8 times, Mr. Le Van Huong, a member of the group No 2 of the Beach Tourism Security Management Team, is likened to a person having a predestined relationship with dropped items.

The man often finds property like cell phones, handbags, cash, etc. dropped by tourists on beaches whilst performing his duty there.

In August 2018 alone, he found dropped property for three times with a total value of nearly VND100 million. Last year, he also three times returned the property, valued at more than VND 50 million in total, dropped on Man Thai and T18 beaches, and Lang Ong Temple, to their owners.

Mr. Huong said that, every time he finds dropped property, he immediately reports the case and hands it over to the Management Board, as well as posts the property-related information on his own Facebook page and social networking sites to soon connect with owners. Thanks to this, in many cases, dropped property owners quickly grasp the information and contact him to get the property back.

Over the past decade, Mr. Huong has received many thank you letters from tourists. As an illustration, in 2019, Mr Hyun Sook Kwak from South Korea lost iPhone XS and Samsung Galaxy S10 cell phones, and some cash, during his visit to the My Khe Beach in Ngu Hanh Son District’s My An Ward. The total value of the lost property was estimated at nearly 50 million VND.

After having his lost property found and returned, the South Korean tourist sent a letter to the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches to thank Mr Huong and his teammate Trinh for helping him fully retrieve his lost property. Following was the full text of the thank you letter: “My name is Hyun Sook Kwak. I'm from Korea. I want to thank you to Phan Thanh Trinh and Le Van Huong. They give back my cellphone. I'm really happy. Thank you so much”.

Another time, Mr. Sysawa Khotmany from Laos was also extremely touched to receive his property, totalling around VND30 million, which dropped on the Nguyen Van Thoai Beach, back from Mr Huong.

Explaining his actions, Mr. Huong expressed his hope that he wanted every tourist to feel Da Nang as safe and friendly.

2. Not only Mr. Le Van Huong, but most of officials and employees of the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches think that it is a common thing for them to find dropped items and return them to their owners. For most of employees of the Management Board, there's no reason why they shouldn't do good deeds to contribute to building Da Nang into a friendly, safe and civilised destination for tourists.

Talking about the time they found VND45 million dropped on the Ban Co Peak (Chess Board Peak) whilst conducting their patrols on the Son Tra Peninsula, Tran Van Cong and Le Hong Khanh, both members of the Beach Tourism Security Management Team, said that the amount was equivalent to 9 months' salary of each person, but not because of that they put it in their pockets.

“At around 10:00am on May 13, 2019, Khanh and I found a handbag dropped on the Ban Co Peak (Chess Board Peak) when performing our duty on the Son Tra Peninsula. Following personal information in the handbag, we quickly contacted Mrs. Pham Thi Minh Nguyet, a visitor from Ha Noi’s Gia Lam District, to return the handbag”, recalled Mr. Cong.

Meanwhile, Hoang Xuan Vinh, a resident of Thanh Khe District, was very confused at dropping his Iphone 6 on the Son Tra Peninsula because the phone contained a lot of his personal data.

"Fortunately, when I thought I had really lost my phone, I heard that Mr. Dang Kim Hoang, who worked for the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beach found my phone, so I contacted him to ask for it again" said Vinh.

It was also the first time that Mr. Dang Kim Hoang had picked up a drop, so in accordance with the process, he sent property-related information and pictures to the Management Board. Immediately, the image of the phone was shared by a member of the Management Board on the Facebook page 'Da Nang Urban Management: Comfort - Green - Clean -Beautiful' with the purpose of seeking property owner.

Thanks to this spread, less than an hour later, Mr. Hoang Xuan Vinh, the owner of the phone, had his lost property returned.

3. Every day, 70 members of the Beach Tourism Security Management Team under the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches are divided into three shifts and perform the task of conducting patrols at their assigned areas.

Team leader Nguyen Hong Van remarked, over the past five years, team members have found 37 dropped items, with a total value of more than VND1 billion, and returned them to their owners, most of which belonged to tourists.

“We always think that the civilised behaviour of each team member will contribute to advertising Da Nang as a secure city in the eyes of both residents and visitors” added Mr. Van.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Vu, Head of the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches, noted that every gesture and action of staff of the Management Board represent the city’s tourism environment.

Aside from returning dropped property to owners, during the tourism peak season and summer days, the Management Board, on average, receives and handles 15-20 cases of elderly people and children straying on the beach every day. In addition, staff of the Management Board coordinate with the police to investigate, track and detect dozens of theft cases.

The Management Board always honours and presents rewards to employees with every good gesture and action in order to encourage them to continue doing more good deeds in the time to come, and setting good examples for others to follow.

Reporting by TIEU YEN - Translating by M.DUNG