The difference between Japan/Korea/Taiwan and Hong Kong / Singapore is the diversity of people.

are you talking about the economy? or people? or political system??

Neither.

Comparing Singapore and Hongkong is like comparing between the sky and the ground.
Singapore: Chinese, Malay, Indian, (main) + Foreign workers (minor)
Hongkong: Honger, Mainland Chinese (main) + foreign workers (minor)

Singapore follows Hongkong style as both are similar which is not apply for Vietnam
Vietnam can become like Korea or Japan? I don't think so.
Vietnam can become like Taiwan? Possible

I thought Vietnam try to abandon Sino? We should try to be like Thailand

Like Japan/Korea/Taiwan

Thailand just starts to become more sinicised/ East asian voluntarily day by day and you just said let's jsut become like Thailand now?

Vietnam does not have much chance to be a diverse society like HongKong and Singapore.

Singapore and HongKong becomes like that due to history and certain fundamental settings.

In the past, Singapore and HongKong were busy trading ports.

As such, there were traders who settle there, to conduct business.

Some of them stay on.

This is also coupled to the fact that both were formerly colonized by Britain, and as such, adopted many British customs such as its laws and its English language. That is why even today foreigners of many different persuasions can somewhat be attracted or want to immigrate there.

Vietnam, on the other hand,

Does not have a history of being an international port.

It doesn't have a history of being a crossroad of trade and business.

There are no international merchants and traders, except for the Hoa community.

Also, it does not have the "right" credentials in terms of the language environment. The interchangability of French language (which are not even mastered widely by the population) and the Vietnamese language, is very low. It is forming as a cultural barrier. Meanwhile the general English language proficiency among the population, is also quite low.

However as Vietnam's economy develop, it is possible that it might attract subregional semi-informal semi-skilled migrants from the area.

We see now that Thailand is precisely in this condition.

In Bangkok and some other centres, there are Myanmarese workers and Lao workers.

So this is possible that it is a path that will be the case for Vietnam.

In any case, I do not believe that diversity is necessarily such a good thing. Of course it is a good thing if a country is able to attract highly-skilled specialized workers. But their numbers should be digestable and they should not interfere with the social fabric of a nation.

vietnamese are manufacturers so it will be more like china/japan/korea/taiwan. hong kong and singapore in the other hand are speculators.

Actually during the Han dynasty, Vietnam (or Northern Vietnam) was an international trading port with the West for few hundred years until China lost it and the trading port moved to Guang Xi during Tang dynasty (don't really remember, around 400-600AD)
Then later on, it was a trading port between Japan and the West during Le dynasty.
People immigrate to Hongkong and Singapore mostly because they like the lifestyle and weather there. Local people's able to speak English in an understandable level is also a plus.
Anyway, i feel that it's unfair to compare Vietnam with Hongkong or Singapore. Hongkong is a dual language country English/Cantonese (Mandarin replaces Cantonese nowadays) while Singapore is also dual language (English + Mandarin/Malay/Indian), Vietnam's official language is only 1 language. Besides, thanks to the environment. Most people in the 2 countries can speak a lot of languages (minimum 2 and the average is 3,4) while in Vietnam it's not easy to know and fluent in 2 languages, not talking about 3 (there are but very few people).

More and more workers in China demand higher payment. As a result many foreign companies are moving their factories and offices to Lao/Cambodia/Vietnam and i think it's a chance for Vietnam to develop its economy.


Thailand's entertainment industry is trying to become like Korea

Are you retarded or some problems with the head or you have NO head ???

Stop your stupid thinking, want Vietnam to be the nest of prostitution like thailand ? or a country influenced by Indosphere ? Remember that thailand has lived in peace in all last 100 years and see what they have ???! just Developing country with the sex industry center of Asia, so proud ? recently, Thailand has just been a new industrial country like Philippines (another useless country with peace long-time like Thailand), while Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore have been total rich countries many many years ago ! And tell me what similarity between Japan, Korea, Taiwan is ???

Also thailand is not a country with independent culture, they are a country influenced by a big culture, it's Hindu-Indian culture ! Look around and tell me a name of a Complete Developed Country with Indosphere in their culture ??? Maybe you can only answer this question in next 15-20 years !

Will Vietnam become more like Japan/Korea/Taiwan, or more like Hong Kong / Singapore?
Vietnam will move forward in it own way, its become neither Japanese, kor, taiwan, hong cong or sing. she'll become one of the greatest (economy) country.
btw,
Japan is a good friend of Vietnam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TslZAAkkbws

Vietnam urban showcase :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ZGoOPLy8c

Sex industry is just a side of it. Same for Japan with all the hentai and av. It's a part of tourism.
Singapore's Independence was in 1965. Japan went through WW2 and raised from empty hand + 2 nuclear bombs. Same for Korea after the Korea war.
Japan, Korea and Taiwan is in Sino-sphere and you can say they're really popular around the world from food, culture to entertainment.

Actually India is quite developed if you want me to have an example. It has its own Silicon Valley like the US one and they have a lot of skilled workers in the electronic zone. And I went to Thailand before as well as lived in Singapore (where you can experience Malay/Indian/Chinese cultures) so i know what i'm talking. Their culture is totally different. India has a lot of "cultures", not just Hindu by the way, and it's religion, not culture.

There's no such thing as complete developed country. Even for developed countries, they face a lot of problems.

Edited: I don't really like country stereotype but I don't think Thailand is a nest of prostitute. Same for when people say Vietnam is a place where you can find cheap wives and hookers. It's just not true.

I mean thailand cannot be a good sample for Vietnam, they're totally different, their culture also completely different.

Why I say that ? In the time of wars in Southeast Asia, thai people prevented war in their country by crouch under France, Japan, USA, they allowed all colonists to use their land to invade other countries (such as Vietnam and others)

Summary thai people always accepts to crouch under stronger others to get benefit. Today, in tourism, again they accept to develop on every way, Westerners come to thailand and want sex ? they provide sex excellently ! Gays want gays ? ok, no problem with thai, they also provide ladyboys very well and x..y..z...etc.... That is the thai lifestyles. Even though I don't negative they are friendly.

I strongly mean once talking about good samples for Vietnam, at least they should be Singapore or South Korea, but in fact I prefer Japan !

Had South Vietnam won the Vietnam War and not become a communist country, Vietnam would economically be like S.Korea, Japan, Taiwan. But instead, the vietnamese are now inefficient workers and economy is crap.

Had there been no trade embargo placed on viet nam, vietnam's economy would be a lot better. Relations between viet nam and the US have normalized, this normalization would be similar to the normalization you would see had south viet nam defeated north viet nam, so logically it was the trade embargo placed on viet nam that is the cause for vietnam's current economic state.

The OP asks "Will Vietnam become more like Japan/Korea/Taiwan, or more like Hong Kong / Singapore?"

Then he added the difference is diversity of the people.

Well, to Mr. Socal I say neither of the groups that you've lumped together. Vietnam will be the sum of those 2 groups and more. Currently the process of integrating ASEAN nations is progressing at an ever increasing speed. The ideal of a united Asia for the benefit of all as portrayed by Ōmoto's version of Pan-Asianism is inching ever closer to reality. Perhaps not the way it was originally intended to be but it is slowly transforming Asia and will have consequences far beyond the borders of the participating nations.

The only thing that we must factor in is the China variable. China has always been a separate entity, a unique world unto itself for millenniums and will remain so for millenniums to come. As for South East Asia, religion is an integral part of us. Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and many other belief-systems must be embraced and accepted. China cannot be a part of this. Religious institutions beyond the control of the state like what the Tibetans are demanding or what the Islamic factions in western China want or what Christian pastors of Taiwan and Hong Kong desire would inevitably be the demise of China. Henceforth China goes it alone. Very likely they will build bigger, longer and stronger Great Wall Of China 2.0 to keep us 'barbarians' away .

That's how I see it, if you agree or disagree you are welcome to spill your guts. Just keep it clean

Thailand is awesome.And thai people are great.You guys have no idea what you are talking about.

Of course... Vietnam has Confucian connection with Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc...

http://www.friesian.com/perigoku.htm

It's interesting how it uses they 5 elements concept. Maybe because Vietnam is fire and Japan is Wood, that why Japan invests a lot of money in Vietnam. Just kidding xD
Edited: I remember it's called Ngũ hành 五行. Earth shouldn't be in the center though. As it's a star formation.

If youre talking about the economy,my answer is no.