Entering Vietnam is not always a quick and welcome process. Immigration procedures deserve a thick book and will not be described in this paper. Except normal customs regulations like limits of tobaco and alcohol, Vietnamese customs have some special features not common in many other countries.
Since November 2000 the customs and immigration forms have been combined into one. It makes more difficult for passengers than any convenient it could have brought.
Motorvehicles are not allowed to Vietnam without special permits. There was a time when motorbikes were allowed to be imported with passengers if they agreed to pay a 60% import duty. But those days were gone because even with 60% duty the owner still gets a hefty profit by selling the bike inside Vietnam.
Electronic goods are great targets for customs officers. TVs, video desk, video cameras, mini hifi are taxed at 40%. It is not 40% of the receipt but 40% from the reference list of prices approved by a minister. These prices have been taken from local market few months before it gets to the border. So they include all kinds of duty and taxes. For example a Panasonic mini hifi bought at $275 in Singapore may have a reference price of $375 in Vietnam. The customs officers than multiply $375 to 40% and ask for a tax of $150 which makes the hifi unit extremely expensive. Vietnamese passengers may argue that they are allowed to bring home $300 of duty free goods so the taxable amount is actually $75. That explaination works sometimes.
If a foreigner brings in a video camera it must be declared and taken out of the country again. In case a camera is given to a friend in Vietnam it will cost the foreigner a fortune if the customs check the old declaration.
It is not a surprise that 99% of foreign electronic goods and 60% of cigarettes sold in Vietnam are smuggled into the country. High duty is an excellent catalyst for smuggling.
Printed material in Vietnamese are very sensitive and may cause big troubles. It is better not to mention about CDs and video tapes.