When you want to protest against high toll fees charged by a BOT project, what do you do?

Typically, you refuse to pay it.

The residents of Nghi Xuan and neighbouring districts are doing the opposite.

They are protesting by paying the toll.

Yesterday morning, about 100 cars drove slowly from the Gia Lach Intersection in Ha Tinh Province’s Nghi Xuan District to Vinh City Bypass.

When they reached the Ben Thuy 2 Toll Station, they stopped to pay up, but it took an inordinately long time for the station’s staff to let each car through, and it clogged up the bypass and National Highway 1A.

Each person was paying the VNĐ40,000 (US$1.8) fee in denominations of VNĐ500 and VNĐ200. 

This meant the tolling booth staff had to count out 80 to 200 notes each time.

The protestors have won the admiration of many for a smart, legal protest that has drawn sympathetic attention and forced authorities to take serious note by using small notes. 

VNS