The habits of autocracy die hard, even in the face of a booming tourist industry. Hanoi has just opened a new and wonderful terminal at its international airport, but the visa and immigration procedures are still steeped in the culture of the one-party state. Officials continue to nurse the suspicion that everyone who appears at the other side of their desks is trying to disrupt the smooth workings of the state. Best then to slow the process to a crawl and implant in the minds of the travellers that the official is there not to aid passage, but to say “no” if the mood takes.
