Ho Chi Minh City street vendors mapped via Google Maps project

A digital initiative titled ‘Gánh Mưu Sinh’ (Livelihood Stalls) has gained significant attention on social media by using Google Maps to locate elderly and disadvantaged street vendors in Ho Chi Minh City.

By pinning specific coordinates and using a unified search term, the project allows users to easily find small-scale vendors, such as dessert stalls, fruit stands, and traditional snack carts, that might otherwise go unnoticed. Notable locations included in the map feature elderly vendors, such as a 95-year-old fruit seller in Phu Lam and various traditional food stalls across different districts.

The project was initiated by D. L. T. T., a 32-year-old resident of Ho Chi Minh City. He explained that the idea stemmed from observing videos of elderly people struggling to make a living. To ensure accuracy without visiting every site personally, he researched recent social media reviews and videos to verify locations before adding them to the digital map. The initiative aims to bridge the gap between customers wishing to support these individuals and the vendors themselves using existing, free technology.