Sex back on the menu in sultry former Saigon HANOI - Sex-related services are on the menu at over 75 percent of restaurants in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, an official daily reported on Friday. Saigon Giai Phong said that of the 401 officially registered restaurants in the city formerly called Saigon, 301 were a front for ``bia om'' (cuddle beer). Bia om can include everything from hand-holding to sexual intercourse. ``The Trade Services Office has withdrawn 96 (restaurant) licences and refused to grant permission to 17 other restaurants...which showed indications of being involving in unhealthy business,'' the paper said. Prostitution has boomed in communist-ruled Vietnam as the country has introduced reforms to allow the creation of a market-style economy. The problem is particularly noticeable in Ho Chi Minh City, although it is common throughout the country. In the southern city, sex is available in many bars, restaurants, massage parlours, hotels, karaoke spots, on pavements or from passing women and trans-sexuals cruising the streets on low-powered motorcycles. The authorities have vowed to clamp down on prostitution and other social evils and periodically stage well-publicised raids. Reuters - April 23, 1999.