I actually visited Vietnam in October, myself (Hanoi and Ha Long bay) and was amazed at what a beautiful country it is, how nice the people were and how CHEAP everything is. Dinners for 4 of us with bottles of beer and water would be $12 total. You can get spoiled in a hurry with that cost of living.
You are right on.
Expats from around the world have retired to:
Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Panama, etc., where you can live quite well on Social Security alone.