Why id Vietnam called boat people?

Answer 1

Because the South Vietnamese immigrated to Canada, Australia, America, etc. by boats. However, many their vessels were actually small ships...similar to today's all steel commerical fishing vessels, etc.

What's interesting, is that Columbus's SHIPS; Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta were wooden ships about 80' or less in length, definitely BOATS by today's standards, but are called SHIPS by historians.

The Pilgrams, when they landed in America in 1620, were on the wooden ship named "Mayflower", a vessel of about 80' in length. Great Britain's mighty wooden warship (still preserved today in the UK) is the HMS Victory, her wooden hull is roughly 186' in length. But she's classified as a ship.

The Vietnamese navigated across the oceans to their new lands; but every vessel has been called a boat. Probably three reasons for this:

1. Modern steel navies normally consider (at least during WWII) anything under 200' in length to be a boat; a vessel that can be carried aboard a larger ship.

2. Boat people sounds safer and easier to pronounce than "Ship People"; which could easily be mis-spoken as something else.

3. In America, the term, "...just got off the boat, eh?" Has been a common phrase for decades. And this term, was referring to an Ocean Liner, like the "Titanic."