In the late 1950s, Czechoslovakia and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the northern part of divided Vietnam) signed cooperation agreements under which Vietnamese students and apprentices came to Czechoslovakia. This system continued until the late 1980s. Vietnam mainly sent young people aged 17 to 25, who spent three to four years in Czechoslovakia. They were required to observe very strict discipline. The number of Vietnamese was at its highest between 1980 and 1983, when around 30,000 lived in Czechoslovakia. Employing Vietnamese workers was generally advantageous for companies, which covered their wages, accommodation, and meals, but they were known as diligent and reliable employees.
After 1989, many Vietnamese sought ways to remain in Czechoslovakia (and, from 1993, in the Czech Republic). One possibility was to start a business in partnership with a Czech citizen, which provided a route to obtaining residence permits.
Wives and children began arriving to join men already settled, and new migrants also came from among Vietnamese who had previously worked in East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, as well as directly from Vietnam itself. From the early 1990s onwards, the Vietnamese began focusing primarily on trade, establishing shops selling various goods throughout the country. Vietnamese late opening convenience stores became a familiar feature of most Czech towns.
In the Karlovy Vary region, the Vietnamese community first developed its commercial activities in areas near the Czech–German border, such as Potůčky, Abertamy, Horní Blatná, and Nejdek. Later, many moved their businesses to Karlovy Vary, particularly to the Tuhnice and Rybáře districts, where in 2014 the Vietnamese community opened a Buddhist cultural centre, reflecting the fact that most Vietnamese are Buddhists.
They celebrate a variety of festivals together, and maintaining strong family ties and an emphasis on education for the younger generation are of great importance. The Vietnamese community develops most of its activities within its own cultural framework.
According to the 2021 census, 3,282 people of Vietnamese nationality lived in the Karlovy Vary region, including 1,124 in the Karlovy Vary district, representing 1% of the total population.