Phuong Thao: Dung Thanh Lam's son, U60, drives a motorbike taxi for a living, unfortunately had an acciden.t.

Once a sought-after cai luong artist, Phuong Thao at the ag.e of 59 faces many difficulties, having to drive a motorbike taxi to make a living. She recently had an acciden.t.

Artist Phuong Thao is known as the daughter of artist Dung Thanh Lam and artist Thanh Hong, and is the half-sister of artist He Ti Ni. After her parents divorced, she was sent by teacher Ba Du to study at the Tran Huu Trang Theater's Cai Luong actor training class in the 1980s.

Phuong Thao studied in the same class with many famous artists such as: Kim Tu Long, To Chau, Thuy Trang... After graduating, the artist joined the Cultural Troupe, taking on the roles of the third female lead in many famous plays, including: The Moonlit Flute, Poisonou.s Flowers in the Garden, The Durian Tree Blossoms, The Lady of Ben Nghe, The Sound of Rach Gam Waves...

Despite being a "family member", Phuong Thao said that since childhood, she rarely had the opportunity to live with her father, artist Dung Thanh Lam. The cai luong singer said that when she was 7 years old, she spent one day a week with her grandfather, and the rest of the time she lived with her grandmother. When she was 9 years old, her father went abroad and offered to take his daughter with him. "At that time, because I loved my grandmother, I refused to go," Phuong Thao said.

After Phuong Thao married artist Chau Tam and gave birth to a son and a daughter, artist Dung Thanh Lam had the opportunity to visit. At that time, he also wanted his daughter to follow him abroad to avoid suffering. However, because she loved her husband and daughter and could not bear to leave her son (who was only a few months old at that time), she once again refused. "My father said that my fate was like that. My husband and children did not do anything wrong that I had to leave," the female artist recalled.

According to Phuong Thao, feeling sorry for his daughter's difficulties, artist Dung Thanh Lam sends mone.y home every month to help her cover her living expenses. "My father said that he rarely sings now, so every 2-3 months he sends home 100-200 USD to get by. Before he passed away, he sent me 500 USD. My son's personality is just like his father's," the female artist said about her father.

In 2008, artist Chu Tam passed away, Phuong Thao rented a small house of about 10 square meters to live with her two children and a grandchild. In 2021, the artist's family called for help when she was in critical condition due to Covid-19. Viet Huong took her to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases for timely treatment.

After contracting Covid-19, Phuong Thao's health has been deteriorating. The female artist has faced many diseases such as bloo.d pressure, cardiovascular disease, bone and joint diseases, gastric reflux... she has to take sleepin.g pill.s every night and often goes to the hospital 1-2 times a year for cardiovascular treatment.

In September 2024, the Ngu Long Du Ky group visited Phuong Thao's house and recorded moments of conversation with the female artist, making the audience feel sorry because after years of working in the arts, her life encountered many difficulties. Everything started when Phuong Thao's husband passed away.

At that time, she was 31 years old and chose to put her singing career on hold, doing various jobs to raise her two children. "At that time, my eldest son was just starting first grade, if I didn't quit, he would have dropped out of school. I did all sorts of jobs from housekeeping, trading... by the time I took care of my two children until university, I was already 'out of breath', old," Phuong Thao shared.

While chatting with the Ngu Long Du Ky group, the female artist recalled her time working and the times she sang with her father - the late artist Dung Thanh Lam. She still keeps many souvenir photos of her father when he was young. Although she has been away from the stage for many years, Phuong Thao still cherishes the affection of her colleagues and audience.

In April this year, the group of artists Phi Phung, Phuong Dung, and Thuy Muoi returned to visit the daughter of the late artist Dung Thanh Lam, but her life was still the same, not much better than half a year ago. The whole family still lived in a small rented house with no room for tables and chairs, only enough room for a small bed, right next to the bed was a kitchen, with almost no valuable furniture.

Meeting the Ngu Long Du Ky group again, Phuong Thao said that she had just had an acciden.t not long ago, quite serious. According to the artist, while she was on the road, someone cu.t in front of her car, causing her to be startled, so she braked suddenly and fell onto the road. The mother of two lay still on the ground, unable to sit up after the acciden.t.

"That day I borrowed my son's motorbike to drive a motorbike taxi. A regular customer asked me to take him to the market and gave me mone.y. I was riding my Honda when I had an acciden.t. I fell and hit my body, my ligaments were crushed, and my lungs were bruised. I was driving very slowly, but someone cu.t in front of my motorbike. I was startled, so I braked suddenly and fell onto the road," Phuong Thao said.

Currently, the female artist is still in pai.n, has a bloo.d clot in her lung, and a bruised ligament. "After that incident, I went to the hospital, the doctor gave me medicine for half a month but it didn't get any better. I think I have to go back for a check-up," she confided.

Phuong Thao also shared that she has been working for hire in many places. She does whatever people hire her to do. However, due to her poor health, Phuong Thao cannot find a job. She only occasionally drives a motorbike taxi for her neighbors to earn extra income. The artist revealed that she has many illnesses such as heart disease, high bloo.d pressure and colon... but still tries to take care of her two children. "Now I can't sing anymore, sometimes I can't even talk," she confided.

Regarding his current house, the artist shared: "This house is rented, I share it with another person. That person lives upstairs and I live downstairs with my two children. I have two children, a bo.y and a gir.l. My eldest son is a singer but sings in a group with someone else. My son sings very well but I don't want him to follow that career."

However, Phuong Tung - the son of artist Phuong Thao is still singing in a group at the Youth Cultural House in Ho Chi Minh City to earn extra income. "Many times when I was in need, my son had to ask around in many places. He hasn't thought about having a boyfriend yet because he wants to focus on taking care of his mother," the female artist said.

Phuong Thao confided: "My husband is Chau Tam, also a cai luong artist, who used to follow my father, but now he has passed away. I used to be the main actress for the Huong Mua Thu troupe, but now I have stopped singing. My health is very weak, I am sick all over the place. Before, I worked as a hired worker, doing whatever people hired me to do. But now because I am no longer healthy, no one hires me anymore, so I work as a motorbike taxi, taking my neighbors to the market to earn a little mone.y, but I just had an acciden.t, so now I have to stay home."

Sympathizing with the situation of artist Phuong Thao, the artists gave many gifts, medicine and mone.y. Also at the meeting, artist Phuong Thao’s son, singer Phuong Tung appeared and sang very well. The artists hoped that the show organizer would know about Phuong Thao’s son and invite him to sing.

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