Under Circular 26/2025/TT-BYT, a pharmacy may sell a drug that is not on the Ministry of Health's non-prescription list only to a buyer with a prescription. For night opening, Google Maps shows 24 hours every day at the Pharmacity at 59 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai.
The rule that decides what you can buy over the counter sits in Circular 26/2025/TT-BYT from the Ministry of Health. It takes effect from 01/07/2025.
c) Đối với thuốc không thuộc Danh mục thuốc không kê đơn do Bộ Y tế công bố, cơ sở bán lẻ thuốc chỉ được bán thuốc khi người mua có đơn thuốc theo quy định tại Thông tư này;
For a drug not on the Ministry of Health’s published list of non-prescription drugs, a retail pharmacy may sell it only when the buyer has a prescription issued under this Circular.
The quoted clause does not say which drugs are on that list. Narcotic drugs have their own rule: the pharmacy must sell them when there is an “N” prescription.
The circular sets different rules by type of drug and by type of illness. This table pulls the limits from the sections below into one place.
Situation
What the circular says
Drug not on the non-prescription list
A retail pharmacy sells it only when the buyer has a prescription
Narcotic drug
Sold against an “N” prescription; an acute illness is covered for no more than 7 days
Psychotropic drug or precursor
“H” prescription in 3 copies; acute illness up to 10 days, long treatment up to 30 days
Disease on the long-term list
Each drug may be prescribed for at most 90 days
Ordinary prescription
Each drug at most 30 days of use
Collecting the medicine
Within a maximum of 5 days from the date of the prescription
Patient with a passport
The prescription records the passport number, if the patient has one
The circular sets out what a prescription records. It records the patient’s personal ID number, citizen ID number, ID number or passport number, if the patient has one. This is why a pharmacist or doctor may ask a foreigner for a passport number.
For a child under 72 months, the prescription must give the child’s age in months, weight and the name of the person who brought the child.
For a drug with one active ingredient, it gives the international generic name, for example paracetamol 500mg. It may add the trade name in brackets after the generic name. For a drug with several active ingredients, or a medical biological product, it gives the trade name.
A prescription gives each drug for at most 30 days of use, except in the cases the circular sets out separately. For diseases on the circular’s long-term list, the prescriber may prescribe each drug for at most 90 days. A patient seen by several specialties in one visit gets one prescription.
The patient or the patient’s representative must collect the medicine within a maximum of 5 days from the date of the prescription. A patient expected to need medicine for 1 to 7 days after hospital discharge gets a prescription written in line with the inpatient record.
After the visit, the prescriber explains how to use the medicine and advises on diet and routine. The prescriber also advises on the best time limit for buying the medicine. A patient must tell the prescriber at once, or go to the nearest medical facility, if abnormal signs appear after using a medicine.
The prescription form has a field for the patient’s health insurance number, if any. The advice field covers diet, daily routine, the follow-up appointment and the best time limit for buying the medicine. The form also asks the patient to bring the prescription along for a follow-up visit.
The circular’s list of diseases allowing outpatient prescriptions beyond 30 days includes chronic hepatitis B, diabetes, underactive thyroid and breast cancer.
A prescription lists each drug’s name, strength, quantity or volume, dose, route, time of use and number of days of use. A quantity of fewer than 10 units is written with a 0 in front. The prescription also records the patient’s place of residence.
If the prescription lists a poisonous drug, that drug is written before the others. To change a drug, the prescriber writes a new prescription to replace the old one.
Under the circular, a doctor or assistant doctor with a practising certificate or licence has the authority to prescribe. The generic name on a single-ingredient drug is an international name such as paracetamol, and a drug with several active ingredients is written under its trade name.
A narcotic prescription for an acute illness covers no more than 7 days of medicine. The “N” narcotic prescription is made in 3 copies, one of which stays at the place that supplies or sells the medicine.
The “H” prescription for psychotropic drugs and precursors is made in 3 copies. For an acute illness, it covers no more than 10 days of medicine. For an illness needing long treatment, it covers no more than 30 days of medicine.
Narcotic prescriptions carry extra steps. The quantity is written in figures and then in words. The “N” form is used at facilities with inpatient beds.
One copy of the “N” prescription, with the stamp of the examining facility, stays at the place that supplies or sells the medicine. No stamp is needed when the prescribing facility sells it itself.
The prescriber has the patient or the patient’s representative write an undertaking on the use of narcotic drugs. It is made in 2 identical copies: 1 stays at the medical facility and 1 goes to the patient or representative.
A patient who does not use up narcotic or psychotropic medicine must destroy it or return it to the place that supplied it. The patient may not sell, give or reuse it.
For narcotic pain relief in cancer patients, each prescription covers at most 30 days, written as 3 consecutive treatment courses of no more than 10 days each.
For psychiatric and epilepsy patients, the patient’s representative or staff of the ward health station where the patient lives collects the medicine.
A retail pharmacy must take back narcotic, psychotropic and precursor drugs it sold that the patient did not use up, or where the patient died, and draw up a record.
An electronic prescription has the same legal value as a paper prescription.
An electronic prescription code is 14 characters long, made of digits and letters.
The last character shows the type: N narcotic, H psychotropic or precursor, C other. Hospitals must prescribe electronically before 01/10/2025. Other medical facilities must do so before 01/01/2026. A medical facility sends the electronic prescription, or its code, to the patient or the patient’s representative by electronic means.
Medicine counts as a personal, non-commercial import when it is in an arriving person’s luggage, or carried on the person, to treat that person’s own illness. The Government decree that implements the Pharmacy Law sets the limits.
No import licence is needed when the quantity stays within the following limits.
Type of medicine
Limit without a licence
Narcotic drug
Up to 7 days of use at the dose on the accompanying prescription
Psychotropic drug or precursor
Up to 10 days of use at the dose on the prescription
Other medicine
Up to 30 days of use at the dose on the prescription
Other medicine, by value
Customs value up to USD 200 per time, at most 3 receipts a year per person
A licence application needs a certified or signed copy of the prescription or outpatient record. It shows the patient’s name and age, the drug name and strength, the quantity or days of use, the dose, and the doctor’s name, signature and hospital or clinic address. Carry the prescription with the medicine, because the days-of-use limits are measured against the dose written on it.
The decree does not say how a foreign prescription is treated at a Nha Trang pharmacy. Circular 26/2025/TT-BYT only describes prescriptions issued under that circular.
Pharmacity at 59 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai — the 24-hour store
The Pharmacity on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street after dark.
Google Maps shows this Pharmacity open 24 hours on every day of the week, as of 12 October 2026. The Maps address is 59 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Nha Trang, and the phone number is +84 1800 6821.
Pharmacity’s own page of 24/7 stores, which shows no date, names this address first among its Khanh Hoa entries.
The signboard of the Pharmacity branch.Pharmacity, 59 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai (Nha Thuoc Pharmacity) 59 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa · Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)
Pharmacity at 154 Hung Vuong — 24/7 on Pharmacity’s page
The Pharmacity on Hung Vuong Street seen from the pavement.
The same Pharmacity page names 154 Hung Vuong, Nha Trang, as a second 24/7 store in Khanh Hoa. Google Maps also shows 154 Hung Vuong open 24 hours daily. The Maps address is 154 Hung Vuong, Nha Trang 57106.
That Pharmacity page shows no date, so check the store’s hours before a late trip.
Hours below come from Google Maps listings checked on 12 October 2026. Phone numbers on those listings: Thanh An Pharmacy +84 258 7301 688; MIA Pharmacy +84 258 3556 686. Nina Pharmacy is +84 796 806 760, PrimeCare Pharmacy +84 916 130 300 and UPharma +84 904 535 177.
Pharmacy
Address
Hours
Nina Pharmacy
90A Hong Bang
6:30 AM–3 AM daily
Pharmacity
71 Ngo Gia Tu
6 AM–11:30 PM (Tuesday 6 AM–11 PM)
Pharmacity
30 Thong Nhat
6 AM–11 PM daily
Thanh An Pharmacy
112 Hoang Hoa Tham
7 AM–10:30 PM daily
MIA Pharmacy
27 Le Thanh Ton
7 AM–11 PM daily
Han Pharmacy
23 Nguyen Chanh
6:30 AM–11 PM daily
UPharma
86 Phan Boi Chau
6:30 AM–10 PM daily
PrimeCare Pharmacy
Gold Coast Mall, 4 Tran Hung Dao
9 AM–10 PM daily
The MIA Pharmacy shopfront on Le Thanh Ton Street.Medicine shelves inside MIA Pharmacy.
For anything after 11:30 PM, the two 24-hour Pharmacity stores are the options with 24-hour hours on Google Maps. Nina Pharmacy shows a 3 AM close every day on Google Maps.
Pharmacity’s home page shows the hotline 1800 6821. It offers a Contact a pharmacist link, a Find a pharmacy link, a medicine reminder feature and an app download.
Hospitals sell medicine on site. Vinmec Nha Trang lists a pharmacy among its divisions. At Tam Tri Nha Trang, the outpatient visit ends with medicine collected at the pharmacy on floor 1. For hospital hours, see hospitals in Nha Trang for foreigners.
For a medical emergency, the Khanh Hoa police portal describes 115 as the number. Khanh Hoa also set up a 24/24 tourist hotline, *2258 from a mobile phone.
Not confirmed: The quoted clause does not name the drugs on the non-prescription list, so ask the pharmacist whether a given drug needs a prescription. Overnight opening at Long Chau or An Khang stores and at hospital pharmacies is not confirmed.
Common questions
Do I need a prescription to buy medicine in Nha Trang?
For any drug not on the Ministry of Health's published non-prescription list, a retail pharmacy may sell it only when the buyer has a prescription.
Which pharmacy in Nha Trang is open overnight?
Google Maps shows the Pharmacity at 59 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai open 24 hours every day, checked 12 October 2026.
What are the opening hours of the other pharmacies?
The Pharmacity at 30 Thong Nhat shows 6 AM–11 PM daily. MIA Pharmacy shows 7 AM–11 PM daily.
Can a pharmacy sell narcotic drugs?
A retail pharmacy selling narcotic drugs must sell them to a patient when there is an "N" prescription.
How many days of medicine can one prescription cover?
Each drug is prescribed for at most 30 days of use, except in the cases the circular sets out separately. For diseases on the circular's long-term list, the limit is 90 days.
How long do I have to collect prescribed medicine?
The patient or the patient's representative must collect the medicine within a maximum of 5 days from the date of the prescription.
Will a prescription show my passport number?
A prescription records the patient's personal ID number, citizen ID number, ID number or passport number, if the patient has one.
How is a drug named on a prescription?
For a drug with one active ingredient, the prescription gives the international generic name, for example paracetamol 500mg. A drug with several active ingredients is written under its trade name.
What happens to leftover narcotic or psychotropic medicine?
The patient must destroy it or return it to the place that supplied it, and may not sell, give or reuse it.
Is an electronic prescription valid at a pharmacy?
An electronic prescription has the same legal value as a paper prescription.
General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.
