Thai Nguyen residents tended to perceive less risk of infection with HIV relative to Hanoi participants, but men in both groups were concerned about the risk of unprotected sex. Participants from Thai Nguyen reported little communication about sexual risk, which again was attributed to the lack of a connected MSM community. Thus, it appears that regardless of geographic location, having social connections with other MSM allowed men to talk about sexual risk, which in turn encouraged them to use HIV prevention materials.