In his farewell speech, Thiệu said, "I resign, but I do not desert", but he fled to Taiwan on a C-118 transport plane five days later.
According to Morley Safer, the CIA was involved in the flight of Thiệu, his aides, and a "planeload of suitcases containing heavy metal", though it was revealed in 2015 by Tuổi Trẻ, a Vietnamese news source, that the "heavy metal", which was 16 tons of gold, was left behind and given to the Soviet Union from 1979 onwards.

He settled in London, having obtained a visa there as his son was studying at Eton College.
Thiệu kept a low profile, and in 1990 even the Foreign Office claimed to have no information on his whereabouts.
In the early 1990s, Thiệu took up residence in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where he lived reclusively.
He never produced an autobiography, rarely assented to interviews and shunned visitors.
Neighbours had little contact with him or knowledge of him, aside from seeing him walking his dog.
He did, however, appear in the 1980 documentary television mini-series Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, discussing his time as president of South Vietnam.

Thiệu's aversion to public appearances was attributed to a fear of hostility from South Vietnamese who believed that he failed them.
He acknowledged his compatriots' low esteem of his administration in a 1992 interview, but said, "You say that you blame me for the fall of South Vietnam, you criticize me, everything.
I let you do that.
I  [sic] like to see you do better than I." Thiệu continually predicted the demise of the Vietnamese Communist Party's grip on power and warned against the United States establishing diplomatic relations with the communist regime.
 (Relations between the U.S. and the communist regime in Hanoi were formally established in 1995.)
Thiệu said that when the communists were deposed and when "democracy is recovered" that he would return to his homeland, but their hold on Vietnam remained unchallenged during his lifetime.
He futilely offered to represent the refugee community in reconciliation talks with Hanoi to allow exiles to return home.

Thiệu was criticized by many opponents and historians, and appreciated by others.
The U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam, Ellsworth Bunker, told former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird about Thiệu: "He is an individual of very considerable intellectual capacity.
He made the decision in the beginning to follow the constitutional road, not to rule with a clique of generals, which many of them expected he would do.
He has been acting more and more like a politician, getting out into the country, following up on pacification, talking to people, seeing what they want."
The military historian Lewis Sorley suggests that Thiệu "was arguably a more honest and decent man than Lyndon Johnson, and – given the differences in their respective circumstances – quite likely a more effective president of his country."
In his farewell speech, Thiệu said, "I resign, but I do not desert", but he fled to Taiwan on a C-118 transport plane five days later. According to Morley Safer, the CIA was involved in the flight of Thiệu, his aides, and a "planeload of suitcases containing heavy metal", though it was revealed in 2015 by Tuổi Trẻ, a Vietnamese news source, that the "heavy metal", which was 16 tons of gold, was left behind and given to the Soviet Union from 1979 onwards.
He settled in London, having obtained a visa there as his son was studying at Eton College. Thiệu kept a low profile, and in 1990 even the Foreign Office claimed to have no information on his whereabouts. In the early 1990s, Thiệu took up residence in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where he lived reclusively. He never produced an autobiography, rarely assented to interviews and shunned visitors. Neighbours had little contact with him or knowledge of him, aside from seeing him walking his dog. He did, however, appear in the 1980 documentary television mini-series Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, discussing his time as president of South Vietnam.
Thiệu's aversion to public appearances was attributed to a fear of hostility from South Vietnamese who believed that he failed them. He acknowledged his compatriots' low esteem of his administration in a 1992 interview, but said, "You say that you blame me for the fall of South Vietnam, you criticize me, everything. I let you do that. I  [sic] like to see you do better than I." Thiệu continually predicted the demise of the Vietnamese Communist Party's grip on power and warned against the United States establishing diplomatic relations with the communist regime.  (Relations between the U.S. and the communist regime in Hanoi were formally established in 1995.) Thiệu said that when the communists were deposed and when "democracy is recovered" that he would return to his homeland, but their hold on Vietnam remained unchallenged during his lifetime. He futilely offered to represent the refugee community in reconciliation talks with Hanoi to allow exiles to return home.
Thiệu was criticized by many opponents and historians, and appreciated by others. The U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam, Ellsworth Bunker, told former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird about Thiệu: "He is an individual of very considerable intellectual capacity. He made the decision in the beginning to follow the constitutional road, not to rule with a clique of generals, which many of them expected he would do. He has been acting more and more like a politician, getting out into the country, following up on pacification, talking to people, seeing what they want." The military historian Lewis Sorley suggests that Thiệu "was arguably a more honest and decent man than Lyndon Johnson, and – given the differences in their respective circumstances – quite likely a more effective president of his country."
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu