Understanding changes in precipitation extremes is critical for designing mitigation measures for the potential implications of a warming climate. This study assessed changes in the magnitude and frequency of precipitation extremes over Vietnam using high-quality gridded daily precipitation observations from 1980 to 2010. The annual maxima precipitation was analyzed to detect historical changes in the magnitude of precipitation extremes, while the number of heavy precipitation events, defined using the peak-over-threshold approach, was used to assess changes in the frequency of precipitation extremes. We found a strong signal of changes in the frequency of heavy precipitation, with 28.3% of Vietnam’s landmass exhibiting significant increasing trends. The magnitude of annual maxima precipitation shows a mixed pattern of changes, with less than 10% of Vietnam’s landmass exhibiting significant (both increasing and decreasing) trends. To identify possible mechanisms driving changes in precipitation, we assessed the relationship between inter-annual variations in precipitation extremes and climate variability represented by the teleconnection patterns of the Northern Hemisphere. Using five climate indices, we found that teleconnections across the Indian and Pacific Oceans have implied large control over the characteristics of precipitation extremes across Vietnam, with up to 30% of Vietnam’s landmass exhibiting a significant relationship.