Phu Quoc Prison (Cay Dua Prison) was ranked as a national monument in 1993. Phu Quoc Prison annually welcomes more than 10 thousand visitors because of the horrifying stories about 40 brutal tortures or the most thrilling prison breaks in the history of the Vietnam War.
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General information about Phu Quoc Prison
Address: 350 Nguyen Van Cu, An Thoi Commune, Phu Quoc District, Kien Giang Province. Phu Quoc Prison is located on Provincial Road 46, 2km from Bai Khem tourist area, 28km from Duong Dong town center to the South.
Opening hours:
– Morning: 8:00 – 11:30
– Afternoon: 11:30 – 17:00
The largest prison in Southeast Asia
In 1949, when the Chinese Nationalist army was defeated by the People’s Liberation Army of China, Huang Chieh, a general of Hunan province, led more than 30,000 troops to flee to Vietnam, which was then stationed in the south of Phu Quoc island by the French. Then, in 1953, they returned to Taiwan to follow Chiang Kai-shek. They left their houses and plantations behind, so the French colonialists took advantage of the available houses to set up a prison of about 40 hectares called Cay Dua (Coconut Tree) Camp and divided into 4 areas A, B, C, D.
This place was extremely strictly guarded, surrounded by barbed wire fences, with security lights above. The guard towers and patrolling soldiers were fully equipped with guns.
By April 1954, the prison had about fourteen thousand prisoners, mostly men. Under the brutal torture of the French colonialists, 99 communist soldiers were sacrificed.
After the Geneva Agreement in July 1954, France returned the management of the prison to Vietnam. It seemed that the stories of war had ended, but no, the Cay Dua prison entered a new nightmare, more brutal and horrifying.
Cay Dua Prison during the US-puppet period
After handing over management to the Vietnamese government, at the end of 1955, a new prison was built in the old Cay Dua prison with an area of about 4 hectares, divided into male, female, and elderly areas.
When the Vietnam War escalated, the number of prisoners of war and political prisoners increased, the prison was over 400 hectares wide with nearly 500 houses, divided into 12 areas (each area had 2 sub-areas) and 10 zones (each area had 4 sub-areas named in order A, B, C, D). Each camp could accommodate about 3,000 prisoners. Surrounding each sub-area were 4 guard posts on guard 24/24 hours and 10 mobile guard posts. The camp was surrounded by nearly 10 layers of barbed wire.
Here, more than 4,000 revolutionary soldiers fell and tens of thousands of communist cadres and soldiers overcame death, continuing to fight until the victory day of April 30, 1975.
Visiting time and entrance fee
Actually, you can visit Phu Quoc Prison at any time of the day, but if you come during lunch break, the tour guide service at the site will not be available. If you want to freely explore and learn, this is not a problem, but if you want to hear about stories that not everyone knows, don’t miss this service.
Phu Quoc Prison historical relic is completely free of entrance fees. The cost for the tour guide service at the site is about 100,000 VND to 200,000 VND. The tour guide service is not required, so you can skip it if you don’t need it, there are annotation boards at each subdivision.
Note on clothing: because it is a historical and solemn place to visit, please dress politely and avoid wearing offensive clothes.
Exploring Phu Quoc Prison (Cay Dua Prison)
Phu Quoc Prison is a vivid historical evidence of a fierce war period in Vietnam. It once held more than 32,000 prisoners over many periods. From a prison with a scale of nearly 500 cells, Phu Quoc Prison now has only 4 cells with the original door frames and stone foundations, the rest are restored to serve visitors to feel and visualize most realistically what happened in the past. Regardless of whether the display area is indoors or outdoors, the original artifacts are still preserved and their locations are almost unchanged.
When visiting Phu Quoc Prison, you will have the opportunity to learn more about a historical period with human models reenacting scenes of torture and bondage. Inside the relic site, there is also a gallery displaying some historical images and documents. Around the prison, there are many traces of the old prison break simulation.
Inside Phu Quoc Prison, there are prominent tourist attractions:
Subdivision B2
Subdivision B2 is where the interior of Phu Quoc prison in the past is recreated with mannequins of prisoners and soldiers.
You will feel like you are reliving historical moments when you see, hear, and feel the physical and mental pain of the prisoners of the past.
Barbed wire tiger cage
The first punishment that communist prisoners of war had to endure was the “tiger cage”. The “tiger cages” were placed outdoors with sharp barbed wire. Prisoners were locked in there, stripped of all their clothes, only allowed to wear a pair of thin pants, and exposed to the sun and dew.
The “tiger cages” were designed to be narrow, with many layers of barbed wire, so that if a prisoner moved or changed position, the barbed wire would pierce their bodies and cause bleeding. In the “tiger cages”, prisoners were only allowed to eat a little rice with salt or bland rice, and were only given 1-2 cups of drinking water each day, and had to defecate and urinate on the spot.
Opposite the “tiger cages” were 10-15 layers of barbed wire fences with a dense electric lighting system surrounding each housing area. The prison guards and hunting dogs, at their peak, amounted to four battalions of mobile soldiers, guarding and patrolling day and night.
Solitary confinement room
The solitary confinement room is a place that simulates the torture punishments for prisoners held at Phu Quoc Prison. It also vividly recreates the image of Vietnamese prisoners digging tunnels through the camp to escape from the “hell on earth”.
After the Paris Agreement was signed in 1973, Phu Quoc Prison was disbanded and prisoners were returned. This is no longer a place to detain prisoners but has become a historical site used to commemorate and serve tourists. Vietdreamtravel.vn hopes you have unforgettable emotional experiences at the “hell on earth” at sea!
Source: collected by An
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