Di tích lịch sử Nhà tù Phú Quốc

Where tens of thousands were once held

The Special National Historic Site of the Phú Quốc Prison Camp, also known as Nhà tù Phú Quốc (Phú Quốc Prison) or Nhà lao Cây Dừa (Coconut Tree Prison), lies in An Thới ward in the south of the island. The story of this place begins in 1953, when the French built a prison here. It operated from June 1953 to July 1954 and held about 14,000 people.

In late 1955, the Republic of Việt Nam government built a camp of about 4 ha on the site of the old Cây Dừa prison, called the Cây Dừa Re-education Camp (Trại huấn chính Cây Dừa). The prisoner-of-war camp was later built on that foundation: it stretched about 3.5 km from Dốc Cô Sáu to Cầu Sấu, with 12 detention sub-zones and a command headquarters area.

What remains

Today the protected area covers 8.5 ha. The original traces that remain include the prisoners' cemetery, Kiến Văn church, the gates of Military Police Battalions 7 and 8, zone B2 and the command house, and the Đồi Sim memorial. The exhibition area holds small original artefacts: tools the prisoners made themselves, hastily improvised communication devices and handwritten letters. Some of the tiger cages are still kept in their original positions.

A special national monument

In 1993 the site was recognised as a national monument under Decision 1430-QĐ/BT. On 31 December 2014, the Prime Minister raised it to a special national monument under Decision 2408/QĐ-TTg. The site receives about 600,000 visits a year.

Since 1997 the site has been through two rounds of restoration and enhancement, at a total cost of VND 43.127 billion. Kiên Giang province also set aside about VND 50 billion for 2021–2025 to reconstruct sub-zone B2 and to restore the Đồi Sim memorial, the prisoners' cemetery and Kiến Văn church.