Binh Thuan trip report (2023 edition)

Construction update on the Southeast coast of Vietnam. The weird building in a land corruption scandal, a mega-hotel on top of a sand dune, empty new urban developments, and the lost beach of Mui Ne.

Binh Thuan is a province I’m continually drawn to in Vietnam, probably because Phan Thiet is the closest beach city by train from Saigon. Binh Thuan is best known for the Mui Ne beach area, though it appears to have reached its international heyday.

On my most recent visit to Phan Thiet in April 2023, most of the foreign tourists were either kite surfers or overlanding backpackers who came to check out the dunes along the coast. Mui Ne used to be popular with Russian tourists, as the shops with Russian signs attest. Most Russian tourists now go to Nha Trang, where there are direct flights

There are some big plans for Phan Thiet and the Binh Thuan coastline. A new expressway from Saigon should cut the travel time down to (supposedly) two hours. A new airport will bring in new domestic tourists who might have otherwise gone to another beach. And one day, hopefully, maybe, there will be a high-speed railway station.

As if in anticipation of this potential influx of new visitors, the coastline is awash with new hotel and resort town projects. Many of them are already struggling, while some have been abandoned midway through construction.

Then there is the matter of coastal erosion, which has made the Phan Thiet-Mui Ne beach less appealing.

Here is my 2023 trip report for Phan Thiet and the Binh Thuan coastline.

Coastal erosion

I stayed on the beach of Phan Thiet for this trip and rented a motorbike to check out the rest of the coast. One thing I have noticed over the years is that Phan Thiet is losing its sandy beaches. There are giant sandbags that have been deployed on some sections of the beach, but it was hard to gauge how much sand had been lost. Only when you see a building like this kite surfing shack can you get an understanding of how much sand has been lost.

Most of the sand is now at the western end of the beach, presumably because the constant wind blows the sand there. Halfway down the beach towards Mui Ne, the beach disappears and there is now a seawall. I stayed around this area the first time I stayed in Mui Ne, and there was a small beach here with no sea wall. This walkway is a new addition since I last visited.

Summerland

Mui Ne Summerland is on top of the hill, a few kilometres from the beach of Phan Thiet (and nowhere near Mui Ne). This project ticks all the boxes of things I hate about these new urban developments that plague the coastline of Vietnam:

– Rows of identical shophouses

– Irregular street layout

– Observation Wheel

The Summerland website also loses points for having fireworks in its promotional images (it’s either fireworks or hot air balloons).

The observation wheel and fireworks are added as if what they are building isn’t interesting enough.

I have yet to see a project like this in Vietnam where a completely new development (that is not part of any established town) has been successful. I will come back if/when it is open and have a look around.

Here is my previous article on building better new cities in Southeast Asia.

The weirdest building in Phan Thiet is in the middle of a corruption scandal

The Rang Dong Seaside Town is a new urban development in Phan Thiet city, built on land that used to be a golf course. The land is right in the city centre and near the sea, so it is a prime location.

The developer (Rang Dong) is building their head office at the entrance to the new urban area. It looks like a Masonic Temple with hundreds of years of architectural styles mashed into one building.

This project is now in the middle of a corruption scandal. Some government officials are having their assets investigated by the Ministry of Public Security. Here is the original news story in Vietnamese.

What usually happens in cases like this is that someone in the government sells public land to a developer at below-market rate, and then they get a kickback from the developer. That way, the developer still pays less, and the official gets their ill-got gain.

Vietnam is in the midst of a corruption purge that is described as a ‘blazing furnace’, so I wonder how many more developments in Binh Thuan will be affected.

NovaWorld Phan Thiet

I’ve been watching NovaWorld Phan Thiet get built on my previous visits, and this time, some of the sections were open. NovaWorld Phan Thiet is a new urban area by the giant real estate company, Novaland.

Some of the shophouses are now open, so I stopped for a coffee. While I was having a coffee, I was scrolling through the news on Facebook, and I saw this link about how Novaland are offering deep discounts at the NovaWorld Phan Thiet mega project. I was at this empty cafe in an empty shopping area, wondering who was going to live and shop there.

Here is my full review of NovaWorld Phan Thiet.

Mandala Cham Bay Mui Ne

Mandala Cham Bay Mui Ne is one of the most inappropriate hotels I’ve seen in Vietnam (and there are many). The last time I checked in on this hotel, it was known as the Apec Mandala Wyndham Mui Ne. It’s not open yet, but it has already been entered into the databases of online booking agents. I can’t find an official link, so here is a link from its previous name to give an idea of what it is meant to look like.

As you ride along the coast, a gigantic block of towers emerges from the dunes. There is a small village nearby, but there is nothing around this hotel.

There appears to be a reception building on the road level, and then a switchback road that leads up the hill to the four towers.

At the road level, there is a platform on the beach cliff, and when I visited, they were still building the stairs down to the beach. It’s a cliff down to the beach, and the wild open coast reminds me somewhat of the Shipwreck Coast in Australia. It’s beautiful to look at, but probably not safe for swimming, especially in a land where child drowning is an epidemic.

I have so many questions about this hotel: Who is going to come here? How will the hundreds of guests (if it is full) get there? Where do the workers stay?

Transport

The future North-South high-speed railway project is nowhere near starting construction, so there is no speed improvement for the train to Phan Thiet in the near future.

The delayed expressway from Saigon to Phan Thiet was scheduled to open this month. I will forgo the train next time and try out a minivan to see if it really is two hours.

The Phan Thiet Airport was supposed to be opened by the end of 2022 as well, but I don’t think anyone here believes an opening date for a new airport. The most recent news update was vague about a specific opening date.