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Phu Quoc construction report 2021 – The biggest leisure development site in Southeast Asia

May 11, 2021 By James Clark 9 Comments

Phu Quoc construction report 2021

The island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam has gone through an unprecedented decade of growth, with the government intent on turning this once sleepy island into a “sleepless city”. I say unprecedented because I have never seen anywhere in Southeast Asia that compares to what is going on here (Sihanoukville in Cambodia would be the most comparable). One report says there are 372 projects with capital totalling approximately 16.5 billion USD.

Ong Lang Beach
[Ong Lang Beach stills evokes the old sleepy Phu Quoc days.]

My first visited Phu Quoc in 2015, and even then there were signs that big things were coming. Since then, I’ve kept hearing reports of Phu Quoc’s breakneck speed of development, along with the problems that go with such rapid over-development.

Construction workers in Phu Quoc
[Construction workers in Phu Quoc.]

It had been six years since I last visited, so I went back to Phu Quoc in March/April 2021 to see what is happening for myself. I had a list of projects to visit, but nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see.

To get a general overview of what is being built here, I’ve prepared a master list at Future Phu Quoc. This is a complete directory of every major development (under construction and completed), and it will be updated as needed.

This report is filed under the Construction Updates category, and it’s posted as a historical snapshot of construction at the time of my visit in 2021.

I’ve grouped projects into geographical regions rather than using official ward names, using the same format as the Future Phu Quoc post.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe to the newsletter to keep updated on construction and infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

Northwest Phu Quoc

The northwest of Phu Quoc is dominated by the Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup. There are several projects here that are grouped together under the name Phu Quoc United Center.

This part of the island has only recently been developed, and the main road was still being been widened and upgraded when I visited.

Road works at Vin

Coming from the south, the Vingroup projects begin with Grand World Phu Quoc. There is a row of shophouses that announce that you have arrived, and as we will soon discover in the rest of this article, these are just a few of the hundreds of new shophouses in Phu Quoc.

Grandworld Shophouses

Behind the shophouses is a road that leads to the beach, and another road that goes through a forest (a reminder of what used to be here). The road to the beach will be lined with hotels, and the first hotel here is Vinholidays 1 Phu Quoc. This was open for business, and I saw people checking in when I went by. It’s listed as Vinholidays Fiesta Phu Quoc (a 4-star hotel) on hotel booking sites.

Vinholidays 1 Phu Quoc

Next door is Vinholidays 2 Phu Quoc.

Vinholidays 2 Phu Quoc

These two hotels were surrounded by massive tracts of empty land that has yet to be developed.

Grandworld construction site

As this is still a work in progress, there were workers everywhere.

Workers at Grandworld

The golden building here is the Teddy Bear Museum.

Teddy Bear Museum

At the entrance to Grand World is a park with all kinds of Instagrammable art installations.

Big heads at Grand World Park

The main feature of Grand World is a Venetian canal lined with colourful shophouses.

Canal bridge

And a grand bridge to go with the grand canal.

Venetian Bridge

There will also be Venetian-style gondola rides.

Venetian gondolas at Grand World Phu Quoc

The shophouses are in a variety of architectural styles and colour palettes, of which I do not know where they derived their inspiration.

New shops

Shophouses. Shophouses everywhere.

Grand World shophouses

These photos were 3 weeks before Phu Quoc United Center opened. I was one of the only civilians walking around, with most people here being workers adding finishing touches.

Phu Quoc United Center officially opened on 24 April, and it is being promoted as Vietnam’s first-ever ‘sleepless city’. The sleepless aspect refers the night market (NightZone 68), open from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am daily.

Shophouses museum view

There are some non-Vin operations within the United Center area that was already open, such as the Corona Casino and Radisson Blu Resort Phu Quoc.

Corona Casino

Next to the casino is the Almaz Phu Quoc. This is an international food court, and it was also in the final stages of construction when I visited.

Almaz Phu Quoc

Back on my bike, I headed up to the Vinwonders theme park. The park is bordered by these medieval-style shophouses.

Half-timbered shophouses

The street of the main entrance to Vinwonders has more shophouses and mini castles. These are all new, and there were no shops with any businesses when I visited. Real estate websites are advertising them as Fairy Town VinWonders Phu Quoc.

Vinwonders castle shops

The Fairy Town shophouses form a square in front of the Disneyesque entrance to Vinwonders.

Vinwonders

Vingroup is Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, with interests in real estate, mobile phones (Vsmart), and cars (Vinfast), among others. It also has its own hospital brand (Vinmec), and they have established a Vinmec next to the Vinwonders theme park.

Vinmec Hospital

Duong Dong

Duong Dong is the main town of Phu Quoc, and up until recently, it was the capital of Phu Quoc. It’s a typical Vietnamese fishing port that has been left mostly unscathed from tourism development. Not having a large beachfront has kept the developers at bay.

In January 2021 Phu Quoc was upgraded to city status, so technically the island is now Phu Quoc City, and Duong Dong is a ward within the city. If Phu Quoc keeps growing then it could feasibly become one of the municipalities of Vietnam, which is a city separate from any province.

In Duong Dong there is a new urban area called Bac Duong Dong (North Duong Dong) that appears to have started.

Bac Duong Dong

A new pier is being built here that can accommodate cruise ships. It was meant to be finished in 2017, but they were still working on it when I visited. At the pier construction site was this image of what future Duong Dong might look like.

Duong Dong New City

The row of buildings that is in line with the pier is where the old airport used to be. There have been plans to turn the airport into a modern new urban area, but so far the old runway remains as a shortcut across town. When I visited there were workers cleaning up an old canal.

Old airport

Long Beach

Long Beach - Phu Quoc

Long Beach is the main beach of Phu Quoc, and most of the beach that is close to Duong Dong has been developed already.

Driving south from Duong Dong, the most noticeable new project is the abandoned Sheraton Phu Quoc Resort. This is near the airport road, so this is one of the first things that arriving passengers see. Not a good look.

Sheraton Phu Quoc Resort

The new projects of Long Beach begin south of the airport. Like the Vin United Center in the north, projects here are dominated by single developers that have split large blocks of land up into separate projects. I stayed at the Sonasea Shophouse area in the Sonasea Villas & Resort Complex. The developer of this area is CEO Group.

Sonasea Villas & Resort 2
[The masterplan for Sonasea Villas & Resort 2 by CEO Group.]

I was staying in a section that was established before the pandemic, so there were some shops open. There were other shophouse rows that had not been opened (or were still waiting for buyers).

Empty Sonasea Shophouses

The Sonasea Paris Villas is one of the sections of this CEO Group area.

CEO Group land

This block comprises over one hundred shophouse villas sorted into rows of different colours.

Paris Villas Shophouses

Construction was complete and the villas looked ready to move in.

Empty Paris Villas

Most of these were still empty, with only a few properties being occupied. I saw one that has been turned into a guesthouse, and another one was a cafe.

Pink Paris Villas

To the south of the Sonasea area is Milton Europa Village. The Milton development area includes the completed Pullman Hotel.

Milton Europe Village

As you’ve probably worked out by now, the overriding theme of big projects here are these European-style towns. From Venice to Paris, we now have these half-timbered shophouses in the Ye Olde Englande style.

Milton Pathway Shophouse

Working my way down the coast, the next superblock is the Phu Quoc Marina project by BIM Group. Phu Quoc Marina is divided up into different sections, and it will eventually look something like this.

Phu Quoc Marina

The first section I visited was the Waterfront block.

Mango Village

Waterfront is made up of over one hundred shophouse apartments in what could best be described as a Mediterranean-style town.

Lane at Waterfront

This mini town has a uniform architectural style with all the buildings painted in the same light green colour.

Coconut Village

This was also at the tail end of the construction process, and it was at the point of starting to populate the buildings with tenants.

The Costis

There is a great French bakery here with a real French baker making the pastries.

Au Bon Pain
[Au Bon Pain at Waterfront.]

This is a pedestrian-friendly town with underground parking.

Underground carpark

The car park even has proper mobility access points in the town squares.

Carpark entrance

Something that has stood out for me while wandering around these new developments has been the number of transplanted trees. Where did all these trees come from? Is there a specialty tree farm on the island, or are they importing them from the mainland?

New trees at Waterfront

I was here in the last month of the dry season, and I saw water trucks watering trees at most of the places I visited.

Water truck at Waterfront

I will be curious to come back and see what this looks like when is fully occupied, and if it ends up looking like the promotional video.

Windows at Waterfront

Waterfront is next to the InterContinental Hotel, and non-residents can go to the rooftop bar if they buy a drink ticket. From the rooftop, you get a better idea of the scale of Waterfront.

Waterfront viewed from InterContinental
[Waterfront viewed from InterContinental. The Pullman is the building after the Waterfront.]

On the other side of the InterContinental is the Regent Phu Quoc. This was also in the final stages of construction.

Regent Phu Quoc

Marina Square is another section that has been modeled on a European city.

Marina Square

Like the Waterfront, the major construction work at Marina Square had been finished and the buildings were painted.

Concrete truck at Marina Square

The European city theme continues.

Marina Square

The buildings were still just concrete shells when I visited. No work had been done on the interiors, such as the installation of lifts.

Empty building shell

Until then, you can take the stairs.

Stairs

Like I said at the start of this article, shophouses are an ongoing theme in this remade modern Phu Quoc.

Enpty Shophouses

In addition to mini European neighbourhoods, the other dominating style in Phu Quoc is the cookie-cutter housing developments.

Palm Garden construction

Palm Garden Shop Villas Phu Quoc is another section of the Phu Quoc Marina, and it features rows of identical shophouse villas.

Palm Garden

Here is Palm Garden as viewed from the InterContinental. The empty lots that surround it will also be developed in the future.

Palm Garden view from InterContinental

Sailing Club Villas are next to Palm Garden, and it was also making good progress with construction.

Sailing Club Villas view from InterContinental

Continuing my motorbike journey south, the scenery is characterised by miles of green construction fences. I stopped to take photos of project boards and to mark them on the map.

UDIC Phu Quoc Resort

Some of these sites look like they stalled years ago, and there isn’t any useful information online about them.

Family Holidays Complex

These projects might have changed owners or names. I have listed them on the Future Phu Quoc guide as part of the construction history. One site that was active was Sim Island.

Sim Island

The images on the construction fences depict another mini-city in the making.

Sim Island

I have been following Phu Quoc construction projects online, and once you follow one, the others start targetting you in Facebook advertising. This has actually been a useful way of finding out about new projects. Strangely though I’ve not heard anything about Sim Island, so I was staggered to see what it proposes to look like.

Sim Island
[sim-island.com.vn.]

One project that has been relentless in its Facebook advertising towards me (or at least by the real estate agents) is Meyhomes Capital Phu Quoc. Now that you’ve clicked this link, you too will be getting targetted Facebook advertising. You’re welcome.

Meyhomes Capital entrance

Work was underway here, but I was getting stern looks from security guards so I didn’t dare drive any further.

Meyhomes Capital construction site

This is what Meyhomes Capital Phu Quoc will eventually look like. I’ve written before about how developers shouldn’t be able to build big projects on illogical street layouts. I’m going to have to write another article about this for Phu Quoc.

Meyhomes Capital Phu Quoc

Next to Meyhomes Capital is a block of empty land for Minh Thanh Khang.

Minh Thanh Khang site

This is also a new urban residential area.

Minh Thanh Khang

Southern Phu Quoc

Southern Phu Quoc is home to the port town of An Thoi, and instead of the long beach of Long Beach, the beaches are smaller and tucked away in coves.

Phu Quoc is now bookended by projects from two of the biggest developers in Vietnam. In the north is Vingroup, while in the south it is dominated by Sun Group, who specialise in hotels, resorts, and amusement parks.

Sun Group was founded by Le Viet Lam in 2007. Before that, he was in Kharkiv Ukraine, where he was a partner in an instant noodle business with future Vingroup founder Pham Nhat Vuong. Both Lam and Vuong had studied in the old USSR, along with many other Vietnamese at the time. Another prominent figure who studied in Soviet-era Moscow was the CEO of VietJet Air, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (Vietnam’s first female billionaire).

I couldn’t find if the Vingroup and Sun Group founders are amicable rivals, but their projects at either end of Phu Quoc have similar qualities to each other. In the Vingroup north end, it’s Grand World, while in Sun Group south it’s Grand City. And both of them have copied features and buildings from Venice.

Driving from Long Beach, the first project I visited was Sun Grand City New An Thoi.

Corner of Gateway and Limoni

Like Marina Square and Waterfront at Phu Quoc Marina, Sun Grand City New An Thoi is built in a uniform grand European apartment style.

Truck on New An Thoi

And like the projects at Phu Quoc Marina, these apartments were practically finished.

Workers at Sun Grand City New An Thoi

Once again I found myself at a site where I was the only non-worker.

Laneway construction

These projects were planned years before the pandemic. Most of the developers in Phu Quoc have opted to build through the pandemic, hoping to be ready for when the world opens up again. Who would have predicted that we would still be without international visitors by mid-2021? And at this rate it doesn’t look like Vietnam will open up at all in 2021.

Construction at Sun Grand City New An Thoi

Some sections are already occupied, with a few cafes here and there open for business. It will be interesting to revisit in the future and see how it looks once it fills in. Will enough people be enticed from Old An Thoi to move to New An Thoi? It would also require people to move here from the mainland if this is to be a success. It can’t all be holiday rentals.

The Sun Vintage Cafe

My next stop was Sun Premier Village Primavera. This is separated from New An Thoi by a hill.

Construction dust on road to Primavera

Most of the work here is also done. The tower appears to be inspired by St Mark’s Campanile, though it’s not an exact replica.

Finishing construction

The Primavera project has stylised itself on a crumbling Italian village on the Amalfi Coast.

Fake Italy

Most of the shophouses are finished here as well, adding to the massive supply of shophouses that are about to become available in Phu Quoc. Most of the shops here so far are real estate agents.

Real estate agents at Primavera

Primavera is set on a little bay, and it is this view of Amalfi-meets-Venice that I have been seeing advertised everywhere in Vietnam.

Beach at Primavera

Behind Primavera is the second stage of this development with the Hillside apartment towers and (more!) shophouses.

Hillside project

There are four apartment blocks that will tower over Primavera, with the hill giving a boost to the views.

Hillside worksite

The Sun Premier Village Primavera, Sun Grand City Hillside Residence, and Shophouse The Center will eventually look like this…

Sun Grand City Hillside Residence Phú Quốc.
[Sun Group’s vision of Southern Phu Quoc (balloons not included).]

On the east coast side of An Thoi is the Phu Quoc Emerald Bay area. The entrance is marked with an Art Deco gate with the fake year of establishment of 1921.

Phu Quoc Emerald Bay

The two big projects here are Melodia and JW Marriott.

Melodia and JW Marriott

Melodia Boutique Shophouse is another European-style shophouse project.

Melodia advertising

The style is similar to the Marina Square project.

Duong Diamond 1

This was also at the final stages of construction, and once again I was here wandering around by myself.

Diamond 2 Kem Beach Resort

I was there to see one of the first shops to set up. I definitely need to come back to see how this all works out.

Tiem An Sai Gon

New World Phu Quoc Resort was getting ready to open as well. This was previously the Sun Premier Village Kem Beach Resort.

New World Phu Quoc Resort

The New World resort has a large frontage on Kem Beach.

Kem Beach at New World

That concludes my Phu Quoc construction report for 2021. Since I’ve compiled this report I’ve discovered more projects that are planned, so I will include them in my next annual report.

If you found this report useful, subscribe to the newsletter to get more reports like this. Your support keeps me fuelled on coconuts while I drive around in the tropical heat.

James having a coconut break

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Filed Under: Construction Updates, Vietnam Tagged With: 2021 construction updates, phu quoc, vietnam

About James Clark

James Clark is the editor of Future Southeast Asia and is currently based in Ho Chi Minh City. Follow his travels at nomadicnotes.com and on Twitter at @nomadicnotes

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Comments

  1. Nicolas Ritoux says

    May 12, 2021 at 2:01 pm

    Mind. Blown.

    Reply
  2. David says

    May 14, 2021 at 10:31 am

    Staggering demented appalling destruction of a once jewel of an island .

    Reply
    • Brian says

      June 28, 2021 at 12:27 pm

      have travelled to phu quoc for five of the last six years as my wife is vietnamese and her parents and some other family members have relocated there from hanoi. Have slowly but surely been disappointed with whats been allowed to occur there. The place looks like its on steroids development wise and the amount of kitsch type buildings popping up like mushrooms all over the island is quite a concern. As far as western tourism is concerned i think it will have a limited shelf life because i think western tourism appreciates things that are a bit more “real” and sustainable. My Vietnamese relatives who live in Duong Dong seem to think that all the activity is great and the resorts and buildings are lovely, however i think most if not all of their thinking is driven by the financial side of it. There clearly is no shortage of Asian tourism dollars, but at the breakneck speed at which the island is being developed, i fear it has past the point of being a beautiful, relaxing place to holiday and enjoy. Pesky humans just dont know when to stop sadly.

      Reply
      • David says

        June 28, 2021 at 1:46 pm

        Spot on . They will rue the day
        My first visit was in 2012 and I still smile at the memory

        Great articles and blog thanks

        Reply
      • Marnie McKew says

        January 1, 2023 at 6:33 am

        1 Jam 2023 and we’re just back from walking though the desolate streets filled with rows of odd buildings that are aging quickly with little to no reflection of the country we visited. A block too far and your in a wasteland of tin fences and rubble filled blocks, with overgrown footpaths that come to an end or fence, so back into the beach to wander further. We’ve heard they want to build eight casinos, so it doesn’t matter what us Aussies think, it’s not being build for us to enjoy. Sadly a beautiful paradise turned into a high rise hell sparking little joy or connection. The water park was fun I guess.

        Reply
  3. JT says

    June 18, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    what are with these developers and building ugly fake European style buildings ?

    Reply
  4. Dave Miller says

    November 10, 2021 at 5:23 pm

    Good article. I lived on Phu Quoc for 8 years, leaving 2 years ago. Some of the pictures were the same as the last time that I was on the island, some were new. It is hard to believe that there would ever have been enough tourists to satisfy what has been built, under construction or in development. Phu Quoc has always been a low end, backpacker type of destination. The government has been actively pushing into the higher end, 5 star resort scenario. I have always found it difficult to believe that well heeled international tourists would flock to Phu Quoc, when there are so many other destinations available. I am part owner of a very small company on Phu Quoc, building villas, so at least hope that something will come of this. Your comment about the shophouses is certainly valid. The Vietnamese love this concept, but there are just so many of them. My business partner, who remains on Phu Quoc has found that all are sold, but very few are occupied. Speculators no doubt.

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      November 15, 2021 at 4:07 am

      Hi Dave, thanks for your on-the-ground perspective. Yes I am struggling to see how they will fill so many 5-star rooms in a region with so many choices.

      Reply
  5. Artis says

    July 28, 2022 at 10:09 am

    Thanks much for your report.

    I came to this island several times a dozen years ago. At the time when the old airfield was still operational and the new one was not built yet.

    The jungle was pervasive, the were a lot of streams running aross the forest to the sea where I found some fish species not reported on the Vietnamese mainland.

    Phu Quôc now is devastated by capitals brought in by very well connected capitalists from the North of Vietnam.

    Reply

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