Thanh Long Bay - A new resort city in Vietnam

Thanh Long Bay is a new resort development that is the size of a small city. Here are some of the challenges it faces to establish itself in an already crowded resort market.

Since last week’s newsletter was published I went on a last minute trip to Phan Thiet, which is about 4 hours drive from Ho Chi Minh City. It was my first trip anywhere in over 2 months, so it was good to be on the road again.

Part of my trip motivation was to investigate various construction projects in Binh Thuan Province. This province is best known for the resorts at Mui Ne, but there are many other things going on here, which I will list in a separate post. There was one project though that needed a post of its own - Thanh Long Bay.

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Thanh Long Bay is a resort/new urban development in Binh Thuan province on the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. The project covers an area of 90.3 ha with a beach front of 1.7km. It includes resort villas, apartments, hotels, and shophouses.

I’ve been seeing this project in my Facebook news feed over the last year. Once you like one real estate site all the other ones come after you with targeted advertising. That’s not a bad thing in my case as I discover new sites to check. I’ve not been able to find anything about this project that isn’t trying to sell apartments, so I rode here from Phan Thiet city to have a look. Here are my observations on the project.

First of all, this site is not near any transport options so there will be lots of buses and private cars to get people there. Even if the new Phan Thiet airport goes ahead it’s still 54 km away. Its best hope is if the new expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet is built. That will at least shorten travel times.

As I mentioned in the report, the buildings look like The Interlace in Singapore. They look so much alike that I’m not sure if it’s even legal to so brazenly copy this design.

Being so far from a city centre there is a chance that this project doesn’t meet sales expectations, and the site becomes a half-finished eyesore for years. Look at all the stalled projects in Saigon - the financial powerhouse of Vietnam - and you wonder if they can complete everything planned here.

Thanh Long Bay reminds me of the proposed South Beach Danang project, which is about similar size. At least the South Beach project has the benefit of being midway between Danang and Hoi An.

According to the sales office this project is expected to take 10 years. The first of four tower blocks is under construction, so maybe I will do another trip here when the first section is finished.

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