The only special zone with 3 base points
By April 30, 1975, Con Dao special zone was where the Republic of Vietnam regime detained 7,448 prisoners, including 4,234 political prisoners (494 women), 2,094 military prisoners...
Con Dao Special Zone, seen from Tai Lon Islet
PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE
On May 1, 1975, the liberation prisoners rose up to seize power, took control of Con Dao town, and occupied Co Ong airport.
After capturing the radio station, the rebel forces contacted the mainland, reported their control and asked for instructions from higher authorities, but it was not until the afternoon of May 2, 1975 that the Saigon - Gia Dinh City Party Committee responded.
Ben Dam Port overlooking Hon Ba
PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN
On the afternoon of May 1, 1975, Lieutenant General Le Trong Tan directed the naval transport force, Division 3 and local troops of Ba Ria province... to liberate Con Dao.
On the night of May 3, 1975, the reconnaissance team of the liberation army landed on Con Dao and was captured by the rebel forces. After verifying that they were... our troops, Mr. Le Cau (recently elected as Chairman of the Con Son Reconciliation Committee) went on a ship to contact the troops.
Con Dao tourist wharf, next to Ton Duc Thang street
PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE
On the morning of April 4, 1975, the liberation army landed on the island and that afternoon, the first group of former prisoners boarded a ship to return to the mainland. The takeover of Con Dao was handed over to Battalion 6, Regiment 12, Division 3 and Battalion 445 of Ba Ria local troops.
Con Dao Special Zone is an archipelago of 16 islands, with a land area of 76 km² (the largest Con Son island is 51.52 km²), the highest point is Thanh Gia mountain (577 m).
During the French colonial period, Con Dao, also known as Con Lon, was under the management of Vinh Long province, one of the six provinces of the South - and was the most brutal and harsh place to detain prisoners.
Relatives of martyrs visit the grave of People's Armed Forces Hero Luu Chi Hieu at Hang Duong cemetery, Con Dao. Hero Luu Chi Hieu was an organizational officer of the Saigon - Gia Dinh City Party Committee. He was captured by the enemy in July 1955 while leading a demonstration and exiled to Con Dao. He died in 1961.
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
In September 1954, the Republic of Vietnam government continued to maintain the French prison regime and changed the name of the Con Lon archipelago to Con Son island.
At the end of October, President Ngo Dinh Diem signed Decree No. 143-NV establishing Con Son province. At the end of April 1956, the government of the Republic of Vietnam changed Con Son province to Con Son Administrative Base under the Ministry of Interior.
In early November 1974, under President Nguyen Van Thieu, Con Son Administrative Center changed its name to Phu Hai town, Gia Dinh province.
On May 1, 1975, the liberation army took over Con Dao.
On September 18, 1976, the Government Council issued Decree No. 164-CP on the establishment of Con Son district under Ho Chi Minh City.
On January 15, 1977, the 6th National Assembly approved the renaming of Con Son district to Con Dao district and the merger of Con Dao district into Hau Giang province.
On May 30, 1979, Con Dao district merged with Vung Tau town and Long Son commune (Chau Thanh district, Dong Nai province) to form the Vung Tau - Con Dao special zone under the Central Government. On December 10, 1979, Con Dao was converted into a district under the Vung Tau - Con Dao special zone. On August 12, 1991, the Vung Tau - Con Dao special zone was dissolved and Con Dao became a district under the Ba Ria - Vung Tau province.
In June 2025, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province merged with Ho Chi Minh City, Con Dao returned to its special economic zone status, as it had 47 years ago (1979), under Ho Chi Minh City.
Currently, Mr. Le Anh Tu is the Secretary of the Party Committee of Con Dao Special Zone. The position of Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Dao Special Zone is held by Mr. Phan Trong Hien.
Immediately afterwards, the Ministry of National Defense established the Con Dao Defense Regiment 150 under Naval Region 5. On May 17, 1976, the Naval Command issued Directive No. 91/QD transferring the 150th Regiment to Naval Region 4 and changing its name to the Con Dao Regiment 145.
This unit has 3 mixed battalions (infantry, artillery, anti-aircraft) deployed in 3 directions, serving as the core to protect Con Dao's defense. In early 1982, Con Dao Regiment 145 was transferred from the Navy to Military Region 7.
Con Dao Border Guard Station under Ho Chi Minh City Command patrols to protect sovereignty at sea
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
Right after the liberation day, Naval Region 4 organized forces to take over and restore the anti-ship radar station in Con Dao. At the end of November 1976, radar station 590 came into operation and belonged to Con Dao Regiment 145.
In May 1977, Naval Region 4 established radar battalion 451 (now regiment), on the basis of radar companies 580 (Tra Cu), 585 (Vung Tau) and radar station 590.
High-speed canoe of Con Dao Border Guard Station patrolling
PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE
In 1977, the armed police unit of Hau Giang province marched to the island and began stationing troops to perform their duties. This was the predecessor of Con Dao Border Guard Station, under the current Border Guard Command, Ho Chi Minh City Command.
Con Dao Border Guard mobilizes fishermen
PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE
In particular, Con Dao Security Service has the largest number of personnel with nearly 300 officers and soldiers, many of whom were former political prisoners from the beginning of liberation.
Con Dao security forces coordinated with military units to break up 3 border crossing cases in the area, arresting 83 cases with 3,417 people crossing the border from the mainland to the island.
Ben Dam Port in Con Dao Special Zone
PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN
In October 1982, the Ministry of Defense unified the armed forces protecting Con Dao into the Con Dao military district, under the command of the Vung Tau - Con Dao Special Zone Military Command. This unified model lasted for many years.
Con Dao youth clean up Vietnam's territorial sea landmark
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
Few people know: Con Dao Special Zone is the only locality with 3 points to calculate the width of Vietnam's territorial waters (according to the Government's announcement on November 12, 1982), which are points A3 (Tai Lon islet), A4 (Bong Lau islet) and A5 (Bay Canh islet).
Sovereignty landmark base point A3 on Tai Lon island (Con Dao special zone)
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
Boldly contract products
In the years before the renovation, product contracting was boldly implemented by leaders of some localities in the North (Vinh Phuc; Do Son, Hai Phong City).
In the South, Con Dao was the first locality to "break the fence" and implement the product contracting mechanism for workers of the Con Dao State-owned Fishing Enterprise, right after the liberation day, and complete everything from fishing to logistics services.
Con Dao sea and sky
PHOTO: NGO TRAN HAI AN
Later, General Secretary Le Duan, when working with Con Dao, said: "In my opinion, the sailors who go fishing offshore, have entrusted their lives to the sea and sky, to exploit a large amount of seafood for their compatriots, so they deserve high remuneration. The comrades in Con Dao have seriously broken the state's management mechanism, but have not deviated from the Party's line"...
National flagpole in the center of Con Dao special zone
PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE
Economic development associated with spiritual tourism
At the end of February 1977, after Con Dao became a district of Hau Giang province, both Deputy Prime Ministers Pham Hung and Huynh Tan Phat, along with leaders of several ministries and branches, worked with Hau Giang province on the Con Dao construction planning project.
The agreed contents are: Building a historical site of the Vietnamese revolution, combined with the requirements of organizing visits, studying, and tourism; exploiting economic potential, especially seafood; combining construction with strengthening national defense...
Tourists visit Hang Duong cemetery
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
In addition, Con Dao is also very proactive in finding directions for local development. In 1986, the leaders of Con Dao District Party Committee continuously had direct meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet (later Prime Minister) to find solutions to overcome difficulties, in order to build and develop Con Dao.
It was also Mr. Vo Van Kiet who suggested architect Vo Thanh Nghia (a Vietnamese expatriate in France) to help Con Dao form a master plan for socio-economic development until the year 2000.
In May 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh worked with the Standing Committee of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Party Committee (old), orienting the development of a project to develop Con Dao special economic zone based on the specific policy mechanism of Ho Chi Minh City.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of Ho Chi Minh City visited the grave of martyr Vo Thi Sau at Hang Duong cemetery, Con Dao on May 3, 2025.
PHOTO BY NGUYEN LONG
The Prime Minister requested urgent research and development of a project to develop Con Dao special economic zone, paying attention to the role of Con Dao as an outpost island with strategic significance in terms of security and defense, while maximizing advantages to develop the marine economy and cultural, historical, spiritual, and ecological tourism of the national islands at regional and international levels.
Planning and development of Con Dao must be fast, sustainable, bright, green, clean, beautiful and modern, reaching international standards.
Con Dao special economic zone center, seen from above
PHOTO: PV
The Prime Minister emphasized: Focus on handling bottlenecks in air traffic, calling for strategic investors, implementing the public-private partnership method in construction implementation, researching the plan to extend the runway of Con Dao International Airport to meet the conditions for receiving international flights; researching the planning of Hang Keo and Hang Duong cemetery parks to create a highlight to honor historical and revolutionary cultural values to attract tourists...
Besides stabilizing people's lives and gradually developing the economy, special attention is paid to the management and protection of Con Dao historical relics.
Even at the end of August 1975, the Con Dao Provincial Party Committee issued a regulation: "From now on, no one is allowed to enter the former enemy prison camps, especially the places where our leaders were detained. When there is a necessary delegation to visit, they must have the opinion of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and the People's Committee before they can enter" and assigned the Security Department to manage.
Hang Duong Cemetery in Con Dao Special Zone
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
At the end of April 1979, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) specially recognized the Con Dao Revolutionary Historical Relic Site as one of the especially important national relics.
In May 2012, the Government ranked it as a special national relic site with a total protected area of 110.69 hectares.
Houses and buildings in the center of Con Dao special zone
PHOTO: PV
Recently, the locality has organized the development of the project "Developing Con Dao to 2030, vision to 2045", aiming to mobilize and effectively use resources for development investment, exploiting the potentials and advantages of Con Dao.
Con Dao welcomes nearly 400,000 visitors in the first 6 months of 2025
Total number of tourists to Con Dao in the first 6 months of 2025 is about 396,360 (reaching 64.76% of the yearly plan), of which international visitors are about 14,770. Total revenue is about 1,779 billion VND, reaching 58.1% of the plan.
Passenger plane landed at Con Dao airport
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
In the first 6 months of the year, Con Dao Special Zone has coordinated to implement solutions to stimulate demand and attract tourists. However, due to difficulties in means of transportation (especially passenger transportation by air), it is difficult for tourists to access air tickets, and airfares are always high.
Con Dao tourist wharf
PHOTO: MAI THANH HAI
From April 19, 2025 to present, Vietjet Air has officially operated direct flights from Hanoi to Con Dao, Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao with 2 aircraft, operating frequency of 2 flights from Hanoi to Con Dao, 2 flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao, creating favorable conditions for Con Dao to attract visitors from the northern provinces. However, with a small number of aircraft, the means of transport are limited in operation according to weather conditions (such as rain, slippery runways, planes cannot land).
Con Dao Special Zone currently has 146 accommodation establishments (5-star resorts, 2-4 star hotels, 137 1-2 star hotels and guesthouses, motels, and houses with rooms for rent), with 2,923 accommodation rooms, accommodating 7,598 people/day.
By 2045, Con Dao will become a high-quality, regional and international-class marine eco-tourism area; an area for preserving special national historical relics, educating historical traditions; preserving diverse forest and marine ecosystems; and at the same time performing important tasks in protecting national defense and security.
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/13-dac-khu-viet-nam-con-dao-tung-la-dac-khu-thuoc-tphcm-50-nam-truoc-185250703170013641.htm
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