Infiltrating the "red light district" in Hon Cau

(Baonghean)In early July, some friends in Hanoi called and said, "When you come to Nghe An soon, remember to take us to Hon Cau Island. We heard it's now like Quat Lam (Nam Dinh) and Do Son (Hai Phong)..."



The fishermen return after a fishing trip.

Things that were seen...

On Sunday afternoon, we traveled from Vinh City through Dien Chau town, then down through Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes, following a fairly large concrete road. When we asked for directions to Hon Cau (Dien Hai commune), everyone from children to the elderly smiled and said: "We're almost there!"

In the fading afternoon sun, Hon Cau appeared before us as a small islet jutting out from the coastline. Along the coast, stretching for nearly a kilometer, were hundreds of establishments offering "refreshment" services, clustered together. Our initial impression confirmed our friend's warning: this was indeed a "red light district"—a center of prostitution.

The row of stalls displaying signs advertising restaurants and guesthouses on Hon Cau Island is arranged in three sections, intersected by a road. In front of each establishment, there are a few stone benches, bamboo beds, hammocks, or plastic chairs, and on them sit young girls with painted lips and blush. When they see a customer passing by, they boldly approach and rudely invite them in: "Sir, come in and relax a bit! Sir, come and rest with me!"

Many of the girls would rush out to stop cars, grab customers by the shoulders and pull them into the shops. And when they heard that the customer just wanted to go to the beach to enjoy the sea breeze, they would pout and say, "Don't be so dramatic. There's no way you'd come to Hon Cau and not look for girls..."

Walking along the stalls on the beach, we approached a few bar owners. Coming from farming backgrounds, the owners were quite straightforward. After ordering just a few bottles of beer, they poured out their hearts about their "business" as brothel owners on Hon Cau beach. According to Mr. TS, there are currently about 140 bars on Hon Cau beach, and almost 100% of them are involved in prostitution. If you include the larger guesthouses in the nearby area, the number is much higher. The people running these businesses are mostly locals, while the girls usually come from mountainous districts like Quy Hop, Quy Chau, Que Phong, and Tuong Duong... with a few from Thanh Hoa and Quang Ninh provinces. According to TS, the bar owners bring in girls from wherever they know their contacts, regardless of where they come from, as long as they can bring them here to do business.



The stalls selling prostitution services in Hon Cau.

The way these establishments operate is very simple. They display signs advertising refreshments, but each one has 3-5 rooms, each about 5-6 square meters, fully furnished with beds, blankets, and bathrooms! When a customer needs services, the girls simply take them to the room. The money earned from each "client" is split 60/40 or 50/50, depending on the agreement between the owner and the girls. Seeing the owner, TS, thin and dark-skinned, and the dilapidated, poor-looking establishment, we suggested investing. Unexpectedly, TS retorted: "This area is in the eye of the storm, so we only built this much, not because we lack money..."

At the TG shop (not far from the TS shop), the owner immediately brewed a fresh pot of tea and quietly went outside. A few minutes later, he returned with two young women. Without a word, the two provocatively dressed women approached the customers, caressing them in various ways. Giving the girls some money and saying he wasn't in the mood, that they should have a beer and come back later, the owner was slightly surprised and waved them away. During the conversation, the owner of the TG shop revealed that prostitution is very openly practiced in Hon Cau, and that those who come here do so primarily for it. The prices are also very reasonable, only 120,000 dong...



Prostitutes in Hon Cau.

By past 8 PM, the rows of shops in Hon Cau were lit up. The area was much livelier than in the late afternoon. Customers from all over had arrived, with cars and motorbikes everywhere. Under the dim lights, enthusiastic girls boldly rushed out to solicit customers, some even hugging and touching them provocatively. Stopping at one of the few small shops selling drinks and food (owned by the wife of a local police officer), I ordered two bottles of water and inquired about business in Hon Cau. The owner bluntly stated, "This area is a prostitution 'market,' everyone knows that," and added that the shops stay open all night to serve customers.

Who is in charge?

In our conversations with them, the owners of the establishments on Hon Cau Island all affirmed that the prostitution business is "given the green light" by the local authorities to attract tourists and create jobs for the people; otherwise, they could arrest people whenever they wanted. There is also a police station on this beach. Every evening, the local police regularly patrol, but only to resolve fights over customers, not to interfere with the business.

Leaving the "red light district" on Hon Cau beach, we went to the Dien Hai Commune People's Committee headquarters to meet Mr. Bui Sy Tien - Vice Chairman, who informed us that social vices in Dien Hai are being very well controlled by the local authorities.

According to Mr. Tien, Hon Cau beach currently has 141 registered businesses, including 9 food and beverage businesses, and the rest offering refreshment services. Annually, the commune collects 4 million VND from each household for rent to build business stalls and several hundred thousand VND for other fees.

When asked about the number of people working at these establishments, Mr. Tien said: "Currently, there are about 74 people, mostly women from mountainous districts who come down to 'serve' at these 'refreshment' shops. They have registered their temporary residence with the commune police, while the rest come and go, making it very difficult to control."

When asked if prostitution existed on Hon Cau Island, Mr. Tien affirmed that if it did, it was only clandestine, because they regularly sent police to patrol and conduct strict inspections.

Working with officials involved in social vice prevention in Dien Chau district, we received similar answers. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai, Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in charge of social vice prevention in Dien Chau district, stated: “Currently, prostitution on the beaches of Dien Thanh and Hon Cau (Dien Hai) has decreased compared to before! If it still exists, it's less frequent and clandestine.” When asked about the district's report on social vice prevention for the first six months of the year, Mr. Hai said: “The provincial Social Vice Prevention Department hasn't requested it yet, so we haven't prepared it!”

To demonstrate the district's "decisiveness" in combating prostitution, Mr. Hai showed us the 2013 plan for the prevention and control of prostitution by the Dien Chau District People's Committee, which contained a very compelling statement: "The prevention and control of prostitution must be implemented synchronously from the district to the commune level, assigning specific responsibilities to each agency and organization to mobilize the strength of the entire political system to participate in the prevention and control of prostitution. Party committees, governments, mass organizations, and agencies must identify this as a key and urgent political task to focus on in order to minimize the harm caused by prostitution."

Meeting with Mr. Pham Van Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Dien Chau District People's Committee, he stated: Previously, Hon Cau (Dien Hai) and Dien Thanh beach were identified as two hotspots for prostitution in Dien Chau. However, while the activity existed, it wasn't openly discussed. We occasionally conducted inspections, and the district police handled some cases. In early April this year, we held a thematic meeting with the leaders of Dien Hai and Dien Thanh communes, along with relevant district agencies, to address the prostitution situation in these areas. To date, we have essentially eradicated prostitution at Hon Cau (Dien Hai) and Dien Thanh beach.

Mr. Thanh also proudly stated: "The crackdown on prostitution in Dien Chau district was carried out even before the government's directive, so it's basically been rectified now! If there's any prostitution, it's done secretly; there's no way they'd dare to do it openly! You should go down there and see for yourselves!"

Leaving Dien Chau, we wondered: From the commune headquarters to Hon Cau beach is only about 1 km, the concrete road is very convenient, so why are the leaders of Dien Hai commune unaware of the situation? Hon Cau is littered with garbage during the day, the seawater is murky, and there are no people swimming or strolling there, yet there are nearly a hundred "refreshment" stalls stretching for almost a kilometer. Besides the "workers" coming and going, there are a large number of girls from other places staying there... What kind of work do they do, and how do these "refreshment" businesses survive and make a profit here? Why, despite the commune police regularly patrolling and strictly enforcing regulations, does the noise of cars and motorbikes, and the soliciting calls of girls selling sex, create a commotion at night? Why is prostitution taking place openly, known even in other provinces, yet Dien Chau district claims it has been eradicated?

After spending a night on Hon Cau Island, as dawn broke, a large number of fishermen returned with their nets heavy with catch. Old and young people from the village came down to the beach to gather clams or pry oysters and mussels from the rocky outcrops. The fishermen's calls filled the air, and traders haggled over bundles of fresh fish, snails, crabs, and shellfish. On the shore, the rows of shops, bustling after a night, were now quietly closed.

Reporters' Team