Order Script
1/ Briefing [On the bus]
Good day everyone. My name is ……. On behalf of …… Tourist, I'd like to wish
you a good day and welcome you all to Paradise Pearl Island - Phu Quoc Island.
Now, let me begin with the details of our trip today. We are going to start visiting
the first place at 8am, which is Phu Quoc Prison, a very special place that every
visitor should pay a visit to when they come here. Then, we are going to enjoy the
physical activities and stunning natural locations in Sun World Hon Thom Nature
Park at 9:30 and we will have lunch at 11:30. After lunchtime, we will let loose in
the dreamlike scenery and tranquil atmosphere of Ho Quoc pagoda - the largest
Buddhist pagoda in Southwest Vietnam, specifically at 4pm. And last but not least,
we will explore and relish the specialties in the Phu Quoc night market at 5pm.
We’ll wrap up our tour and return to the hotel at 9:30pm.
Right now, I'd like to take a minute to discuss some brief safety precautions.
• Firstly, you should fasten your seat belt at all times until reaching the
destination.
• Secondly, your outfit should be polite and suitable for visiting the prison
and the pagoda. Please do not wear any revealing clothing.
• Thirdly, the temperature today will be above 30 degrees, we will supply you
2 bottles of water throughout the trip and I recommend you keep them to
yourself to prevent dehydration.
• Throughout the tour, you will need to remember this flag as it will be the
signal for all of you to gather to head to the next station or to simply hear
about the new place.
2/ Phu Quoc [On the bus]
Prison Hi, my name is ……..The bus ride to our first destination - Phu Quoc prison will
take about 30 minutes. I’ll inform you of regulations devoted specifically to this
one prison.
• Inside the prison, you are not supposed to touch the exhibits on display.
Cameras and phones are allowed but you need to consider carefully before
taking a selfie.
• I suggest only carrying small amounts of cash; jewelry and valuables
are not needed. We will not be responsible for any loss of your
belongings.
• Our time for visiting the prison is only one hour and remember that the bus
will be leaving at 9:00 am sharp. These regulations are for your own
comfort and safety. Thank you for your attention.
[In front of the prison]
Here we are in Phu Quoc prison. It was the largest Vietnamese communist
prisoner-of-war camp, holding up to 40,000 soldiers and prisoners, and about 4,000
people were tortured to death. In 1995, the prison was recognized as a national
historic site.
A little information about the history of the prison: By 1954, the prison held about
14,000 prisoners, most of them are Vietnam soldiers and it used to be the largest
prison in Southeast Asia during the French colonial period. After the Geneva
Agreement in July 1954, France returned the prison management right to Vietnam.
It seemed that the nightmare had ended, but it was not. During the American
colonial period in late 1955, a new prison was built in the old prison, continuing
the nightmare of thousands of Vietnamese prisoners. The current Phu Quoc prison
relic is not the original but has been restored
Since the prison tour only takes an hour, we will only visit some of the main areas
inside the prison and we will spend the most time visiting the B2 subdivision of the
prison.
Follow me this way, on your left 500 meters away you will see the prisoner's
cemetery. The center of the cemetery is designed with a fist-shaped monument
showing the hatred, resilient spirit, and willingness to sacrifice of the Vietnam
soldiers.
Now please follow me, as we turn the corner here, you will see the relics exhibition
house: featuring 43 artifacts and over 100 historical images for tourists who want
to learn about the prison's history and development. Tourists often spend most of
their time visiting the exhibition.
If you look up to the north, you will notice at the top of that hill is the Martyrs
Memorial: there is a wave-shaped symbol painted in blue on both sides of the
memorial that commemorates the people who have passed away here.
In a few minutes, we'll be reaching the B2 subdivision in Phu Quoc prison. B2
Subdivision is an extremely important area because it is the most vivid
representation of Phu Quoc prison in the past. A number of vicious torture scenes
are clearly depicted here. Visitors can feel the cruelty at that time and the struggle
for independence of the Vietnam army and people in the past.
As you can see inside the B2 subdivision, many simulations are on display to
depict the tortures used in this prison. For anyone who has children, you can
consider taking your children in or not because there are some tortures that can be
very obsessive and terrible to children
For this one, they put a chisel close to the roots of prisoners' teeth, and use
hammers to break their teeth out. Another torture is they put the prisoner in a
barrel, then knock on the barrel. Prisoners will have headaches and will be deaf
because of the strong knocking and air pressure. Also, by knocking the barrel filled
with water, this type of torture can cause the prisoner to vomit blood because of the
pressure of the water. For this one, they cover the prisoner with a sack and throw
them into a pan of boiling water. There were three prisoners in the C6 division
boiled to death. One of the most vicious tortures is using a high-powered light bulb
to stay close to the prisoner's face for a long time to explode their pupil. There are
also many other vicious tortures like prisoners are not allowed to eat salt, after two
months, their eyes will be blurred, and after 5-6 months, someone will be
completely blind, or they use fire to burn the prisoners' mouth and genitals, or they
burned the mouths of prisoners with gasoline who did not report
Phu Quoc prison used to be a terrible obsession for all prisoners here, many people
tried to escape and succeeded in escaping, but many prisoners were caught and shot
dead immediately. What prisoners experienced in Phu Quoc prison has left them
with an indelible mental and physical obsession.
