The village "at the end of the river and the beginning of the sea" and the story of green startups

VHO - In the middle of the Hoi An river region, Cam Thanh village - the "end of the river, beginning of the sea" area, where the three rivers Thu Bon, Truong Giang and Lo Canh Giang converge - has just been honored by Forbes Magazine (USA) as one of the 50 most beautiful villages in the world. Not only possessing a rare river landscape, Cam Thanh is also a vivid symbol of the Central Vietnamese village culture, where people preserve their houses and villages, preserve the Bay Mau coconut forest ecosystem and develop sustainable community tourism, in harmony between nature - people - heritage.

Discover the village at the end of the river and the beginning of the sea

Located in the lower reaches of the Thu Bon River, Cam Thanh is considered the “village at the end of the river and the beginning of the sea” - where the three rivers Thu Bon, Truong Giang and Lo Canh Giang meet before flowing into the East Sea. This is the intersection of two sources of salt and fresh water, creating a rare brackish water ecosystem and an important buffer zone of the Cu Lao Cham World Biosphere Reserve. With rich vegetation and charming river landscape, Cam Thanh is considered the “green lung” that regulates the climate of the Hoi An area.

The beauty of Cam Thanh village

According to the ranking of Forbes Magazine (USA), Cam Thanh ranked 20th in the list of 50 most beautiful villages in the world in 2025, and is the only representative of Vietnam to be honored. In the description of Forbes , the village is surrounded by rivers and green coconut forests. Experience sitting in a basket boat gliding through the Bay Mau coconut forest, watching local boatmen cast their nets, or cycling through the coconut-lined village roads, where there are lotus ponds, shrimp ponds and herds of buffalo leisurely grazing - all creating a typical picture of the riverside countryside of Central Vietnam.

Cam Thanh is also famous for the Bay Mau Coconut Forest Historical and Cultural Relic Site, nearly 120 hectares wide, which was once a revolutionary base during the resistance war against France and the United States. In 2023, the coconut forest was recognized by UNESCO as a “Typical Asia- Pacific Tourist Destination” and was also honored at the Vietnam-India Cultural and Economic Exchange Forum.

Today, Bay Mau Coconut Forest has become an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists, attracting about 3,000 visitors per day with eco-tourism activities, boating, and exploring the mangrove ecosystem. In 2024, the global travel platform Tripadvisor also ranked the basket boat experience in Cam Thanh in the Top 25 most attractive boat experiences in the world.

Not only the coconut forest, Thanh Dong organic vegetable garden in Cam Thanh is also considered “another green patch” in the picture of the ecological village. This model was honored by the Vietnam Tourism Association as a Typical Ecotourism Destination in 2018, and in 2020 was voted by the Southeast Asia Tourism Association (ASEANTA) as a Sustainable Rural Tourism Destination.

Preserving indigenous culture, developing community livelihoods

Along with the strong development of tourism, Cam Thanh is becoming a model of community tourism associated with the preservation of indigenous culture. The village's typical products such as rowing basket boats to explore the water coconut forest, participating in rice cultivation, shrimp farming, and learning to cook with local people - have attracted more than 1 million domestic and foreign tourists each year. The model brings a stable source of income to about 1,500 local workers (average 7 million VND/month), contributing to the preservation and promotion of the value of the Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An World Biosphere Reserve.

Taboo Bamboo Workshop - Cam Thanh

According to statistics, in 2024 alone, revenue from basket boat activities reached more than 103 billion VND, this source of income is directly enjoyed by the people. Currently, the whole ward has more than 1,300 basket boats registered to operate, mainly concentrated in Van Lang and Thanh Tam villages, creating jobs for about 1,400 freelance workers. In addition, more than 200 other workers working in restaurants, tourist areas and ancillary services also contribute to the formation of a livelihood ecosystem based on culture - tourism - nature.

In particular, in February 2024, the traditional bamboo and coconut house making craft of Cam Thanh was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Since then, the traditional craft has been strongly "revived" through the connection with experiential tourism, eco-tourism and vocational training - job training programs for tourists. Diverse tours such as: "Be a farmer to explore the craft village", "Visiting coconut forest combined with growing water coconut", "Green tour - picking up trash, protecting the environment" ... have contributed to building the image of a green, clean, friendly and unique Cam Thanh.

Thanks to the support of the government and organizations, many projects to preserve and sustainably develop Cam Thanh's nipa palm forests have been implemented, aiming at the goal of harmoniously combining nature conservation, promoting traditional culture and improving community life. The values ​​of the Central countryside - from the folk songs, handicrafts to the lifestyle in harmony with the river - are being preserved by Cam Thanh people and breathed into each product, so that every visitor who comes here can feel the harmony between people, culture and nature.

Mr. Tran Tan Dung, Chairman of Hoi An Dong Ward People's Committee shared: "Rivers, fields, bamboo hedges, coconut bushes, communal houses, temples, and village roads have created Cam Thanh like a watercolor painting. Generations of people here, from the time of establishing the village until today, have breathed life into that painting with labor, love for the homeland, and traditional cultural values."

According to Mr. Dung, Cam Thanh is a village that knows how to dialogue and rely on nature, where people live in harmony with rivers, plants and each other. That philosophy of life is expressed through the Cau Ngu and Ba Trao festivals, the folk songs, and the folk antiphonal songs, all of which blend into the unique identity of a rustic yet profound Central Vietnamese village.

Since 2010, the Party Committee and the government of Hoi An City have determined the goal of "building Cam Thanh into a unique ecological village". That orientation is both the vision of the leaders and the common aspiration of the people, who always want to preserve the soul of the countryside in the midst of increasingly strong urbanization. Today's development journey has proven that choice was correct: Cam Thanh has grown with the times with the values ​​of the countryside.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/ngoi-lang-cuoi-song-dau-bien-va-cau-chuyen-khoi-nghiep-xanh-174360.html