THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE

Nhà không bán, I kept seeing this phrase spray-painted on rows of half-built, abandoned structures in the coastal town that my father grew up in. At the time, I could not quite figure out what the investors saw in these unfinished, barebone houses, but it was indeed not the houses they were after, more so the land they occupied. Father told me there have been multiple offers for our ancestral home from foreign investors planning for private condos and luxurious rentals. However, I know, the world would sooner end before he moved grandma’s altar somewhere else.

Later that day, we took a drive to the beach only to discover at least five new resorts in a state of unfinished limbo, abandoned by investors after the pandemic. The coastline is full of decrepit half-built structures, only this time the size and number make it much harder to look away. What used to be open beaches with views for miles are now covered by these “white elephant” projects that would cost too much to tear down or continue, so instead they remain quiet and monumentally stagnant.

This House is Not For Sale is an on-going project documenting life along the coast of Vietnam, an area facing constant threat of natural disasters and foreign property acquisition. Amidst the country’s current transitional period of tourism and economic reformation, many policies regarding public land use are given out without much consideration for the local residents. Living in these coastal areas, their well-being, livelihood, and history are crucially tied to this land. Without immediate effort to reallocate the land to benefit the public good rather than existing capitalistically and failing at it, these photographs would soon be the only trace left of a once vibrant community.