These restaurants are all large-scale, with a capacity of several tens to hundreds of people. Notably, illegal constructions have existed and operated for many years. Electricity, water, telecommunications and other services are publicly connected from the shore to the violating construction to serve business operations right in the central ward of Tuyen Quang province.
According to PV's records, floating restaurants such as Tran Gia Linh, Ben Song Xua, Ca Song Lo... are all located right on the Lo River, where there is bustling waterway traffic. In addition to the iron frame, these works are mainly made of light, flammable materials such as wood and plastic.
In particular, a large-scale floating restaurant designed in the form of a yacht consisting of 3 above-ground floors, with a total floor area of more than 1,000m2, was built from the end of August 2025 and is currently nearly completed. According to functional agencies, this project belongs to the category of inland waterway vehicles but has no registration, no approved design documents and is illegally anchored.
Although functional agencies have requested to stop construction and not provide electricity and water services, the illegal project owner still does not comply. The project owner's act of disregarding and disregarding the law makes people angry.
I heard officials of the Ward People's Committee say that this project is illegal, and they have requested to stop it, but I don't understand why they still do it, which is disregarding the law and needs to be strictly handled, otherwise it will become a precedent, everyone will do their own thing" - Mr. Do Van Duc (Minh Xuan ward) said.
Not only posing potential risks of fire and explosion, environmental pollution, illegal floating restaurants with large volumes are also placed right above Nong Tien bridge, causing people to be particularly worried about the safety of the bridge during the rainy and flood season.
Ms. Le Thi Thu - a resident of Nong Tien ward - reflected: "In the past 2 years, the Lo River water has risen high, flowing very fast, the restaurant is so big and bulky, but the anchor cable broke and hit the foot of Nong Tien bridge, I don't know what will happen. It is proposed that functional agencies must handle it strictly, not wait for the consequences to be resolved".
Talking to PV, leaders of Minh Xuan Ward People's Committee said that most of the floating restaurant projects on the Lo River have been built many years ago. Handling is facing many difficulties due to the authority and expertise of grassroots officials.
The ward has requested relevant agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Department of Construction to guide and coordinate handling because for the ward level, these are new issues, unprecedented, related to technical issues. The point of view is to handle them strictly, not to let violations exist" - leader of Minh Xuan Ward People's Committee said.
Commenting on this matter, from a legal perspective, Lawyer Luong Van Chuong (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that the above-mentioned works have been identified as illegal, but still exist for a long time, there is a possibility of lax management from the grassroots level.
Clearly, no inspection, no licensing, no fire prevention and fighting appraisal are very serious issues affecting the safety of works, property and lives of people. Therefore, functional agencies need to resolutely handle and request dismantling, it is impossible to punish for existence" - Lawyer Luong Van Chuong said.
