Special Zone and Island Casinos in Asia

Vietnam's local-player pilot: who qualifies and where

Vietnam is the best example in Asia of a country using special zones to test casino access for its own citizens. Casinos are normally off limits to Vietnamese nationals, but the government runs a pilot scheme that opens a small number of named casino projects to locals who meet strict conditions.

The scheme began in 2017, when the government allowed Vietnamese locals to gamble at two locations under a three-year pilot: the Van Don project in Quang Ninh province in the north, and the Corona casino on Phu Quoc island in the south⁵. When the first three years ran out, the pilot for the first licensed casino business was extended until December 31, 2024⁶.

Then came a bigger change. On November 26, 2025, the government issued a resolution permitting eligible Vietnamese citizens to enter casinos at three named projects: the Phu Quoc casino project in An Giang province, the Ho Tram casino project serving Ho Chi Minh City, and the Van Don project in Quang Ninh province⁷. The Phu Quoc and Van Don pilots run for five years from the date each project receives its certificate of eligibility for casino business, while the Ho Tram pilot runs for five years from the effective date of the resolution itself⁸.

Here is how the three projects line up:

Who may play: Eligible Vietnamese citizens and all foreign passport holders

In plain terms: if you are a Vietnamese citizen, there are exactly three casino projects in the country where you may legally play, and only if you clear the age, income and documentation hurdles described below. Everywhere else, casinos are for foreign passport holders only. The pilot is deliberately narrow, and the government has said that after it ends, the projects stop admitting Vietnamese players "until the competent authority concludes whether to continue, expand or adjust the policy"⁹.

Entry rules for Vietnamese citizens: age, income proof and fees

The entry rules for Vietnamese citizens are noticeably stricter than for foreigners, and the differences are worth spelling out one by one.

Age. Vietnamese citizens must be 21 or older with full civil act capacity under Vietnamese law¹⁰. That is higher than the standard age of majority, and higher than the 18 that applies to foreign visitors. The 21-year threshold has been in place since the decree that created the pilot¹¹.

Income. You must prove a regular income of at least 10 million VND per month, roughly US$437, or show that your income is taxable at bracket 3 or higher under Vietnam's Personal Income Tax Law¹². Proof can take the form of income documentation from within the year before your casino visit¹³. In practice, the casino's reception desk checks these papers when you register for membership, so bring original documents rather than photos¹⁴.

Entry ticket. Vietnamese players must buy a ticket to enter: 1,000,000 VND per person for 24 continuous hours, or 25,000,000 VND per person for a month¹⁵. This is the single biggest practical difference from foreign visitors, who pay nothing. The fee is not a credit toward play; it is purely an entry charge. Authorities have floated raising it further as a way to simplify income verification, on the logic that a higher ticket price itself filters for financial capacity¹⁶, so check the current price before you go.

Documents to carry. On your first visit, bring:

• a valid citizen ID card
• a valid passport where accepted
• your financial proof documents
• your entry ticket or purchase confirmation
• anything else the casino asks for²

The casino registers you as a member at the reception desk, and the age and income documents required by Vietnamese law complete that registration¹⁴.

Currency. Vietnamese players may only use Vietnamese dong, exchanged at the casino for convention currency, and exchanged back if unspent or on winnings⁹. Plan your cash accordingly.

One more point worth knowing: the income and age rules apply to the person, not the venue. A Vietnamese citizen who does not meet them cannot play at any casino in the country, pilot or otherwise.

Foreign passport holders: standard entry, no pilot needed

If you hold a foreign passport, the pilot is irrelevant to you. Foreigners may gamble at any of Vietnam's licensed casinos, and the entry process is simple: a valid passport with a visa and entry stamp, presented at registration³. No income proof, no entry fee, no membership hurdle tied to Vietnamese law.

The minimum age for foreigners at Corona Casino Phu Quoc is 18, provided you have full civil capacity under Vietnamese law¹⁷. This is lower than the 21 required of Vietnamese citizens, and it is the age most Vietnamese casinos apply to foreign guests.

Overseas Vietnamese are treated as foreigners for these purposes, provided they hold a foreign passport. The rules allow foreigners and Vietnamese people residing abroad with passports issued by a foreign competent agency to gamble at Vietnam's casinos¹⁸. The same principle applies to prize electronic games for foreigners: players permitted at those licensed sites are foreigners and overseas Vietnamese who legally enter Vietnam using foreign-issued passports or international travel documents, with valid visas¹⁹. The underlying rule dates back to a 2013 decree allowing foreigners and overseas Vietnamese with foreign passports, valid travel documents and lawful entry to play²⁰.

In practice, this means a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen with an Australian passport walks into a Vietnamese casino exactly as any other foreign tourist would. A Vietnamese citizen with only a Vietnamese ID card cannot, unless they are at one of the three pilot projects and clear the local rules.

Foreign visitors will find the games familiar: baccarat, blackjack, roulette and sic bo are standard, and sic bo in particular is widely available in licensed casinos across the country²¹.

Corona Casino Phu Quoc and The Grand Ho Tram: the two pilot venues

The two pilot venues most travelers will actually visit are Corona Resort and Casino on Phu Quoc island and The Grand Ho Tram on the coast east of Ho Chi Minh City. Van Don, the third project named in the 2025 resolution, is earlier in its life cycle and its pilot clock starts only when its certificate of eligibility is issued⁸.

Corona Casino Phu Quoc sits in the Bai Dai area in the north of Phu Quoc island, now administered as part of An Giang province¹⁷. It holds the title of largest casino in Vietnam, with an 18,500 square meter gaming floor, more than 100 tables and more than 1,000 electronic gaming machines⁴. It was the first casino complex in Vietnam legally open to Vietnamese players, and it operates as a fully licensed casino under the pilot scheme that began in 2017¹⁴. The casino sits inside a resort complex reported at around US$2 billion, with 4- and 5-star hotels, a spa and other upscale amenities, and it is over 30 kilometers from Phu Quoc airport, so allow about an hour by road²². Phu Quoc itself is a visa-free island for most foreign visitors under Vietnam's island visa policy, which is part of what makes this the most accessible pilot venue for a short trip.

The Grand Ho Tram is the second project opened to locals under the November 2025 resolution, with its five-year pilot running from the resolution's effective date⁷. It serves the Ho Chi Minh City market, roughly two hours down the coast from the city. For foreign visitors it has always operated as a standard licensed casino, and the resolution changes nothing about how foreigners enter.

For a Vietnamese citizen planning a first visit to Corona, the sequence is: register at the reception desk, present your citizen ID card and income proof, buy your entry ticket, and exchange dong for playing chips¹⁴. For a foreign visitor, the sequence is: show your passport at the door and walk in³.

What happens when the pilot ends

The pilot is explicitly temporary, and the rules say what happens at the end. When the pilot period for a project ends, that project stops admitting Vietnamese players until the competent authority concludes whether to continue, expand or adjust the policy⁸. The same framework appears in the draft decree on casino business: after the pilot ends, enterprises stop admitting Vietnamese players until the government decides to end or continue the scheme⁹.

For travelers, the practical takeaway is simple. If you are a Vietnamese citizen planning a trip around a pilot venue, know that the window is defined: five years from the relevant start date at each project, with the Phu Quoc pilot having already run through its earlier extension to the end of 2024 before the 2025 resolution restarted the clock⁶. If you are a foreign visitor, none of this affects you at all. The pilot's end would not close the casinos; it would only end local access to them.

Other island and zone casinos around Asia

Vietnam is not the only place where an island or special zone changes who may play. Several other Asian destinations work the same way, and knowing the pattern helps you plan.

Jeju island, South Korea. Jeju is a visa-free island for most foreign visitors, and its casinos are foreigners-only. Paradise Casino Jeju Grand is a foreigners-only casino inside the Maison Glad Jeju hotel, open around the clock²², as are the Jeju KAL Hotel Casino²³ and Majesta Jeju Casino. Paradise City, the large integrated resort near Incheon, is likewise foreigners only²⁴. South Korean citizens are barred from these venues, and the national gaming control committee instructs foreigner-only casinos to strengthen nationality screening and customer data management²⁵. Korean law requires casino premises to be divided into members-only and general areas, with a separate foreigner-only area operated where needed to attract foreigners²⁶, and operators must verify the identity of everyone entering²⁷. At the Incheon Airport branch of Paradise Casino, the floor is laid out as a Gaming Zone, a VIP Zone and a Dine and Drink area²⁸. On Jeju's south coast, the Hyatt Regency casino in the Jungmun Tourist Complex is also for foreigners only, 40 minutes by car from Jeju City and the airport, and 20 minutes from Seogwipo City²⁹; the Shilla Hotel Casino sits nearby on the same Jungmun road³⁰.

Sikkim, India. The Himalayan state of Sikkim licenses casinos but bans the entry of locals, a ban imposed by a state notification dated July 4, 2016³¹. The casinos exist for visitors, not residents.

Macau. Macau is the opposite case: the whole special administrative region is treated in law as a continuous gaming zone, and casinos must operate year round³². There is no residency test at the door; anyone of age may play.

The Philippines. A different mechanism again: PAGCOR-run casinos may operate a foreign exchange gaming pit, where only persons with foreign passports, or certificates of identity for Hong Kong patrons, are allowed to play³³. The restriction attaches to a specific pit inside the casino, not the whole venue.

The pattern at a glance:

The common thread is that the zone or island is used as a laboratory: locals are kept out, or let in under strict conditions, while foreign visitors face only the normal passport check. If you are planning a trip around any of these destinations, our page on gambling as a visitor in Asia covers the broader picture, and expats vs tourists explains how residency status changes access.

Sihanoukville and other zone destinations: open, but check before you book

Cambodia's casino industry is primarily concentrated in two areas: Poipet on the Thai border and Sihanoukville on the coast³⁴. Both are open to travelers, and both are built around the same zone logic: the casinos exist largely for foreign visitors, with Thais crossing to Poipet and Chinese and other international visitors flying into Sihanoukville.

The same "check before you book" rule applies to any zone destination whose rules have moved recently. Vietnam's pilot restarted in November 2025, so any guide, forum post or blog describing local access at Vietnamese casinos written before that date is out of date, and any written before the 2024 extension is doubly so. For the current picture in each country, see our country pages, including Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia and Macau.

A quick checklist by traveler type

Foreign tourist in Vietnam. Bring your passport with visa and entry stamp. You may enter any licensed casino at 18, pay no entry fee, and need no income proof. The pilot does not apply to you.

Overseas Vietnamese with a foreign passport. You are treated as a foreigner: same passport check, same free entry, same games.

Vietnamese citizen. You may play only at the Phu Quoc, Ho Tram or Van Don projects. You must be 21 or older, prove income of 10 million VND per month or tax bracket 3 status, buy an entry ticket of 1,000,000 VND per 24 hours or 25,000,000 VND per month, and play only in dong exchanged at the casino.

Foreign visitor on Jeju. The island is visa-free for most nationalities and its casinos are foreigners-only, so your passport is all you need. Korean citizens cannot enter.

Visitor to Sihanoukville or Poipet. Both casino towns are open; verify your property and current local conditions before booking, and see our Cambodia page for the countrywide picture.

Anyone planning around a pilot or zone rule. These arrangements change on government timetables, not travel timetables. The Vietnamese pilot runs five years from its 2025 restart; check that your trip falls inside the window.