It runs about 256 km from its source in Tay Ninh Province (near the Cambodian border) down through Ho Chi Minh City and empties into the Nha Be River, which then flows into the South China Sea. The stretch you’re seeing downtown runs along District 1 on the west bank and District 2 (Thu Duc) on the east bank.

The river is why Saigon exists. The Khmer settlement of Prey Nokor was built here because of the river. The French colonized it because the river gave them a deep-water port connecting to the South China Sea. During the war it was a major supply route. The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 included North Vietnamese naval forces coming up this river.

May 2026