Bach Thai Buoi and Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan: A Seven-Year Promise to History
A rare bronze portrait has finally found its way home to Vietnam.
The sculpture portrays Bach Thai Buoi, the patriotic entrepreneur often remembered as the “King of Tonkin’s Waterways.” Created in 1934 by sculptor Georges Khanh, only two years after his passing, the work stands 45.5 cm tall and bears the artist’s signature, the year of creation, and the name of the bronze craftsman Ng. Huy Hat on the reverse.
To the history of Vietnamese enterprise, it is one of the earliest and rarest portraits of a business visionary who helped reshape the country’s economic imagination in the early twentieth century.
But to Dr. Pham Ha, Founder of LuxGroup, the successful acquisition of the sculpture at an international auction was far more than a victory in the art world.
It was the fulfillment of a seven-year promise.
Seven years earlier, on June 27, 2019, while researching materials for the creation of Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan, Dr. Ha was introduced by collector Duong Phu Hien in Phuc Yen to an exceptionally rare bronze statue. It was the first time he saw the original sculpture in person and held it in his hands. Present that day was also Ms. Bach Que Huong, a descendant of Bach Thai Buoi.
Years later, Dr. Ha still remembers that moment with striking clarity.
“It was not simply the feeling of touching a work of art,” he recalled. “It was the feeling of touching history.”
That sentence may be the key to understanding why the return of this sculpture matters so deeply.
A work of art can be valued by its material, date, author, rarity, and provenance. But a symbol cannot be measured by price alone. It carries the memory of an era, the spirit of a person, and sometimes the dignity of an entire nation.
Bach Thai Buoi was not merely a successful businessman. He transformed patriotism into competitive strength. He proved that Vietnamese people could master their rivers, own their fleets, and take charge of their own economic destiny. His story was never only about commerce. It was a story of national self-respect.
In the early twentieth century, when much of Indochina’s waterway transport was controlled by foreign companies, he built a Vietnamese fleet for Vietnamese passengers. His famous call, “Vietnamese people travel on Vietnamese ships,” was more than a business slogan. It was an invitation to believe in Vietnamese capability.
Exactly one century later, in 2019, Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan was born, inspired by that pioneering vessel.
From the beginning, Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan was never designed as an ordinary luxury cruise. It was envisioned as a living cultural space in Lan Ha Bay, where the stories of Vietnamese entrepreneurship, maritime heritage, art, music, cuisine, and national pride could be experienced through every detail of the journey.
At the heart of the ship, beneath the central skylight, stands a large bronze statue of Bach Thai Buoi created by artisan Le Dinh Quy. For Dr. Ha, this was never merely a design centerpiece. It was a quiet reminder of an unfinished promise.
For years, every time he stood before the statue onboard Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan, he continued to tell the story of the man he deeply admired. The original sculpture had not yet returned, but the spirit of its subject was already alive on every voyage.
Guests came aboard to discover Lan Ha Bay. Yet along the way, they also encountered the story of a Vietnamese entrepreneur who once challenged foreign shipping companies, awakened national confidence, and used business as a way to serve his country.
That is what makes Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan different.
Heritage here is not kept behind glass. It is brought into life — through architecture, dining, music, art, storytelling, and the quiet emotional moments that unfold at sea.
Not long after that first encounter in 2019, collector Duong Phu Hien passed away. The opportunity seemed to have closed. But as Dr. Ha has often said, some promises to history do not truly disappear. They simply wait for the right moment to continue.
In early 2025, at an exhibition of works by celebrated painter Pham Luc, Dr. Ha met Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam, Chairman of the Ngoc Ha Art Collectors Club. By coincidence, Mr. Lam and his family had recently experienced Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan and had been deeply moved by the ship, especially the story surrounding the statue at its skylight.
During their conversation, Mr. Lam revealed that he owned the original bronze sculpture by Georges Khanh, cast in 1934.
Dr. Ha immediately understood.
It was the very sculpture he had first held in his hands many years before.
That day, they did not speak much about price.
They spoke about value.
Mr. Lam said something that Dr. Ha would never forget:
“I am not looking for someone to buy the statue. I am looking for someone who will continue telling its story.”
That sentence reaches the very heart of Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan.
A treasure does not only need an owner. It needs an environment where it can continue to live. A statue does not only need preservation. It needs to inspire. A historical figure does not only need to be remembered. He needs to be understood, retold, and connected to the questions of our time.
So when the sculpture appeared at auction, Dr. Ha knew that if he missed this chance, there might never be another.
He decided to take part.
Not to own another rare object.
Not to add another piece to a private collection.
But to bring home a tangible part of Vietnam’s entrepreneurial memory.
It was something much simpler:
“At last, I have brought him home.”
Within that sentence lies the relief of a promise fulfilled, the joy of a reunion, and the feeling that one circle of history had closed only to open another journey.
Looking back, the number seven appears like a quiet rhythm throughout the story.
On June 27, 2019, Dr. Ha first held the sculpture in his hands. Seven years later, it found its way home. Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan officially launched on September 7, 2019 — exactly one hundred years after the historic Binh Chuan ship was launched on September 7, 1919.
In the life and legacy of Bach Thai Buoi, the number seven also appears in meaningful ways: in the month of his birth, the month of his passing, and several milestones connected to his work in philanthropy, journalism, entrepreneurship, and maritime history.
Some may call them coincidences.
Others may see in them the quiet rhythm of history.
The point is not to explain a number. The point is to recognize that some promises need time to find the right person, the right place, and the right moment.
For Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan, the original bronze sculpture does not return merely to stand still as a precious object. Its return completes a story that has been told onboard for many years.
From now on, guests who step into the cultural space of Heritage Cruises will not only hear about Bach Thai Buoi as a name in history. They will encounter a physical symbol, a portrait created only two years after his passing, a work that has travelled through nearly a century to return to the story it belongs to.
In a time when the world speaks of digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation, and sustainability, this story remains profoundly relevant.
A country cannot move forward only with financial capital, technological capital, or human capital. It also needs memory capital.
Memory capital is made of stories, symbols, and values accumulated across generations. It helps a community understand who it is, where it comes from, and where it is going.
If finance creates growth, and technology creates productivity, memory creates identity.
If innovation helps us move faster, heritage helps us know our direction.
Bach Thai Buoi left behind more than ships. He left behind a spirit: that business can be more than private success; it can also help elevate a nation.
Today, that spirit continues aboard Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan — not as a dry history lesson, but as a living experience shaped by nature, art, culture, and human connection.
A dinner in an Indochine-inspired setting.
A traditional melody floating across the bay.
An artwork placed where it can speak to the public.
Together, these moments answer one essential question: how can heritage be not only preserved, but also kept alive?
For Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan, the answer is clear.
Heritage does not return to sleep.
Heritage returns to live.
And sometimes, a bronze statue can do more than remind us of the past. It can make us believe that the finest stories of a nation, when entrusted to the right people, can continue to travel far.
Across the quiet waters of Lan Ha Bay, this story will not end with an auction, a sculpture, or a reunion after seven years.
It will continue in the eyes of every guest who stands before the legacy, in the pride of Vietnamese people who recognize the greatness of their own entrepreneurial history, and in every voyage that Heritage Cruises Binh Chuan continues to create.
Because some treasures are not looking for buyers.
They are looking for someone to continue their story.
And after seven years, that promise has finally been fulfilled.
Based on conversations and interviews with Dr. Pham Ha
Written by Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh
