These tunnels are a symbol of Vietnam's continual fight against foreign incursions. The tunnel system covers close to 200 km including under what was once a US air base. The tunnels once spanned an area stretching from close to the Cambodian border to the city limits of Ho Chi Minh City. They are a symbol of Vietnamese ingenuity, loyalty, hard work and determination. They were originally constructed to fight against the French in the 1940s. Their purpose was to provide the peasant army with a means of communication between villages while remaining undetected.

In 1960 the Viet Cong repaired and added to the tunnels to fight against the South Vietnamese and American forces. The Commander of the American forces in the region was of the opinion that the Viet Cong who were responsible for digging these tunnels were "human moles". Although the tunnels were mainly designed with a fighting role in mind they also contained a wide array of chambers including field hospitals, meeting rooms and even private offices and sleeping quarters for senior officers. To repel attacks and infiltration, the tunnels contained many elaborate booby traps including concealed pits with bamboo spikes at the base, along with mines and crossbows which would be triggered by trip wires. When you visit the tunnels, your guide will point out some of these traps. You should look back once you are by them and try to decide how many of those you would have triggered or located by yourself! Some of the tunnels even went under water, with a primitive S-Bend effect where the tunnel would open just under the surface of a river. This allowed the Viet Cong to leave the tunnels virtually undetected.