East Timor planes and dreams of trains

[News 10 Sep 2025] New Phnom Penh airport opens, Indonesia and China discuss sea wall and high-speed rail, land for South Korea tourism project in Vientiane, Malaysia mulls railway link to encircle Borneo, Singapore reclaims land below mean sea level, Nong Khai–Vientiane rail bridge, HCMC-Tay Ninh Railway.

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James Clark
September 10, 2025

The Future Southeast Asia Newsletter features transport and urban development news in Southeast Asia, edited by James Clark.

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Timor-Leste will become a member of ASEAN next month, so following in the footsteps of ASEAN, I have finally added Timor-Leste to the site with two articles.

Latest articles

I continue to make airport pages for every country in Southeast Asia, and I am now up to Timor-Leste. I wasn’t expecting this to be a long list, but it turned out to be a good geography lesson. I didn’t know that there was a Timor-Leste exclave in West Timor, even though I would have gone by it on the bus from Kupang to Dili. This is where having the front section of Lonely Planet comes in handy. I would have read about this on the bus, but I wasn’t travelling with a guidebook.

Another interesting point is that there is an island off the coast of Timor Island that is also part of Timor-Leste. There are flights there as well.

Before you get too excited, there is currently no plan for a railway in Timor-Leste. However, I found a 2012 report that proposed a 3-line national railway.

Recent articles

There are different plans to connect Ho Chi Minh City to its new airport by rail, but not a single line has begun construction months before the airport is expected to open.

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

"Cambodia’s civil aviation sector has reached a historic milestone with the operational launch of Techo International Airport (KTI), a 4F-class international airport featuring world-class scale and design."

"The Royal Government yesterday gave its in-principle approval to designate nearly 2,000 hectares of land in Lumphat District, Ratanakiri province, for the development of a new airport."

Lumphat District is in Northeast Cambodia, near Gia Lai province in Vietnam (map).

🇮🇩 Indonesia

"Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to push forward cooperation on major infrastructure projects, including a giant sea wall and a high-speed railway, during a bilateral meeting in Beijing this week, officials said."

"A year after it was inaugurated, Indonesia's would-be new capital Nusantara attracts tourists and construction workers, but most of its architecturally arresting presidential palace and freshly built avenues sit silent."

"At 12.46 percent of the overall cost of living, Indonesians spend significantly more on transportation than the global average, according to Transportation Ministry data."

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

"Malaysia is considering extending the proposed Trans Borneo Railway beyond domestic borders to Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia — with the longer-term ambition of circling the entire island of Borneo — in a move that could transform regional connectivity."

"The much-anticipated North Coastal Paired Road (NCPR) project promises to be a game-changer for Penang's northern coast, offering residents, commuters and tourists a vital alternative to the single-carriageway Jalan Batu Ferringhi, which has long been a source of gridlock and frustration."

"Penang cannot build its way out of traffic congestion, a transport consultant said, warning that new flyovers and underpasses may only shift the problem rather than solve it."

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

"The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to update the feasibility study on the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) to finally onboard a lender for the project’s development two years after the Marcos Jr. administration backed out from a Chinese financing deal."

"The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said it stands ready to further support Philippine railway, road, and bridge projects if the Philippines puts forward suitable proposals."

"A coalition of airport users and workers on Tuesday criticized the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its role in the concession agreement to modernize the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), saying the deal forces the public to pay for upgrades through a massive increase in fees."

"When Quezon City streets went underwater after just a few hours of localized rain on Aug. 30, many were shocked. It is unusual for short bursts of rainfall to paralyze a major city in Metro Manila. We can’t predict the next similar downpour, but we know our infrastructure cannot adapt anymore, either due to corruption or the changing climate. And one thing is for sure, we know who pays for it: everyone."

🇸🇬 Singapore

"This marks the first time Singapore has reclaimed land below mean sea level, through a method that cut the use of sand by almost 50 per cent."

🇹🇭 Thailand

"The initiative uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise traffic light timings, analysing data from 561 signalised intersections to adjust green, yellow and red lights according to real-time traffic conditions."

"The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has unveiled a bold vision to transform Pak Khlong Samsen (the mouth of Samsen canal) into a vibrant new riverside landmark along the Chao Phraya River."

"This covered walkway will connect the Lumpini MRT station to the Chong Nonsi Skywalk, spanning more than 1.6 kilometres."

"A combination of land subsidence, rising sea levels, and a loss of natural floodplains is creating a multi-faceted crisis, demanding a complete rethink of the city's flood management."

"Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul strongly hinted on Tuesday that his government would not continue a flagship policy of the Pheu Thai government, which subsidizes commuter fares to allow passengers to ride electric railways for just 20 baht per trip."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"The proposed line would span 57 km, with a standard gauge of 1,435 mm, a track width of 12.5 m, and a right-of-way of 40 m. It would start at Tan Hung Station in Ho Chi Minh City, run parallel to the Binh Duong-Tay Ninh highway, and end at Moc Bai Station in Tay Ninh. Of the total length, 27 km would run through Tay Ninh and 30 km through Ho Chi Minh City."

Moc Bai is on the Vietnam-Cambodia border, so this line would form the Vietnam half of a future Ho Chi Minh City-Phnom Penh railway.

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