Southeast Asia transport and construction news (#243)

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

Greetings from Phnom Penh. Over the last week, I have travelled from Bangkok to the Thailand-Cambodia border by train, walked across the border to Poipet, got a van from Poipet to Battambang, and got the train from Battambang to Phnom Penh. Unfortunately, the Poipet to Battambang train isn’t running at the moment, otherwise, you could get two (slow) trains from Bangkok to Phnom Penh.

This week’s main article is a fact sheet of construction projects in Poipet. This city is famous for casinos, Special Economic Zones, and for being a notoriously dodgy border crossing. I will be writing a trip report for subscribers about my stay at Poipet in the next few weeks.

I discovered while researching Poipet that there is/was a planned airport. I have now updated the Cambodia airports page to include Poipet Airport.

Latest posts at Future Southeast Asia

• Future Poipet: Construction and transport in Cambodia’s border city

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Construction, real estate debt hits $18B amid post-pandemic decline

• PP records 516 construction projects worth $1 billion

• Test flight linking Koh Kong and Phnom Penh gears up for take off

• The murky waters of Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal

• Cambodia says Xi supports controversial canal, but China’s silence keeps questions flowing

• Another 48 projects get approval for incentives in Sihanoukville

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Prabowo to move to new capital Nusantara on August 17, 2028

• Jabodebek LRT to connect to Soekarno-Hatta airport train

• Batam’s bid for relevance in Southeast Asia’s economic race

🇱🇦 Laos

• Construction of Bus Rapid Transit system now 35 percent complete

• Laos to enhance truck weighing stations to prevent road damage

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Land for Penang LRT depot on man-made Silicon Island to be ready end of 2025

• Can Kuala Lumpur’s iconic pink mini buses actually be the solution to first-mile, last-mile connectivity woes?

• Rethink MRT3, learn from glaring mistakes of past projects

“Poor choice of routes beside highways and far from residential areas, with stations difficult to access, and areas with high potential being neglected.“

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

• Myanmar regime set to resume New Yangon City and other Chinese projects

🇵🇭 Philippines

• Philippines constructing $3bn ‘world’s largest’ integrated solar/battery facility

• Davao gets P300-B worth of infrastructure projects

• Japan-Philippines partnership advances road construction initiatives

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Hume MRT station to open in Q2 2025; Circle Line Stage 6 to be ready in first half of 2026

“Hume MRT station on the Downtown Line (DTL) will open in the second quarter of 2025, while the sixth stage of the Circle Line (CCL6) will open in the first half of 2026.”

• Government keeps foot on pedal in boosting housing land supply in 1H 2025; offering three executive condo plots on the confirmed list

• NTU’s Gaia, Changi Airport T2 among top winners of global Unesco architecture prizes

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Land reclamation for 'Pearl Necklace': 9 Islands in the Gulf of Thailand, is it worth?

• Contractor loses millions for abandoning Trang terminal project

"Airports Department seizes 53-million-baht security deposit after contractor abandons construction, will search for a replacement soon to meet March deadline."

• Khlong Prem Prachakorn canal restoration project nears completion

• Phuket launches electric buses to ease traffic, air pollution

• Bus stop in Thailand has seats almost level with the ground due to contractor blunder, drawing amusement

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam and China agree to build three key railway lines 

“Vietnam and China have formalized an agreement to cooperate on the construction of three standard-gauge railway lines: Lao Cai–Hanoi–Hai Phong, Lang Son–Hanoi, and Mong Cai–Ha Long–Hai Phong.”

• HCMC to complete seven metro lines by 2035, with investment of $40.2 billion

• Ministry establishes appraisal council for $3.4-billion railway project in Vietnam

"The Ministry of Transport has formed a council to evaluate the pre-feasibility study for the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh railway project in southern Vietnam, which is designed for a speed of 120kph and requires an estimated investment of over US$3.4 billion."

• Work resumes on HCMC's $33M convention center after decade-long delay

• 150 electric buses to serve HCMC's first metro line

• Public Security Ministry prepared to build airport in Bac Ninh

• Construction of $151 mln bridge starts in Mekong Delta

• Vietnam pushes electric motorbikes as pollution becomes 'unbearable'

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