Hello from Ho Chi Minh City! I’ve just returned from a visa run and family meetup in Phnom Penh. This was the first time in about 8 years since I travelled by bus between the two cities, and it took 8 hours to cover 240 km. Even with a border crossing factored in, that is a ridiculously long time. I will post a Phnom Penh trip report next week that will include transport and construction updates.

This week’s article is about the proposed Phnom Penh - Siem Reap Railway. I’ve already written about the proposed Ho Chi Minh City – Phnom Penh Railway, which I was dreaming about today while the bus was crawling through traffic.

The Phnom Penh - Siem Reap Railway was recently re-proposed, so I dug up all of the archived news articles and links for it. There isn’t much information about it yet, though the proposals haven’t been too serious. I found some great maps, but I also found a website that signals a new era in misinformation. I found this so-called Cambodia travel site that claims there is a train between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

Judging by the writing and the vague information about the author, it appears to be written by an AI program that has become popular in the last few months. Entire travel websites like this can be written in a day. So if you are reading this looking for the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap train, there is no train.

[Updated: Nusantara]

• The capital government to proceed the construction of the giant sea wall

🇱🇦 Laos

• Blue Dot, PTT Lao sign a contract to install EV charging stations nationwide

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Malaysia cuts ECRL costs, but can the mega railway project pay?

[Updated: East Coast Rail Link]

• Penang cable car project good to go

• Objectives in Penang Island draft local plan unrealistic, says state Perikatan

• Sarawak to address cement shortage issue

🇵🇭 Philippines

• Metro Manila Subway construction begins

• The Philippines’ New Year airport meltdown

“The start of 2023 should have been triumphant for President Marcos. Instead, domestic and international attention was monopolized by the chaos unfolding at the country’s airports.”

• Let private sector modernize NAIA – Poe

• Gov’t weighs multiple airport PPP projects

• PHL obtains $6M to fund rail feasibility studies

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Sun Cable collapse leaves Singapore’s solar link to Australia in the balance

• Forum: LTA committed to building an inclusive public transport system

• Construction set to start in Yew Tee on S’pore’s second ‘vertical kampung’

🇹🇭 Thailand

• New year, new spaces, new hangouts

“Exciting changes to the Bangkok skyline in 2023.”

• The 33-million-baht signboard scandal derailing Thailand’s new grand central station

• Santi favours updated railway contract

"Deputy Finance Minister Santi Promphat supports revising the contract for the high-speed railway linking three airports to take into account the impact from Covid-19 outbreaks on the bid winner, a Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group-led consortium."

[Updated: 3 Airport High Speed Railway]

• Long-delayed Thailand-China high-speed train: A political game on two tracks

• High-speed train still on track

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam’s $15.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership explained

• Over $1.2 billion needed to restore Vietnam’s Thap Cham-Da Lat railway

[Updated: Da Lat–Thap Cham Railway]

• Proposed investment capital for HCMC-Can Tho railway at US$9 billion

[Updated: Mekong Delta Railway]

• Vietnam plans non-tariff zone in Da Nang

• Work starts on $107mn political-administrative center in Vietnam’s Hai Phong

Future Southeast Asia

There is no train from Phnom Penh to Siem…