The changing face of Bangkok

News #257: Bangkok construction report, Central Highlands Vietnam Railway, DOGE cuts in SE Asia, Penang LRT, a monorail for Bohol, Binh Duong Metro

Author

James Clark
March 19, 2025

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

Hello from Da Nang, Vietnam. I was in Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands this week, which was my first visit. I was curious to go there as it’s a city that doesn’t see many foreign visitors. I also wanted to get a feel for transport to the city, as there is a proposed Central Highlands Railway. A few years ago I made a map that plotted all of the railways that have been proposed for the Central Highlands. It’s unlikely to happen, but the same could have been said for the Laos-China Railway.

Proposed Central Highlands Railway

I will be in Da Nang for the next month, with side trips to Hue and Hoi An. Let me know if you are in the region!

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News

"The U.S.-funded broadcasters Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have long been a thorn in the side of the region’s repressive governments."

This newsletter is usually blissfully free of news from the US, but it can’t be escaped this week. The Trump’DOGE administration has shut down funding for Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. I’ve linked to these sites countless times in this newsletter as they feature news stories that local media won’t cover (such as corrupt property developers in Cambodia and Laos-China Railway costs). I’m shocked that these institutions would be shut down.

“Workers were in the middle of cleaning up the site of an enormous chemical spill, the Bien Hoa air base, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly halted all foreign aid funding. The shutdown left exposed open pits of soil contaminated with dioxin, the deadly byproduct of Agent Orange, which the American military sprayed across large swaths of the country during the Vietnam War. After Rubio’s orders to stop work, the cleanup crews were forced to abandon the site, and, for weeks, all that was covering the contaminated dirt were tarps, which at one point blew off in the wind.”

I have previously featured Bien Hoa Airport in Dong Nai Province (near Ho Chi Minh City). It was the largest air base during the war, and the busiest airport in the world at one point (though that is also said for Tan Son Nhat Air Base).

The airport is currently a military base, and the government are talking about converting it to a joint military-commercial airport. The US committed to continue with the cleanup days before Trump was inaugurated. I guess cleaning up the country you poisoned is too woke. The same goes for the cleaning up of bombs from the war:

"Large swaths of land in Southeast Asia are littered with unexploded bombs dropped by American forces during the Vietnam War."

🇰🇭 Cambodia

"The authorities have doubled down on eviction plans for the remaining holdouts in Pursat province’s Phnom 1500 area, noting that many of their claims of ownership are demonstrably false."

🇮🇩 Indonesia

"Four state-owned construction companies that were tasked with implementing Jokowi's infrastructure projects are on the brink of bankruptcy. There will be systemic impacts."

"The Bali governor says TMD will resume its operation next month, after the provincial administration and three of its eight regencies struck an agreement to share the local bus service's operating costs."

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

• PH ranks last in ASEAN transport infrastructure [Philippine Institute for Development Studies]

"With the impending turnover of Bohol-Panglao International Airport to private management, Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado has reiterated his preference for a monorail system over a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to ease transportation woes in the province."

🇸🇬 Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

"An elevated expressway under construction collapsed on Saturday, March 15, killing five people and injuring 24 others, with preliminary investigations pointing to unstable soil conditions as the likely cause."

"The plan to extend the State Railway of Thailand's (SRT) Red Line from Siriraj Hospital to Salaya is expected to be presented to the cabinet next month."

"Tawatchai Napasaksri, director of the BMA's Public Works Department, provided an update on bridge projects under the responsibility of the BMA. These are part of the master plan for bridges across the Chao Phraya in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). They include the Kiakkai Bridge project near the Kiakkai intersection in Bangkok's Dusit district."

• An update on the Koh Chang Bridge via iamKohChang.com on Facebook:

"The route for the Koh Chang bridge has apparently been selected. This route was chosen due to a combination of short distance, least disruption to local communities and least effect of the natural environment / National Park."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

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