News: 21 June 2023

Greetings from Danang! I was in Danang two months ago before I went to Thailand. I have now returned to find these turquoise electric taxis everywhere. It turns out that they were launched this week, so I will be giving them a go while I am here.

This week Bangkok opened a new urban transit line (the Yellow Line monorail), so I have updated the Southeast Asia transit table. Thailand is also proposing an exciting new railway line (well I think it is exciting, and if you read this newsletter you probably do too). I will start a fact sheet for this line next week.

Latest posts at Future Southeast Asia

• Second Chiang Mai International Airport

This is a good time to mention again that this is a fact sheet and not an editorial endorsement. I have an editorial in the next link.

Dispatches from Southeast Asia

• The madness of second airports

Chiang Mai should build a high-speed railway, Greater HCMC wants a 3rd airport when it can't even build the 2nd, build a railway for Haiphong instead, and the weird Kedah proposal.

News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Cambodia seeks partners for planned Mondulkiri airport

• Sihanoukville to get $14 million mall

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Indonesia’s 1st high-speed train does 300 kph in latest test

• LRT Jabodebek to open trial for customers only for Rp1

• South Kalimantan prepares to become a new center for the economy to support the archipelago's IKN

🇱🇦 Laos

• Laos seals MOU with Chinese firm for development of That Luang SEZ

• Railway bringing more Chinese to Laos, business operators say

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• KLIA upgrade expected to start in 2026, says Transport Ministry

• Subang Airport regeneration to impact KLIA

• Transport Ministry going through feasibility study reports on Kulim airport

• Trouble in paradise: Artificial islands plan causing a stir in Penang ahead of state elections

• Use MRT land reserve wisely

• Ipoh City Council to take legal action against company over bad road conditions

🇲🇲 Myanmar

• Shwe Kokko city, notorious as gambling hub, rely on generators amid power outages

• Citu seeks Tripura-Myanmar railway link to boost eco ties

🇵🇭 Philippines

• Philippine tycoons double airport upgrade bid to $4.8 billion

• Manila to Legazpi City in 4.5 hours? The PNR Bicol could make it reality

• Higher LRT-1, LRT-2 fares set on Aug. 2, MRT-3 eyes price hike

🇸🇬 Singapore

• New Cross Island Line trains will have more doors, wider gangways between cars

• LTA to start road improvement works in Changi South in 2024 after 4-year delay

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Yellow Line sees over 65,000 passengers on first day of full service

• Major megaprojects clear EIA hurdle”The National Environment Board (NEB) has passed Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for two megaprojects: the Mae Kam reservoir in Chiang Rai and a dual-track railway in the South.”

"The dual-track railway is a 321-kilometre line which will cover four southern provinces -- Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Songkhla -- and will have 65 stations, the source said."

• MRTA station plan sparks city architecture row

• Tensions flare in ancient Thai city over new Chinese-backed high-speed railway

• Bangkok to step up regulations for street vendors to reclaim sidewalks for pedestrians

• The East Asiatic building to be reborn as Thailand’s first Nobu hotel

• PM Prayut Chan-o-cha pushes ambitious Land Bridge project in South to create trade hub in SE Asia

• Decline in population poses challenge for Bangkok's housing market

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Terminal 2 at Hue international airport inaugurated

• Navigating electricity reform in Vietnam

• Officials arrested as Vietnam's first 'smart urban area' built illegally

There is ugly nonsense like this all over Vietnam. Lots of places with “smart” and “eco” in their title which usually means they are neither.

• Work starts on first trans-Mekong Delta expressway

• Construction resumes for southern Vietnam’s longest expressway

• Hanoi to ban motorbikes in 12 inner districts by 2030