Future Southeast Asia News #271

Chiang Mai travel update, Jakarta's urban development, Sangley international airport plans construction this year, buyback of Bangkok train lines, free trade zone in Da Nang, and Da Nang plans to build 5 islands inspired by Dubai’s model.

Author

James Clark
June 25, 2025

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

Hello from Chiang Mai. It’s my last week here for this visa session, and I will be going back to Vietnam next week. I was planning to go to Laos, but then I realised that I only have one clean page left in my passport, and the Laos visa takes a whole page. I would probably have 10 clean pages if passport stampers didn’t just randomly stamp on clean pages instead of finding a space anywhere else.

Luckily for me, the Australian Embassy in Bangkok held a passport day in Chiang Mai last week, so I don't have to do it in Bangkok. I will return to Thailand next month to collect my passport, and by then, I will be ready to do some new trip reports around Southeast Asia.

I’ve been in Chiang Mai for the last two months, though I haven’t covered much of the city. There is a rehabilitated canal area that I want to cover, as well as the proposed transit system.

There is a map of one of the Chiang Mai transit lines near the north gate of the moat, but some of the roads are not suitable for light rail. This one one of many of the transit lines that have been proposed outside Bangkok, none of which have started construction.

Dreaming of a Chiang Mai transit system

Future Southeast Asia articles

Latest article

• This week’s feature article will be out next week. When I am not travelling, I work on editorial articles that require long hours at a desk. I’m currently writing about Indonesian cities and tourism, and I am now 4000 words deep inside a rabbit hole that I am trying to write my way out of. There might be two or three articles in the end, so stay tuned for those posts.

Recent articles

Quy Nhon trip report (2025 edition). A review of apartment and hotel towers under construction, the resort project that will be connected to the city by cable car, the abandoned Japanese-themed new urban area, and prospects for the city with the future high-speed railway.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are planning to build metro lines to their high-speed railway stations, and Da Nang has proposed a rail connection. Here are some other cities on the high-speed rail route that should also consider a rail link.

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• $78M Koh Kong highway passes inspection [The Phnom Penh Post]

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Beyond celebrations (archive) [The Jakarta Post]

"The common thread tying together Jakarta's perennial flooding, choking pollution and constant congestion is weak political will, and unless the local administration addresses this underlying factor starting now, these issues will continue to plague this historic city for the next half century."

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

"Two proposed crossings over the Penang Strait could leave port operations boxed in. A third road bridge in the north and proposed light rail transit bridge in the south, if both materialise, would hem in the North Butterworth Container Terminal and Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal."

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

"San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in the next few weeks will start building the new terminal at Caticlan Airport, the gateway to Boracay Island, to improve tourism activities in this popular beach destination."

• An infrastructure dream [The Philippine Star]

"Traveling abroad and returning back home for most Filipinos almost always leads to a feeling of sadness that while our neighbors continue to progress, our country seems to move at a snail’s pace in terms of infrastructure."

🇸🇬 Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

"The Thai government’s plan to buy back the concessions of all electric train lines in an effort to make public transport more affordable is likely to be concluded by next year, officials say."

"Under the plan, the Department of Highways (DOH) will receive 32.18 billion baht, the Transport Co 14.8 million baht, the Department of Airports (DOA) 765.9 million baht, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) 42 million baht, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) 1.02 billion baht, and the Department of Rural Roads (DRR) 14.72 billion baht."

"Decision overrides earlier approval of plan to buy natural gas-fuelled buses."

"The Southern Economic Corridor is cataclysm in the making -- set to scar the Andaman Coast and Gulf of Thailand in one sweep. It will disrupt ecosystems, cripple tourism, and erase local livelihoods in exchange for enriching investors. It must be stopped."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"Xuan Truong, a prominent Vietnamese construction firm, has proposed developing an international airport in Nam Dinh province, which will be merged with Ninh Binh and Ha Nam provinces this year."

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