Mapping every airport in Malaysia

News #258: Thoughts on LinkedIn, the Shark Jaw building of Hanoi, Japan backs PH infra projects, Thailand Land Bridge project, and will the Vietnam high-speed rail be French?

Author

James Clark
March 26, 2025

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

Hello from Da Nang!

This week I continued the project of mapping the airports of Southeast Asia with the airports of Malaysia. I was familiar with the airports of Peninsula Malaysia, but I had no idea how many little airports there were in Borneo Malaysia. There is also a controversial airport in the contested Spratly Islands. The airport used to handle charter flights, so it qualified as a commercial airport (I haven’t listed military-only airports).

I also wrote an ode to an iconic (though ugly if we are being honest) building in Hanoi that will soon be demolished.

Thoughts on LinkedIn

I sometimes publish short posts on LinkedIn, so add me on LinkedIn for updates.

Last week, I posted about the little VF3 cars that are all over Vietnam, and for some reason, it has become my most commented post on LinkedIn.

The mighty VF3 in Vietnam

LinkedIn has a reputation for being cringe, and I still get cold emails trying to sell me insurance and software subscriptions. The trick is to follow people who are covering your interests. Yes, an obvious observation, but I was inadvertently following a bunch of Hustle Bros that were publishing inspirational quotes that read like they were written by an AI bot. I unfollowed those accounts, and my news feed improved dramatically.

An observation about LinkedIn is that people treat the site as an open CV (it’s a job search site, after all), so people are on their best behavior. Follow people who post like they aren’t looking for a job, like Stuart from Travelfish, and people who have cornered their niche, such as Gary from The South East Asia Travel Show.

I’ve been trying to position myself as the “Southeast Asia Train Guy”, so it is just my luck that my most liked post is about cars. I will settle for being known about Southeast Asia transport.

Future Southeast Asia articles

Latest articles

An ode to the Shark Jaw building in Hanoi, turning tram depots into opera houses, more lakeside demolition for metro construction, and thoughts on whether Hanoi should go full Haussmann.

Recent articles

Another mall at Siam, the future “Shinjuku of Bangkok”, more classic hotels that have been lost, the South Sukhumvit Innovation District, and a mega project in Chinatown.

Trip report from my visit in December 2024, including the two-tower apartment project in Kampot Town, the Tiktokification of tourism landmarks, and land reclamation in Kep.

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

🇮🇩 Indonesia

🇱🇦 Laos

• Luang Prabang: A city at the crossroads [Michael Buehler via LinkedIn]

"What the Laos–China Railway means for Luang Prabang — and why SOAS is launching study tours to explore it"

🇲🇾 Malaysia

"Malaysia is building a new RM492 million (S$148 million) inland port in northern Perlis state with the aim of boosting trade with China and Thailand, as part of its broader ambitions to expand regional connectivity via railway."

 🇲🇲 Myanmar

🇵🇭 Philippines

"The Philippine International Exhibition Center (PIEC), a P27-billion flagship MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) infrastructure project of the Marcos administration, will rise on a newly reclaimed island in Manila Bay, the Department of Public Works and Highways said."

"During a meeting at Malacañang on Thursday, the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Infrastructure Sector recommended the move, citing ROW as a major hurdle delaying projects due to legal disputes, court backlogs, and bureaucratic inefficiencies."

🇸🇬 Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

"Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit confirms that the Land Bridge megaproject connecting the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea is still being pursued, with China and Middle Eastern countries showing an interest."

• Suriya denies secret rail deals [Bangkok Post]

"Opposition alleges changes to three-airport rail line contract would benefit concessionaire."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"The land reclamation component covers a total area of over 1,357ha and has been designated as a Group A project with a 50-year operational timeline."

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