Happy New Year from Ho Chi Minh City! As part of my new year preparation, I made a list of projects I want to visit this year to cover on this site. The obvious big story will be the Jakarta-Bandung HSR (the new fastest train in Southeast Asia). They are saying it will begin services as scheduled in June, but I am not going to book anything until it is certain.

This week I published the annual report on airports in Southeast Asia (subscriber only), and a look at a 2-station private monorail/people mover in Manila.

Dispatches from Southeast Asia

• Southeast Asia airport report - 2023 edition

Cambodia airports progress, Manila's three-airport problem, Changi T5 resumes, Bangkok's two airports +1, Vietnam's airport boom continues, though HCMC's two airport woes continue.

Latest post

• Makati-Taguig Skytrain – Proposed automated people mover in Metro Manila

Updated post

• Last week Dhaka opened its first metro line. While this is outside of Southeast Asia, I have been comparing new metro lines in Asia, which you can read here:

Comparison of cost and construction times of first metro lines in Asia

I started this comparison to see how bad the HCMC Metro delay is compared to other first metro lines in Asia. The article has a table comparing construction speeds, and I have estimated the HCMC Metro construction using the completion date as the last day of 2023.

News

• High-speed ASEAN by

“Train construction is happening at [relatively] high-speed across ASEAN. From Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, Laos, Haiphong, Yangon and Kunming, rail is boosting travel, trade and logistics.”

• Hotels, theme parks rush to open in ASEAN as tourism rebounds

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Cambodia may start building high speed rail as early as 2023

• Construction work begins on Mekong River bridge in Kratie

• PP mega transport system studies at final stage

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Indonesia rail company gets $200 mln capital top up for China-backed project

[Updated: Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway]

• China-led dam project under fire in Sumatra by

• Govt supporting West Bali development with toll road construction: Uno

🇱🇦 Laos

• Bokeo Airport to start operations in May 2023

• Laos needs to tap potential from regional connectivity: ADB

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• TikTok ‘ghost mall’ indicator of problems with Malaysia’s failed Silicon Valley

“The Malakat Mall was built in Cyberjaya, dubbed Malaysia’s Silicon Valley, but is now a district full of abandoned shops and restaurants.”

• On eve of 2023, Penang CM says will push Putrajaya for LRT and Pan Island Link projects

• No impact from revised cost of ECRL project, say analysts

[Updated: East Coast Rail Link]

• That's not how you do metro, Kuching by

🇵🇭 Philippines

• Philippines revives infra loan talks with China bank

• JICA's traffic plan for Metro Manila takes us backward

• NAIA privatization to push through

• Panay Railways attracts more investors

[Updated: Panay Railway]

🇸🇬 Singapore

• 2022 year in review: Changi Airport finishes top of Asia-Pacific as it recovers slower than expected

• Refurbished park, elevated pathways in Jurong West from 2024 as modern industrial district takes shape

🇹🇭 Thailand

• BTS Group looks to revive dormant U-Tapao airport project as it undertakes study tour to Hong Kong

• Seawalls: A boon or bane for Thailand’s beautiful beaches?

• Bang Sue Grand Station is now Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal

Thai King renames Bangkok’s main rail station to “Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal”

Transport Ministry to investigate SRT's expensive signboard project

The SRT keeps finding new ways to lose money. I’ve already written about the massive money-burning exercise of building a metre-gauge and standard-gauge railway for the same route.

Now the SRT have spent 33.16 million baht (around $966,000 USD) to change the signage of the new station. Surely they knew that the station was going to get a ceremonial name, so why didn’t they just wait until then?

• New station designs for the line from Nakhon Ratchasima to Ubon Ratchathani (via Southeast Asia Railways).

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Long Thanh airport construction causes excessive air pollution

• Novaland cannot pay debt despite having $1.35B in cash

Novaland is one of the largest property developers in Vietnam. There are other property developers in trouble after building more villas and shophouses than could possibly be sold. Have a look at the empty shophouses in Phu Quoc to get an idea of the development mania that has gripped the country.

Related: Realty investors see big losses instead of quick gains in 2022

• Hanoi owns largest green spaces of all Vietnamese cities