The provincial charms of Kampot and Kep in Cambodia

News #255: Thai Canal vs Thai Land Bridge, Penang undersea tunnel, Philippines infrastructure deficit, Hanoi and HCMC Metro extensions to neighbouring provinces

Author

James Clark
March 05, 2025

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

Hello from Nha Trang, Vietnam. I have been on a coastal tour of the Southeast region, covering Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, and now Nha Trang. I will be posting more about those cities soon.

This week, I published another Cambodia trip report for premium subscribers, and I have updated the fact sheets for the Thai Canal and Land Bridge proposals.

Premium subscriber articles

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

Kampot, Cambodia

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This article almost wraps up my Cambodia trip reports from December 2024. I have another article about Sihanoukville coming soon.

Here is a recap of the Cambodia trip reports:

Heritage buildings update, the temple-shaped National Bank building, the fake Paris on Diamond Island, bad urban planning on the Tonle Sap riverfront, a new urban area rising on a disappeared lake, the bird nest towers, and booming BKK1

Updated articles: Thai Canal, Land Bridge, and an informative video to watch

This week’s news round-up features a renewed push to build the Thai Canal (see the Thailand section below). There is also an article about the Land Bridge (the alternative to the canal).

I have written before about how the Thai Land Bridge doesn’t make sense. The idea is to unpack a container ship on one side of the peninsula, ship the containers by train to the other side of the peninsula, and repack the containers on another ship that is waiting for these containers.

I knew that packing containers on a ship is a complex task, but it is more complex than I had thought. This video explains the crazy-complex process of organizing a container ship. I feel confident in saying that this video will be the most entertaining video you will ever watch about container ships.

Logistically, the canal makes more sense than the “bridge”, and it would be a genuine shortcut to going via Singapore. Both projects have economic and environmental questions that still need to be resolved.

News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

🇮🇩 Indonesia

🇱🇦 Laos

🇲🇾 Malaysia

"About 70% of the RM2.4 billion bypass linking Tanjung Bungah to Batu Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang will cut through hills."

 🇵🇭 Philippines

"The government has a lot of catching up to do in securing the right-of-way (ROW) for big-ticket railways, with nearly 49,000 informal settler families (ISFs) still waiting to be relocated."

The Unified Grand Central Station will eventually connect LRT Line 1, MRT Line 3, and MRT Line 7 (under construction).

• Much delayed common station [The Philippine Star]

"Sadly, after 13 years, it remains unfinished, plagued by corruption, negligence, design flaws, safety issues and budget controversies."

• DOTr pushes PPP on regional airports [Philippine Daily Inquirer]

"Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vivencio Dizon is focusing on developing the regional airports via public-private partnerships (PPP) in order to boost tourism activities, identifying Iloilo and Davao hubs as priority projects."

🇸🇬 Singapore

"The RTS Link, which will stretch 4km from Singapore’s Woodlands North station to Johor’s Bukit Chagar station, is expected to start passenger service by the end of 2026."

🇹🇭 Thailand

"The Thai Canal Association for Study and Development wants a national committee to study the feasibility of connecting the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea via the proposed 9A Canal Route. The project, if approved, could create up to a million new jobs, its advocates say."

Thai Canal Route 9A

"As Thailand’s ambitious land bridge project advances, grassroots efforts from citizen scientists and local researchers emerge to ensure that biodiversity and ecosystems are not overlooked."

"Authorities are speeding up the development of the much-delayed U-tapao airport and Eastern Aviation City in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with construction set to start between April and May this year."

"Worried locals say Samui Sea Bridge could potentially tarnish the island’s reputation for peace, clean air and respite from the perils of overtourism."

🇻🇳 Vietnam

"Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Ninh, an industrial hub and home to some Samsung factories, has asked China Pacific Construction Group (CPCG) to help the province with urban railway construction."

"The World Bank estimates that air pollution, which returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, costs Vietnam more than US$13 billion every year, equivalent to almost three per cent of the country's GDP in 2024."

"Cai Rang and other floating markets are in decline amid rapid economic development and improving infrastructure."

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