The plan to clean up Pattaya

High-speed rail, lightrail, and seafront plan for Thailand's party city, the train that could connect Vientiane to Hanoi, Changi Terminal 5, and Chiang Rai railway progress.

Hello from Bangkok.After reading a news article about the Pattaya station redevelopment, I thought it would be good to have a look at the station and other projects in the city.

This week’s article is about Pattaya station, and there is also a trip report for paid subscribers of the newsletter.

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Dispatches from Southeast Asia

The proposed high-speed railway station, an urban railway from station to sea, demolishing the notorious Walking Street, and visiting the retirement beaches.

News

🇧🇳 Brunei

🇰🇭 Cambodia

🇮🇩 Indonesia

”Greater Jakarta commuters are at risk of facing worse rush hour struggles when the Commuter Line operator retires 10 trains, about 10 percent of its current fleet, by the end of the year with no replacements yet available.”

🇱🇦 Laos

Laos will be eager to build this railway to secure fuel imports, especially after experiencing fuel shortages last year. The article states that the line will be connected to the Laos-China Railway. Vung Ang Port is about 260km northwest of Hue, so it would be then possible to get the train from Vietnam to Laos.

The railway will of course be standard gauge (unlike Thailand, who are building new lines on the metre gauge). When Vietnam eventually builds their new railway, there may come a day when there are direct Vientiane-Hanoi railway services. Considering that Vietnam is still studying the new railway, a more embarrassing prospect would be that the Vientiane-Vung Ang Railway is built before Vietnam even starts building the new North-South Railway.

🇲🇾 Malaysia

"The Penang government is planning to implement components of the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (BLLRT) project to ensure that it can meet future transportation needs to support the state’s economic development in addition to solving the problem of traffic congestion."

🇵🇭 Philippines

“The Asian Development Bank is preparing to update its country strategy for the Philippines, and is looking to provide $3.5 billion in loans annually to support the country's development.”

🇸🇬 Singapore

“From technological and educational advancements to monetary policies, Singapore is arguably leaps and bounds ahead of Malaysia.”

🇹🇭 Thailand

“The State Railway of Thailand has started excavating the 6.2-kilometre tunnel which will connect Den Chai in Phrae with Chiang Rai's Chiang Khong district, which lies on the banks of the Mekong River.”

This is a press release from a private company, and not an official government announcement. There hasn't been any recent updates about the canal project. The same company that proposed this smart city has also proposed a private jet residence project in an undisclosed location in Thailand.

• I have noticed big plots of land in Bangkok with banana plantations. This is why:

• An informative video about Bangkok’s big housing boom (& bust), by .

🇻🇳 Vietnam

“The Hanoi Department of Transport is planning to deploy a unified electronic ticketing system for public bus and metro services in 2024.”

I still marvel that this canal was cleaned up, considering that so many canal rehabilitation projects have stalled in HCMC. This canal is a model for big cities like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Manila, which have canals filled with toxic sludge.

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