Index of articles

The Future Southeast Asia Newsletter features a free weekly news roundup every Wednesday.

In addition to the news, I write editorial articles and trip reports from cities across Southeast Asia.

This index is the archive of all of the articles published in the newsletter. Articles marked ($) are for premium subscribers.

Upgrade to premium to read the archive and receive future articles via email:

2025

• Batam, not Bali, should be the financial hub of Indonesia

• Southeast Asia Railways Report (2025) ($)

• Hat Yai construction and transport report – 2025 edition ($)

• Chiang Mai construction and transport report – 2025 edition ($)

• Subscriber News: September 2025 ($)

• Chiang Mai Metro System – Reviewing the routes of the 3 proposed transit lines

• How not to build a new city – Marina Bay City Lombok

• Airport rail links to Long Thanh International Airport

• Subscriber News: August 2025 ($)

• Ho Chi Minh City’s two airports’ problem

• What Yogyakarta can learn from Siem Reap (and vice versa) ($)

• Could the Philippines build a Pan-Philippine High-Speed Railway?

• Ho Chi Minh City’s unwelcoming airport bus

• Improving bus services between Da Nang and Hoi An

• Redrawing new districts and geographical zones in Ho Chi Minh City

• Makassar should be more like Singapore before being like Dubai ($)

• Why are there no great coastal cities in Indonesia?

• Bad Urban Design: Center Point of Indonesia, a missed opportunity to put Makassar on the map ($)

• Vietnam’s most provincial international beach city ($)

• Connecting Vietnam’s high-speed railway stations with urban rail transit

• Da Nang construction update – 2025 edition ($)

• Tan Cang Station (HCMC Metro): Pedestrian access and future interchange

• Da Lat construction and transport report ($)

• Building pocket parks in Southeast Asia

• Vung Tau: The future beach district of Ho Chi Minh City ($)

• Penang Turf Club redevelopment: How Penang should look to Singapore for inspiration

• Pattaya construction and transport report ($)

• 5 Years of the Future Southeast Asia Newsletter!

• How to fix Sihanoukville

• Merging provinces in Southeast Asia

• Sri Racha Trip Report ($)

• Hanoi’s plan for public space around Hoan Kiem Lake

• Bangkok construction update (2025 edition) ($)

• Cleaning up roadside rubbish in Cambodia

• Kampot and Kep (Cambodia) construction and tourism development ($)

• Sihanoukville report: abandoned towers and seaside redevelopment ($)

• What Vietnam can learn from other high-speed rail projects

• Phnom Penh construction report ($)

• Technology contenders for the Vietnam high-speed railway

• Poipet trip report: Construction and urban development in Cambodia’s wild-west casino city

• Ho Chi Minh City construction report

• Southeast Asia Airport Report (2025 Edition) ($)

2024

• Hue construction and transport report ($)

• One Bangkok review: the mega mixed-use development in central Bangkok

• Southeast Asia urban rail transit report – 2024 ($)

• Hoi An/Quang Nam province construction report (2024) ($)

• News Extra: November 2024 ($)

• Hanoi Metro Report (2024): Review of Line 3 and Line 2A

• Southeast Asia Railways Report (2024) ($)

• News Extra: October 2024 ($)

• Sidewalks are the secret sauce to simulating Singapore’s success in Southeast Asia cites

• News Extra: September 2024 ($)

• News Extra: August 2024 ($)

• Dong Hoi construction update – 2024 edition ($)

• News Extra: July 2024 ($)

• Singapore construction update: 2024 edition ($)

• Johor Bahru construction update – 2024 edition ($)

• Kuala Lumpur construction update – 2024 edition ($)

• Da Nang construction update – 2024 edition ($)

• Nha Trang construction update – 2024 edition ($)

• News Extra: 4 April 2024 ($)

• News Extra: 21 March 2024 ($)

• News Extra: 7 March 2024 ($)

• News Extra: 22 February 2024 ($)

• Vung Tau construction update: 2024 edition ($)

• Bangkok construction update: 2024 edition ($)

• News Extra: 23 January 2024 ($)

• Bangkok Urban Rail Transit Update – 2024 Edition ($)

• Southeast Asia Airport Report (2024 Edition) ($)

2023

• Hanoi construction update: 2023 edition ($)

• News Extra: 30 November 2023 ($)

• Hanoi Metro Report: 2023 edition ($)

• Southeast Asia Railways Report – 2023 edition ($)

• News Extra: 16 November 2023 ($)

• Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2023 edition ($)

• News Extra: 31 October 2023 ($)

• News Extra: 17 October 2023 ($)

• Melaka trip report: Little Dubai in the Strait of Malacca ($)

• Jakarta transit report (2023 edition) ($)

• Trip Report: Jakarta construction update ($)

• Trip Report: Medan ($)

• Kuala Lumpur trip report: 2023 ($)

• Future Southeast Asia News Extra ($)

• The madness of second airports ($)

• Phitsanulok trip report ($)

• Fix Penang Island instead of making new islands ($)

• Cambodia should rebuild the railway instead of building a canal

• Air travel in Sumatra ($)

• Trip Report: Hoi An 2023 construction update ($)

• Novaworld Phan Thiet review

• Binh Thuan trip report (2023 edition) ($)

• The Next Singapore

• Penang construction update (2023 edition) ($)

• Langkawi trip report ($)

• The case for a train to Koh Samui

• Pattaya trip report ($)

• Thoughts on Thai trains while waiting for the Chiang Mai-Bangkok airlift

• Danang construction report for 2023 ($)

• Quy Nhon: The best and worst of urban development in Vietnam in one city ($)

• Southeast Asia urban rail transit report - 2023 ($)

• Phnom Penh trip report (2023 edition) ($)

• Southeast Asia airport report - 2023 edition ($)

2022

• Manila trip report - 2022 edition ($)

• Bangkok trip report (extra construction update notes) ($)

• Forest City - Futuristic city or farcical folly?

• What would Bali look like if it had a metro system

• How to fix Bangkok's urban rail transit system

• Vietnam aviation report (mini report) ($)

• Thoughts on metro systems on a visa run to KL ($)

• Hanoi construction update – 2022 edition ($)

• The stagnation of Vietnam's railways ($)

• High hopes for Haiphong ($)

• The fantasy tram of Bali ($)

• Dispatches from Southeast Asia on construction, transport, and infrastructure ($)

• Batam construction update: The Indonesian island on the other side of the Singapore Strait ($)

• Hue construction update – 2022 edition ($)

• Kampot and Kep construction update – 2022 edition ($)