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Transport and urban development in Southeast Asia. Dispatches from my travels in the region, and news about future city development, transport, and infrastructure.

What's happening in Hue

The proposed Phnom Penh monorail, North Bali International Airport, a big tunnel for the East Coast Rail Link begins boring, and more construction and transport news in Southeast Asia.

Jun 29, 2022

Greetings from Hanoi! After arriving at Noi Bai Airport I got the airport bus to the city (I always try and get public transport from the airport to see how cities compare). The bus goes from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, and it was at the international section where we were stuck in a traffic jam. They stopped letting vehicles in for a while to try and clear the bottleneck.

I thought that this couldn’t be normal, and sure enough, it made the news that night.

There is a metro line planned for Hanoi Airport, but that is years away from being a reality. The tagline for Future Southeast Asia is “Construction, transport, and infrastructure in Southeast Asia”, but I often think it should be “If I see it in my lifetime that would be great!”

As you might have guessed, I’m in Hanoi to report on the status of the metro system. The good news is that the first line is now open, and I have already been on it for a test ride. I will also be walking the roads where the next line is under construction.

If you know Hanoi, you know that June is not the best time to be walking around (like walking around in New York in August). I probably won’t have another opportunity to visit Hanoi this year, so I will be sweating it out in order to file the 2022 Hanoi metro report.

I arrived in Hanoi from Hue, which is the subject of this week’s articles. I didn’t think there would be much to cover in Hue, as it is a city that is better known for its imperial citadel. Once I got there though, I started seeing billboards with advertising for new urban areas on the other side of the city.

The first article is a fact sheet of the main projects happening in the province of Thua Thien Hue, while the second article is a construction report within Hue.

Latest Posts At Future Southeast Asia

Future Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam – Hue and province construction, transport, and infrastructure projects

Hue construction update – 2022 edition

News

• G-7 infrastructure investment to target Indo-Pacific's clean-energy transition

“India, Indonesia and Vietnam stand to benefit from Belt and Road alternative.'“

• Asia's largest cities lack water security

“For years, residents of Amber Court in Genting Highlands have had to put up with rumours that their apartment complex is haunted.YouTubers and almost every other Tom, Dick and Harry have come by to make videos claiming that the building was haunted, that it is a hive of “supernatural activities”, said Amber Court management corporation chairman Datuk Seri KK Chai.”

There have been a few articles about Amber Court recently, such as Is Amber Court haunted? Or is it more than meets the eye?

I have not been to the Genting Highlands, which is odd given that I am intrigued by badly-planned new urban areas.

🇲🇲 Myanmar

• Scam City: How the coup brought Shwe Kokko back to life

[Updated: Shwe Kokko New City]

• Crime gangs control some Myanmar, Laos Economic Zones: UN

🇵🇭 Philippines

• PNR San Pablo-Lucena route re-opened

• The need for a modernized, efficient railway system

• Dominguez: Closing Naia, selling its land an option for Bongbong Marcos

There has been talk this year about renaming NAIA. It would look too obvious if Marcos Jr. removed the name of the enemy of the Marcos family from Manila Airport. Closing the entire airport, on the other hand, might be how the name Benigno Aquino Jr. is removed. (There is a new airport being built at Bulacan, thus the option to close is there.)

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Singapore's $40 billion mega-port takes aim at shipping chaos

• Changi Airport’s construction was expected to take 10 years. A pioneer civil servant was asked to do it in just 6.

• S'pore starts importing electricity from Laos' hydropower via Thailand & M'sia

• The man who helped create Singapore’s housing boom is getting worried

• 51 floors above CBD, a food farm offers real solutions to food scarcity

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Planned 59-baht maximum fare on BTS extensions opposed

• FTI says country needs to step up EV development

“Thailand must speed up its electric vehicle (EV) development to stay ahead of Indonesia if it still wants to become a regional EV production hub, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).”