Trip Reports

Trip reports of cities I visit in Southeast Asia, featuring construction updates, transit reviews, and observations on urban development.

ThailandKampotDa LatDong HoiVung TauVietnamAviationYogyakartaKoh SamuiKuala LumpurMakassarDa NangPhnom PenhSingaporePoipetBusBangkokBatamMedanNewsPhitsanulokCambodiaUrban ParksHueHoi AnNha TrangManilaSihanoukvilleTrip ReportsSri RachaHaiphongPattayaUrban PlanningLangkawiRailwaysJohor BahruPhilippinesPhan ThietNews ExtraQuang NamMalaysiaQuy NhonPenangJakartaIndonesiaBaliSite NewsMelakaUrban Rail TransitKepHo Chi Minh CityHanoiChiang Mai
YogyakartaYogyakarta
+2+2
What Yogyakarta can learn from Siem Reap (and vice versa)

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

Yogyakarta Trip Report: Yogyakarta should look to Siem Reap's street reconstruction project, and Siem Reap should have an airport rail link like Yogyakarta.

James Clark
James Clark
MakassarMakassar
+2+2
Makassar should be more like Singapore before being like Dubai

Makassar should be more like Singapore before being like Dubai

Makassar Trip Report: Makassar is the largest city in Eastern Indonesia. It's building a Dubai-inspired new urban area on artificial islands, but it should look to Singapore's example for fixing the city sidewalks first.

James Clark
James Clark
VietnamVietnam
+2+2
Vietnam's most provincial international beach city

Vietnam's most provincial international beach city

Quy Nhon trip report (2025 edition). A review of apartment and hotel towers under construction, the resort project that will be connected to the city by cable car, the abandoned Japanese-themed new urban area, and prospects for the city with the future high-speed railway.

James Clark
James Clark
VietnamVietnam
+2+2
Da Nang construction update – 2025 edition

Da Nang construction update – 2025 edition

Da Nang and Hoi An to join forces, Japan’s Aeon Mall, Robert De Niro’s waiting (for his hotel to be built), the riverfront apartment boom, the resort coast, and would you still love Da Nang if the beach were gone?

James Clark
James Clark
Da LatDa Lat
+2+2
Da Lat construction and transport report

Da Lat construction and transport report

Da Lat (Central Highlands of Vietnam), featuring a new international hotel, the greenhouse problem, the old Governor’s Palace, build too big and ask for permission later, an old military airport that would make a great park, international flights, and the proposed railway restoration.

James Clark
James Clark
Vung TauVung Tau
+2+2
Vung Tau: The future beach district of Ho Chi Minh City

Vung Tau: The future beach district of Ho Chi Minh City

Vung Tau construction report, featuring the proposed merger of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province into Ho Chi Minh City, Front Beach projects, Back Beach redevelopment, and updates on proposed urban and inter-provincial railways.

James Clark
James Clark
ThailandThailand
+2+2
Pattaya construction and transport report

Pattaya construction and transport report

Trip report from January 2025: Walkability and bad street layouts, Pattaya construction notes, the ghost tower, future high-speed railway and monorail, Jomtien Beach as a future apartment hotspot, and air quality

James Clark
James Clark
ThailandThailand
+2+2
Sri Racha Trip Report

Sri Racha Trip Report

The Little Osaka of Thailand, bad design of Sukhumvit Road (like Bangkok), seaview apartments (shame about the beach), and the future high-speed railway to 3 airports.

James Clark
James Clark
ThailandThailand
+2+2
Bangkok construction update (2025 edition)

Bangkok construction update (2025 edition)

Another mall at Siam, the future “Shinjuku of Bangkok”, more classic hotels that have been lost, the South Sukhumvit Innovation District, and a mega project in Chinatown.

James Clark
James Clark
KampotKampot
+3+3
Kampot and Kep (Cambodia) construction and tourism development

Kampot and Kep (Cambodia) construction and tourism development

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

James Clark
James Clark
CambodiaCambodia
+2+2
Sihanoukville report: abandoned towers and seaside redevelopment

Sihanoukville report: abandoned towers and seaside redevelopment

An update on one of the biggest mixed-use developments under construction in Cambodia, prominent abandoned projects, and the redevelopment of Ochheuteal and Otres Beach.

James Clark
James Clark
Phnom PenhPhnom Penh
+2+2
Phnom Penh construction report

Phnom Penh construction report

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 rises on a disappeared lake, the bird nest towers, and booming BKK1

James Clark
James Clark