Kuala Lumpur has some big-ticket projects under construction, including the first megatall skyscraper in Southeast Asia. Like the rest of Southeast Asia, Malaysia had an international lockout when Covid broke out in 2020, and it didn’t fully reopen until 2022. This affected projects that rely on migrant labour, but the projects that were already funded […]
Ho Chi Minh City Metro 2022 construction update
Ho Chi Minh City is in the midst of building its first metro line, and planning for at least another 10 lines. Every year I do a “State of the Metro” report to follow the construction progress and other lines under consideration (here are the 2020 and 2021 reports). Another year has gone by and […]
Hanoi Metro 2022 construction update
This is the second Hanoi Metro Report at Future Southeast Asia (the first one being in 2020). These construction updates are an annual snapshot of construction progress and notable news over the last year. I missed the 2021 update due to the pandemic, so I was happy to be able to return to Hanoi and […]
Hanoi Line 2A review: riding the first metro railway in Vietnam
Line 2A of the Hanoi Metro opened on November 6th 2021, making it the first urban rail transit line in Vietnam. I have been watching this line slowly (very slowly) get built while I have been based in Vietnam. I visited Hanoi in 2020 thinking that my metro report would include a review of the […]
Future Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam – Hue and province construction, transport, and infrastructure projects
Thua Thien Hue is a province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. The capital of Hue is one of the most historic cities in Vietnam, with the Hue Citadel being the seat of the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Outside of the historic area, Hue is a growing provincial capital, with a new […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2022 edition
This is the 4th annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update at Future Southeast Asia. (If you are new to the site, here are the updates for 2019, 2020, and 2021.) This update features some of the most prominent projects that are under construction, and projects that have had noteable news updates over the past […]
Laos-China Railway review – observations while riding the train from Vientiane to Boten
The Laos-China Railway opened in December 2021, and I would have tried to get a ticket on the inaugural trip had the borders been open. I was in Thailand when Laos reopened on the 9th of May, so I took the opportunity to visit shortly thereafter. I have written a Laos-China Railway travel guide on […]
Vientiane construction update – 2022 edition
Vientiane has some big projects lined up in order to attract more investment in the capital. Like most cities in the region though, Vientiane was hit hard by the extended international border closure during the pandemic. Laos reopened in May 2022 (over two years since the borders closed), and I went to Vientiane shortly thereafter […]
Future Boten – The gateway city on the Laos-China border
Boten is a town in Northern Laos on the border of China. It is one of the main entry points for freight from China to Southeast Asia, and it has been designated as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). A casino opened in Boten in 2002 to attract gamblers from China (where gambling is illegal in […]
Proposed speeds of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Express Railway
Should the future Vietnam North-South Express Railway be a high-speed or semi-high-speed railway? Vietnam is planning to commence construction of the North-South express railway in 2028-2029. Even with years of feasibility studies and consultancy reports, no decision has been made on how fast the new railway should be. The fastest proposal has called for a […]
