Sihanoukville has emerged from a construction frenzy that was unprecedented for a city this size in Southeast Asia. Cambodia opened the flood gates for Chinese investors to build casinos and hotels in Sihanoukville, with very little government oversight. In the latter half of the 2010s, Sihanoukville had the feeling of a Wild West boomtown (it […]
Construction Updates
Phnom Penh construction update – 2022 edition
Phnom Penh continues its construction boom, which has mostly been continuing despite the interruption of the pandemic. According to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC), Cambodia’s construction sector attracted a total investment of US$5.33 billion in 2021. Publicised by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC), the report […]
Bangkok construction update – 2021 edition
This update is a snapshot of progress of major projects around Bangkok in December 2021. An ongoing list of projects can be found on the Future Bangkok page. This Bangkok construction update is part of the ongoing construction updates series for cities in Southeast Asia. One Bangkok Address: Wireless, Rama IV, Sathorn Road, Bangkok. One […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2021 edition
Here is the third annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update (following on from the 2019 and 2020 construction updates). Continuing from last year, COVID-19 continues to cast a shadow over the construction sector. In fact this year has been worse, as Vietnam was one of the best performing countries in handling the virus in […]
Phu Quoc construction report 2021 – The biggest leisure development site in Southeast Asia
The island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam has gone through an unprecedented decade of growth, with the government intent on turning this once sleepy island into a “sleepless city”. I say unprecedented because I have never seen anywhere in Southeast Asia that compares to what is going on here (Sihanoukville in Cambodia would be the […]
Vung Tau construction update – 2021 edition
Vung Tau is a popular beach resort city in Southern Vietnam. Its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City makes it a defacto beach suburb for the city. In 2020 I did construction reports for the beach cities of Da Nang and Nha Trang, both of which rely heavily on international tourism. You could see first-hand […]
Da Nang construction update – 2020 edition
Da Nang has been booming over the last decade, becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination and central business hub in Vietnam. This growth has come to a grinding halt with the onset of the COVID-19 virus. In 2020 Da Nang recorded negative economic growth for the first time in over 20 years. It’s been especially […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2020 edition
This is the second annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update (here is the 2019 construction update), and what a difference a year makes. At the end of 2019 Vietnam had recorded over 7% GDP annual growth, capping off a record decade of growth. And then COVID-19 struck. With international travel all but closed down, […]
Nha Trang construction update – 2020 edition
Nha Trang was in the midst of a construction boom in 2019, with Cam Ranh International Airport reaching 10 million passengers for the first time. As I noted in my Vietnam aviation report for 2019, Cam Ranh airport was serving flights to 30 cities in mainland China every week. [Cam Ranh International Airport passenger statistics […]
Quy Nhon 2020 construction update
The city of Quy Nhon is a rising tourism destination of the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. Since my last visit in May 2018 there have been many changes, even for a country which is noted for fast changes. The last time I was here Phu Cat (Quy Nhon Airport) was still a domestic […]










