The Da Nang-Hoi An resort coast, more new urban areas, the fragile beaches of Hoi An, and the hidden casino resort from Macau. Hoi An is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam, and there are some days when it feels like half of the visitors to Vietnam as there at the same […]
Trip Reports
Novaworld Phan Thiet review
The new coastal resort town on the South Central coast of Vietnam. NovaWorld Phan Thiet is a new housing and leisure area by the Novaland group. The development is 20 km south of the centre of Phan Thiet on the South Central coast of Vietnam. Over 1000 hectares (10 square kilometres) of land have been […]
Binh Thuan trip report (2023 edition)
Construction update on the Southeast coast of Vietnam. The weird building in a land corruption scandal, a mega-hotel on top of a sand dune, empty new urban developments, and the lost beach of Mui Ne. Binh Thuan is a province I’m continually drawn to in Vietnam, probably because Phan Thiet is the closest beach city […]
Penang construction update (2023 edition)
Trip report for my visit to Penang in March 2023. New hotels questionably close to the old town, an endangered historic cinema, and land reclamation mania. Penang is one of the main cities that I revisit every year, with 2021 being the only year I missed in the last decade (no prizes for guessing why). […]
Langkawi trip report
A big tower comes to Cenang Beach, an inappropriate Dubai-like development, and yet another mediocre urban development that Malaysia does so well. Langkawi is one of the largest islands in Malaysia, known for its natural beauty and eco-activities. The island has been recognised as a UNESCO World Geopark, so it would usually be an island […]
Pattaya trip report
The proposed high-speed railway station, an urban railway from station to sea, demolishing the notorious Walking Street, and visiting the retirement beaches. Pattaya is the closest beach city to Bangkok (though not the closest beach), so it gets a lot of weekenders from Bangkok. I wasn’t planning on visiting this year, but then I saw a […]
Danang construction report for 2023
Revisiting the construction sites in the city and along the coastal road to Hoi An, including a mini Dubai by the sea, and the apartment that Ronaldo didn’t build. When the pandemic shut the international borders of Vietnam down (taking much of the travel industry with it), the construction industry still carried on. Hotel projects […]
Quy Nhon: The best and worst of urban development in Vietnam in one city
My 2023 trip report for Quy Nhon, the city that could be the next big thing in Vietnam. Quy Nhon is the capital of Binh Dinh province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. It’s not a household name outside of Vietnam, so new visitors to the city might be surprised to find a […]
Phnom Penh trip report (2023 edition)
Construction reports for Koh Pich (the fake Paris island), BKK1 (the booming expat area), and Phnom Penh City Center (the city rising out of a drained lake). My first trip report for 2023 begins in Phnom Penh. This was a shorter trip than usual, as it was a visa run from Vietnam that was timed […]
Manila trip report – 2022 edition
Beginning the mammoth task of reporting on transport and urban development in the megacity of Metro Manila. This was my first time back in Manila since starting Future Southeast Asia. Not having a Future Manila page on this site was a glaring omission for a site about urban development in Southeast Asia. Manila is one […]
