An introduction to the new format for Future Southeast Asia, and my 2026 travel plans for Future Southeast Asia research. Article updates include keeping the Bangkok-Chiang Mai Shinkansen dream alive, cable cars of Southeast Asia, The Next Singapore, and will Spain and France be building Vietnam’s high-speed railway?
Hello from Ho Chi Minh City, and welcome to the new format of the Future Southeast Asia monthly news update. More on that below.
Ho Chi Minh City is usually one of my home bases, but I haven’t been here for 6 months. A lot has changed in this time, and it feels like there is a buzz in the air as the country has set a GDP growth target of at least 10% in 2026-2030. That seems absurdly high, but the mood feels different here compared to where I was last month (Thailand and Cambodia). Thailand media are now publishing articles about the rise of Vietnam as an economic threat, while Cambodia is grappling with scam compound controversies (and both countries have the unresolved border dispute).
I will have city reports for Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh City over the next couple of months.
[A two-tower project in central HCMC that has restarted construction after years of delays.]
Future Southeast Asia Site update
It’s coming up to 5 years since I have been posting at Future Southeast Asia (and about 7 years since I originally started as Living in Asia).
A new year marks a good time to reassess what works, so I am making some changes for 2026/The Year Of The Horse.
[Yours truly, getting ready for the Year of the Horse.]
Merger of futuresoutheastasia.com and news.futuresoutheasia.com
I originally started futuresoutheastasia.com to make fact sheets about construction and transport projects in Southeast Asia. I then started a Substack newsletter at news.futuresoutheasia.com to cover news. I eventually moved the newsletter to Beehiiv, keeping the same subdomain format.
The two domains are messy, and I can’t create a unified site style, so I am moving the news to futuresoutheastasia.com and retiring news.futuresoutheasia.com. Once this is done, I can think about future redesigns of the site.
If you are a subscriber to the newsletter, the transition should be seamless, though the paid subscriber list is taking longer to move.
The weekly news roundup is going premium
I have published a weekly news round every week since 2020. The roundup has grown from taking a few hours to taking the better part of a day once I factor in finding links and reading during the week.
The news goes out every Wednesday, so I usually don’t do long travel days on Wednesday (otherwise, I prepare the news the day before).
The weekly news articles will now be for paid subscribers. This newsletter goes out every week without fail, but it is becoming unsustainable for me to continue it without subscriber support. Find out how to subscribe at the end of this article.
Weekly editorial articles are going public
I also do a weekly article, which goes out on Monday or Tuesday (depending on how long the article takes). About half of these have been for paid subscribers, so these will now be public articles.
Not having the pressure of doing a weekly article will allow me to write longer articles that I have been putting off. Some articles might take a week (i.e, 5 working days spread out over time), so I can do those when I am not travelling. I also want to spend as much time visiting a new city and taking notes, instead of being holed up in a hotel writing this week’s article.
So the new format is weekly news for paid subscribers, and weeklyish public articles.
Monthly public update
The new publishing schedule also includes this monthly public report that goes out at the end of the month (which is what you are reading now).
In addition to needing time to write new articles, I need time to update old articles. The monthly update will include updates to old articles. I will also add travel plans, meetup dates, and other bits of writing that don’t fit anywhere else.
Travel plans
I am in Ho Chi Minh City for a month, which includes visits to cities that were merged into HCMC last year (Vung Tau and Binh Duong).
I am going back to Australia for my annual visit next month. Whenever I go back to Australia, I like to do it in stages rather than a direct flight. I will fly to KL, get the new electric train from KL to JB, and then cross into Singapore.
After Australia, I will come back to Vietnam. I plan to take the train from Hanoi to Nanning to review the direct train service.
Planned but not booked are trips to Maritime Southeast Asia.
In the Philippines, I plan to travel between Manila and Cebu to review the two cities and see the fragmented railways on Luzon.
In Indonesia, I plan to visit Padang and the railways of West Sumatra. I should also be visiting Jakarta more often now that it is the world’s largest city. The new capital of Nusantara is also on the list, so that will probably include a stop in Bali.
Other loose plans include a rail trip from Vientiane to Kunming, and then 2 trains back to Hanoi.
Article updates
Here are some articles that have been updated this month.
Keeping the Bangkok-Chiang Mai Shinkansen dream alive
Updated: Bangkok – Chiang Mai High-Speed Railway
I saw this article in Thai media, but I have not seen any English news coverage of it, so I have published a translation.
The Bangkok-Chiang Mai high-speed railway is all but dead, but technically, it is still alive. The main problem now is that the proposed line by Japan may not be compatible with the section of the China Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed railway.
Cable cars in Southeast Asia
Updated: Cable cars in Southeast Asia
There have been some new and revived cable car proposals since I last updated the list.
• Baguio revisits cable car, elevated train proposals
“An abandoned plan to improve Baguio’s public transportation with elevated trains or cable cars is back on the table”.
There are no cable cars in Southeast Asia that are used for urban transit, but Baguio might be suitable as a city.
Baguio is known as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines”, with an approximate elevation of 1,500 meters. This is similar to Da Lat in Vietnam, which has previously proposed a monorail system.
Cable cars as urban transit have become popular in Latin America, where there are many cities in mountainous areas. Paris recently added a cable car to its transit system due to a section that could not be crossed by rail.
• Ho Chi Minh City proposes cable car for island airport access amid tourism boom
“Ho Chi Minh City has proposed building a 15-kilometer cable car linking Co Ong Airport with the center of Con Dao, aiming to ease future congestion while limiting damage to the island’s forests.”
(Con Dao was merged into Ho Chi Minh City last year.)
• Phu Kradueng cable car project moves ahead, set for completion in 2028
Phu Kradueng National Park is in Loei Province in northeast Thailand.
The Next Singapore
Updated: The Next Singapore
I keep a list of articles on cities and countries that use Singapore as a benchmark for development.
• Malaysia wants to be cleaner than Singapore: minister
Will Spain and France be building Vietnam’s high-speed railway?
Updated: Technology contenders for the Vietnam high-speed railway
At the start of January, the Vietnamese government announced that it would select technology providers for the North-South High-Speed Railway by January 15:
“Accordingly, for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, the Ministry of Construction, based on the direction of the Politburo, shall preside over and select the most suitable technology for the project, submit it to the Standing Government for reporting to competent authorities, and complete it before January 15.”
January 15 came and went without any news reports. I posted this news on LinkedIn, and Alberto Moreno Tablado (Co-founder and CEO at Baolau) alerted me to a news story on the Spanish news site, elEconomista.es. I have translated the article here:
There has also been an announcement from Ineco:
Ineco brings the Spanish stamp to Vietnam’s first high-speed railway line
“The consortium in which Ineco participates, together with the French company Artelia, its subsidiary in the country Artelia Vietnam, RCIC as a local partner and with the collaboration of Renfe International Projects, will be in charge of the feasibility study, as well as the development of the basic engineering, necessary to specify the scope, technical requirements and costs of the following construction phases.”
There has been no announcement from Artelia. Their Vietnam website has an old news report about attending a high-speed rail event in Hanoi.
The local media have not posted anything about this announcement yet, so I will post an update when more news is announced.
Weekly news
• Future Southeast Asia News [7 Jan 2026]
Indonesia targets completion of 6,900 bridges in remote areas by 2026, Vientiane’s Wat Tay Canal could become floating night market, public transport in Greater KL functional but fragile, PNR revival of the Bicol Express, new developments in Singapore’s Downtown, Bangkok plans a new walkable landmark over the Chao Phraya, HCMC Metro Line 3 proposal.
• Future Southeast Asia News [14 Jan 2026]
Jakarta to clear derelict monorail pillars, railway between Vientiane and Pakse, Penang LRT construction starts, Korean-Japanese JV to design Manila train network, HCMC bridge and undersea tunnel between Can Gio and Vung Tau.
• Future Southeast Asia News [21 Jan 2026]
Redeveloping old Phnom Penh airport, Jakarta sinks deeper as subsidence worsens flood risks, redesigning Kuala Lumpur’s public spaces, Mindanao Railway revived, new bridge to link Marina Centre and Gardens by the Bay, Thailand construction mishaps pile up, and Ho Chi Minh City officially begins construction of Metro Line 2.
• Future Southeast Asia News [28 Jan 2026]
How Asia’s megacities can learn from each other, Cambodia bets big on state-led development, Jakarta to break ground on giant sea wall in September, Bukit Chagar station takes shape on Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS Link, Philippines government earmarks P7.8 billion for upgrade of 19 airports, Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro Line 2 tunnel work and extension study.
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