Rebuilding a lost waterway of Saigon

News #203: Phnom Penh and Siem Reap light-rail study, Penang Airport expansion, inside look at Metro Manila Subway, more delays for Thai-Chinese high-speed train project, and more...

Feb 28, 2024

Hello from Australia! I’m back in my homeland for a visit, but it’s business as usual on Future Southeast Asia. I haven’t been here for 2 years, and it occurred to me that I spent the entirety of 2023 in Southeast Asia. That was the first time in my expat life that I spent a calendar year in one region. I usually make a point of visiting new countries to see how they do transport and infrastructure, so I plan to do some more travel this year.

This week I continue my series on urban waterways of Southeast Asia. Bangkok was once known as the Venice of the East, but Saigon also had its fair share of canals. Some of the canals were filled in, while others were built over with informal housing.

I have been following the progress of the Hang Bang Canal reclamation over the years, and despite its slow progress, it gives me hope that more canals will be reclaimed and turned into parkland.

Latest posts at Future Southeast Asia

• Hang Bang Canal: The rehabilitation of an old Saigon waterway

Hang Bang Canal is an urban canal in Districts 5 and 6 of Ho Chi Minh City. The 1,400 metre-long canal is undergoing rehabilitation to restore the waterway and remove the houses that have encroached over the canal.

[The park on the right used to look like the buildings on the left.]

News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Technical study presents positive findings on city light rail in PP, Siem Reap

• Cambodia's airport dreams stall as Chinese money dries up

• Comprehensive Master Plan on Cambodia’s Transit and Logistics System 2023-2033 published after 5 years of preparation

• Plans moving forward for Japanese SEZ

• The Funan Techo Canal’s advantages for Cambodia and the region

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Nusantara: A new capital city in the forest

NASA Earth Observatory images show Nusantara in April 2022 and February 2024 (use the slide to compare images).

• Govt officials to use public transit instead of service cars in new capital: IKN Authority

“However, this excludes ministers and the president, who would still maintain use of state-provided service vehicles.”

• Government to relocate 6,000 civil servants to Nusantara in July

• Minister calls for new megacities to boost economy

"The construction of the Thai-Chinese high-speed train project is likely to face a delay of two years and about 4 billion baht more in funding to change a section of track in Nakhon Ratchasima".

• SRT approves three double-track routes

”They comprise the 281km Pak Nam Pho-Denchai route, which costs 81.14 billion baht; the 308km Jira Junction-Ubon Ratchathani route (44.1 billion baht); and the 45km Hat Yai-Padang Besar route (7.9 billion baht).”

• Call to join final public hearing on Phuket airport expansion

• Maintenance error blamed for Suvarnabhumi Airport shuttle train halt

• Jams on Rama II Road blamed for Hua Hin's decline

• Big changes coming to Jomtien beach with infrastructure overhaul