Ep 164: South East Asia’s Top 10 New Airport, High-Speed Rail & Transport Projects, with James Clark, Future South East Asia

About This Episode

15 Feb 2023 • 32.00s

“A groundbreaking moment in the history of rail travel in South East Asia.” Wherever you travel in South East Asia, it’s hard to miss the transport infrastructure being built out on a vast scale – often with financing and technology from China. This will be a feature through the 2020s and beyond - albeit with countries like Japan, South Korea and maybe India joining in.

This week, Gary is joined by James Clark, Producer of the Future Southeast Asia newsletter, to discuss the region’s Top 10 airport, high-speed rail and other travel and transport infrastructure projects. These range from new airport terminals in Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia to South East Asia’s first high-speed railway due to open later this year, and another scheduled for 2026.

Plus we discuss a metro system in Vietnam, a railway upgrade connecting Bangkok and Thailand’s southern beaches - and the potential issues for passengers ahead of the cross-border opening of the China-Laos railway.

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
3 Nov 2026 • 21m10s

Ep 325: Jet Fuel Costs Dominate Q3 Airline Earnings, Grab & ASEAN's Accelerating Agentic Travel Revolution & AirAsia's 2027 Bahrain Reset

The first week of November is normally a calm period ahead of the end-of-year peak season mayhem, but the hot travel talking points continue to proliferate. While Hannah is at WTM in London, Gary recaps the latest developments across South East Asia and beyond. First up, the data breach at Amadeus and the statements released by Asian airlines, including Malaysian Airlines and Qantas, about what this means for passengers and their personal data.
Play
28 Oct 2026 • 26m15s

Ep 324: Malaysia's Air Passenger Slump, Sydney Joins the 'Two-Airports Club' & Singapore Plans Christmas with BTS

As we head into the final two months of a turbulent 2026, there’s a multitude of travel talking points to decipher across ASEAN and beyond. We start with Australia’s first major new airport for 50 years, which catapults Sydney into the club of cities with two international airports. We move onto Malaysia, which reported a 12% decrease in airport passengers in September, including a worrying 22% decline in domestic air travel.