Travelfish newsletter Issue 376 : Travelfish reader survey 2020!
Hi everyone,
This newsletter is being written at KLIA2 as I bide my time for a connecting flight home. I found myself at this place over 30 times last year—a feat I hope not to repeat this year! New on the site we have the Thai island of Ko Ngai, neighbouring Ko Bulon Lae will be coming this week. We also have something new and exciting, a Travelfish Reader Survey!
Last light on the main beach. Photo: Stuart McDonald
As I have mentioned in the past, I’m working on a major redesign on the site, and at the prompting of friends, decided to do a survey. The early results (about 100 have been done so far) have been extremely interesting. I’ll publish the full results at the end of March. So, If you have some opinions on Travelfish, please do take the time to fill out the survey. It should only take five minutes of so.
Coronavirus update: Still no confirmed cases in Indonesia and the ministry continues to say Pray Harder. Ok then. In Chiang Mai a few people were wearing masks, a big step up from the northeast where there were almost none—lots of great eating though! Would I advise cancelling travel to Southeast Asia? No, but I would say try to avoid flying when possible (trains are good!), avoid large crowds, and be extra aware re washing hands, snogging strangers and so on. A blow out in cases in South Korea may complicate the logistics for travellers coming in from North America. Do read your travel insurance carefully.
Should you wear a mask? Unless you are sick, probably not.
Readers continue to get in touch to voice their dissatisfaction when I link in the news section to paywalled content. From this edition onwards I’ll mark items that are paywalled (aside from Travelfish!) with a $. Hope this helps.
Please don’t forget we have a donate to Travelfish page. If you’d like to make a one-off (or regular even!) donation, please see here. Thank you!
Lastly, if you’re heading to Thailand for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand. Sign up here.
Till next week!
Stuart
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Destination: On borderless travel
I was in Chiang Mai this week for a media conference that was unfortunately postponed due to plague. I went anyway, as I’d already booked my flight, and, well, why the hell not? At least it would mean I could eat khao soi twice a day.
While there I met up with a few other refugees from SpliceBeta (the conference I had planned to attend) along with a few other people I knew in town. I also was also lucky enough to meet up with Naomi Duguid at a fancy pants coffee shop near Tha Phae Gate. There she introduced me to the most magnificent iced coffee with soda thing—it would want to be pretty fab as it cost 150 baht!
Anyways, Naomi is a Canadian traveller, writer, photographer and cook—she’s also exceptionally good company and we spent a couple of hours shooting the breeze over the magnificent coffee. One thing that came up was a new front in travel publishing, guidebooks to countries that no longer exist. When I mentioned it, Naomi immediately said OMG what a fabulous idea! You can read more about the Extinguished Countries concept here.
We’d been talking about food and salt (which was once used as a currency in the markets on Chiang Mai, ported down from Bo Kleua near Nan by pony train—who knew!) and the fluidity of the borders over the years around northern Burma and Thailand, Laos, Yunnan and Vietnam. How the waves of empire would wash back and forward over the decades as rulers sought war bounty and bonded labour.
When I first heard of the Extinguished Countries concept, I immediately thought of Majapahit, a Hindu Buddhist empire which, while centred on Java and South Sumatra, extended across much of the region. Think of the Khmer kingdom, at one time stretching west to Kanchanaburi, south to Phetchaburi, north to Khon Kaen and well east towards the waters of the South China Sea. Or the Cham. Or Lanna, Siama, Sukhothai ... the list goes on and on.
Little evidence of some of these remain, but others, the Khmers for example, left loads behind. You don’t however see much promotion of visiting these ancient kingdoms and fiefdoms as a single cohesive product. Rather its oh, you’re in Khorat? Better go see the Khmer ruins at Phimai.
Totally niche, but I think they’d be an interesting little scene around tracing out some of these extinguished countries and would be fantastic to see this publisher extend into Southeast Asia. How did the pilgrims walk from Angkor Wat to Muang Singh in Kanchanaburi? I don’t know, but I bet they didn’t do it in May.
Stuart
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Ten things worth reading
Why the Future Forward Party dissolution may actually strengthen Thai democracy
Thai politics continues to do my head in.
As flooded forests burn, Cambodia dreams of carbon credit cash $
“The low levels of water have turned the Mekong River aquamarine—beautiful to behold but potentially changing patterns in nutrient-rich sediment and levels of dissolved oxygen, which are both critical to fish living in the Mekong-Tonle Sap system.”
Asia's tourism-dependent economies are being hit hard by the Coronavirus
With a few quotes by yours truly on the potential damage coronavirus could wreak on tourism in Southeast Asia.
Sihanoukville loses its pull
The story that just keeps on giving. The change there over the past few years really is nothing short of staggering—as this story well illustrates.
The fight to preserve a 44,000-year-old painting
What happens when a private company owns a tranche of a nation’s heritage? Not much good it seems.
Wild waters: Kachin
There is far more to Burma than Bagan.
Murder, betrayal and intrigue in Sumatra $
A two-part series around the death of a judge in Sumatra.
Dragons, apes, mantas and birds $
A bit of a mixed take on travel to a few spots in Indonesia. For the umpteenth time the smuggled dragons did not come from Komodo, but whatever.
Malaysian PM stages daring move to stay in power
Really can’t say am much surprised by this guy going back on his word. This piece by the Between The Lines newsletter is also worth a read.
Laos plans to build sixth large-scale Mekong River mainstream dam
When will this madness stop? When the Mekong is perhaps a walled in stormwater drain?
Something to read
The Glass Palace
“Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace is a classic epic novel, spanning generations and countries as it casts a brilliant light on Burmese, Indian and Malayan history, with Burma its focal point.”
Travel shot
A longtail with character. Photo: Stuart McDonald
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
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