Travelfish #439: Cooking with gas

Trees, planes, offsets and carbon.

Hi all,

While we don’t cover the Philippines on Travelfish, this week’s read is a piece on the wonderful reefs there—and the challenges they face.

Aside from that piece, we have a few fewer links than normal—I’ve been away a few days and am on catchup. Next week there will be plenty more! There are though, some particularly solid reads in the environment section—well worth a look.

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The photos this week, are a couple of old ones from southern Laos. I don’t know about you, but I miss Laos.

Cheers

Stuart

Southern Laos

Apsara dancer, Wat Phu. Photo: Stuart McDonald

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Vaccinations snapshot

The following chart is per capita—not total numbers. The dark green bar is the one that matters—it represents the percentage of the eligible population that are fully vaccinated. You can see a full-size and interactive version of the chart here.

Source: Our World in Data

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Travel summary

So where is open and where is closed? This chart by Hannah Pearson at Pear Anderson summarises the state of play in the region as of Sunday, May 23, 2022. To receive Hannah’s report in your email mailbox every Sunday you can sign up here (it is free!)

Source: The Impact of Covid-19 on the Southeast Asian Tourism Industry (PDF)

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⭐️ Story of the week 

• Coral Reefs in the Philippines Are Some of the World’s Most Vibrant—but in Peril from National Geographic

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🇲🇲 Burma

• Myanmar’s Resistance Is at Risk of Believing Its Own Propaganda from The Economist ($)

• Losing the Freedom to Protect: the Shattered Dreams of Environment Defenders from Frontier Myanmar

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Revitalizing Phnom Penh’s Streets as Destinations from VOD

• Cambodia Takes Measures to Save Rare Royal Turtle as 30 of the Endangered Species Hatch in Captivity in Country from The Star

• Development Threatens a Last Refuge of Wildlife Rescued From Illegal Trade from Mongabay

• Selfies Further Endanger Rare Phallic Plant, Conservationists Fear from The New York Times ($)

🌴 Environment

• Is There a Future for Ultra Long-haul Flights in a Net Zero Carbon World? from The Conversation

• Tree-planting Projects Abound. Which Should You Support? from National Geographic

• Do Airline Climate Offsets Really Work? Here’s the Good News, and the Bad. from The New York Times ($)

• Save the Mekong Delta From Drowning from Science (Academic paper) $

• Ask an Environmental Expert: What’s the Carbon Footprint of the Internet? from The Walrus

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• What the Extraordinary Funeral Rituals of Tana Toraja and Trunyan in Indonesia Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life from ABC

• How Indonesian Villagers Lost Their Cut of the Palm Oil Boom from Mongabay

• Killing the Soul of Bali from Bali News

• Authorities Bulldoze Dozens of Berawa Beach Warungs from Coconuts Bali

🇱🇦 Laos

• As Borders Reopen, Labor Shortage Looms in Laos’ SEZs from RFA

• A Fossil Tooth Places Enigmatic Ancient Humans in Southeast Asia from The Conversation

• Vientiane to Promote Little-known Xing Xou Island as New Tourism Site from The Laotian Times

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Ecotours Aimed at Saving Monkeys Are Likely Stressing Them Out, Study Finds from Mongabay

Ad: Looking for an affordable travel insurance policy? Consider SafetyWing.

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Foreign Journalist Fined for Illegal Freelancing With News Publishers from CNA

• In Singapore, a Forensics Lab Wields Csi-like Tech Against Wildlife Traffickers from Mongabay

• A Trip to Thekchen Choling, the Temple Giving Blessings to Pets from Rice Media

🇹🇭 Thailand

• At the Crossroads of Time from Bangkok Post

• Five Takeaways From the Bangkok Elections from Thai Enquirer

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Two Lovers at Sunset in Vietnam … Maika Elan’s Best Photograph from The Guardian

• Strict Visa Policies Hinder International Guests From Visiting Vietnam from Tuoi Tre News

• Ngõ Nooks: Three Generations of Noodles on the Pavement at Bún Riêu Hồng Phúc from Saigoneer

• After Renewables Frenzy, Vietnam’s Solar Energy Goes to Waste from Aljazeera

Random other stuff

• The Japanese Home Design That Strikes a Work-life Balance from Bloomberg ($)

• Homophobia Is Not an Asian Value. It's Time for the East to Reconnect to Its Own Traditions of Tolerance from Time (2020)

• Travel Industry Akin to Plantation System, Say Caribbean Tourism Ministers in Call for Fairer Covid Recovery from iNews

• Forgetting the Apocalypse: Why Our Nuclear Fears Faded – and Why That’s Dangerous from The Guardian

• A Brief Guide and History of Travelling Experimentally from Messy Nessy

Couchfish (Free-to-read)

• Couchfish: A Seed of Interest

Couchfish (Paid subscribers only)

• Couchfish Day 305: Pfft

Southern Laos

Bridge wandering between Don Dhet and Don Khon. Photo: Stuart McDonald

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See you next week!

So that’s the wrap. I hope you are all in good health, and thanks for reading.

See you next week,

Stuart