Travelfish #440: Noisy neighbour

The most Singapore story ever + Vietnam bowls.

Hi all,

This week, I’m leading with I think the most Singapore story I’ve ever read. Eleven years of banging on the wall. Really.

From Cambodia, we have a look at the changes in Kep, a great piece on the mechanics of G-Land in Indonesia, a strange death in Laos and a good BBC piece on Peranakan cuisine. On the topic of food, don’t miss Vietnam Coracle’s comprehensive piece on where to eat in Hue.

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It was a quiet week on Couchfish, though my free-to-read piece touching on poverty tourism has proved popular. I’ve also added a “Greenwashing” note for any stories I list that I consider to be, well, greenwashing.

The photos this week, are a couple from my eating efforts in Hue. No shortage of bowls there.

Cheers

Stuart

Hue grazing

Yes, it is true, I want four bowls. 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 29, 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 

• 11 Years of Noise Terror: How One Man Holds a Hougang Block Hostage from Rice Media

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🇲🇲 Burma

• Dancing With the Enemy in the Bamar Heartland from Frontier Myanmar ($)

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• The Old Kep Is Dead. Long Live New Kep? from Move to Cambodia

• Cambodia’s Reopened Siem Reap Sets Its Sights on a ‘quality’ Tourist Resurgence from South China Morning Post ($, Greenwashing)

• Drill Experts Assist in Preah Vihear 7th Staircase Repairs from The Phnom Penh Post

• A Genocide Left Their Families in a Cycle of Trauma. Now, a Generation of Cambodian Americans Is Finding a Path Toward Healing. from Buzzfeed

• ‘Wolf’ Attacks Villagers, Gets Eaten from VOD

🌴 Environment

• Airlines’ Premium-Economy Trick from The Atlantic

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• The ‘Sea Gypsies’ Who Live With Whale Sharks from BBC

• ‘Princess of the Wall of Death’: Indonesian Daredevil Defies Gravity and Stereotypes from AFP

• The Mechanics of G-Land, Java, Indonesia from Surfline

• Saving Medicinal Plants a Village Cause in Indonesia from Mongabay

• For Reef Mantas, Indonesia’s Komodo National Park Is a Ray of Hope from Mongabay

🇱🇦 Laos

• South African National Found Dead in Vientiane Capital from Laotian Times

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Malaysian Hornbill Bust Reveals Live Trafficking Trend in Southeast Asia from Mongabay (2021)

• From Drones to Sensors, Malaysian Durian Grower Goes High-tech from AFP

• Malaysian Palm Oil Giant Seeks to Repair Image After Abuse Claims from Aljazeera

• Southeast Asia's 600-year-old Fusion Cuisine from BBC

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

🇸🇬 Singapore

• $20,000 for Trying to Save a Life from We, the Citizens

• Jurong Is A Lot Cooler Now. What Do the People Who Work There Think? from Rice Media

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Ode to the Motorsai from Bangkok Glutton

• Brazen Attack in Thai Deep South Shatters Ramadan Truce from Benar News

• Bang the Drum Slowly from Bangkok Post

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam Keeps Its Death Sentences Quiet from CNN

• Hue Food Guide from Vietnam Coracle

Random other stuff

• Unearthing a World Under the Waves from National Geographic

• Monisha Rajesh Wants to Make Train Travel Delightful Again from Vogue

• Against Nature Writing from Emergence Magazine

• Dervla Murphy Obituary: A Ground-breaking and Fearless Travel Writer from The Irish Times

• The Norfolk Lourdes: England’s Lost Holy Land from Financial Times ($)

• Should Marine Species Own the High Seas? from Nautilus

• Back Down to the Countryside from Noema

Couchfish (Free-to-read)

• Couchfish: Don’t Listen to Neil

Couchfish (Paid subscribers only)

• Couchfish Day 306: One Faith Two Takes

Grazing in Hue

I miss Vietnam. 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