Hi all,

This week I have a bunch of Sri Lanka-related stories in the “Random Other Stuff” trying to unravel the roots of the debacle taking place there. It should come as no surprise that appalling governance appears to be a common denominator.

In other news, Travelfish turns 18 today. The last two years have been slow ones for sure, but I do hope the next 18 are better. Thanks for your support over the years!

Cheers

Stuart

Send me a postcard

Lazy days on Lonely Beach, Koh Rong, Cambodia. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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 is fully vaccinated. You can see a full-size and interactive version of the chart here.

Source: Our World in Data

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, July 10, 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)

⭐️ Story of the week

Out of the Forest from Aeon

🇲🇲 Burma

Myanmar Wildlife Trade Remains Opaque, Despite Focus on Border Hubs from Mongabay

🇰🇭 Cambodia

🌴 Environment

In Thailand’s Deep South, a Fight to Stop Quarrying in a Global Geopark from Mongabay
How Plastic Is Fuelling a Hidden Climate Crisis in Southeast Asia from The Third Pole

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Using Puppets to Teach Threat to World’s Rarest Rhinos from Borneo Bulletin
As Dry Season Starts in Indonesia, Risk of Fires — and Haze — Looms from Mongabay

Random other stuff

Ways of Writing from Movable Worlds
Covid Changed Travel Writing. Maybe That’s Not a Bad Thing from The Conversation
Twitter Thread Debunks China Debt-trap Sri Lanka Debacle from Marina Rudyak
Sri Lankans Persist With Calls for President to Resign Immediately from Arab News
Sri Lanka Crisis: Daily Heartbreak of Life in a Country Gone Bankrupt from BBC
A Reckless Dynasty Has Brought Calamity to Sri Lanka from The New York Times ($)
How Tech Rescued Sri Lanka’s Tanking Tourism Industry from Rest Of World
Why Simple Is Smart from The Atlantic
Travel Chaos in Europe Is a Glimpse of a Future With Few Spare Workers from The Economist

Couchfish (Free-to-read)

Couchfish (Paid subscribers only)

Couchfish Day 268: Seven-metre backpacker-eating lizards (from October 2021)
Couchfish Day 257: Take Me to the Waterfall Waterfall (from September 2021)
Couchfish Day 231: The Northern Lights of Ban Krut (from June 2021)

Pier-day.

Perhentian Besar in Malaysia has a variety of piers. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

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

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Travelfish #445: Where did those 18 years go?