Travelfish #449: Farewell Mekong Review
Travelfish #449: Farewell Mekong Review
Plus your regular dose of procrastination fodder from the region.
Hi all,
Sorry for the service interruption—have been laptop-less for a couple of weeks. Almost back on deck now.
This week I’m leading with the sad story of Mekong Review closing down. For seven years it has been a welcome addition to the Southeast Asia reading room, with an interesting mix of commentary, reviews and other stuff—even a short piece by me earlier this year. Founder Minh Bui Jones notes it may be back is some form down the track, but whatever form it takes, it will be with new owners. It will be missed.
The pics this week, fittingly I guess, are of the Mekong.
Cheers
Stuart
Savannakhet sunset
Seems fitting. Photo: Cindy Fan.
⭐️ Story of the week
Mekong Review Shuts Down from Vietnam Weekly
🇲🇲 Burma
'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar Bears Cost of Green Energy from AP
From Headhunting to Weaponized Drones: Myanmar's Wa Carve Own Path from NikkeiAsia ($)
Kachin’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Booms in Post-coup Free-for-all from Frontier Myanmar ($)
🇰🇭 Cambodia
US to Return 30 Looted Artefacts From Late Smuggler's Collection to Cambodia from ABC
At Least 10 Years to Repair One Week of Phnom Tamao Damage from VOD
Fishers Leave Crisis-hit Tonle Sap Lake in Search of Livelihoods Ashore from VOA Cambodia
A Luxury Magazine Photo Hid Relics Cambodia Says Could Be Stolen from The Washington Post ($)
How Phnom Penh Can Recapture Its Mid-Century Glory from The Diplomat
ANA Promoting Lesser Known Temples from The Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia Says It’s Found Its Lost Artifacts: in Gallery 249 at the Met from The New York Times ($)
Cambodia’s Expats to Enjoy Free Access to Angkor from Kiri Post
Ad: Phnom Penh’s Penh House, from US$62 per night. Click here for the details.
🌴 Environment
Stockholm Instead of Rome? October Instead of July? How Heat Waves Are Changing Tourism in Europe from The New York Times ($)
Vietnam Tourist Island to Ban Single-use Plastics from VNExpress
Rainwater Everywhere on Earth Unsafe to Drink Due to ‘Forever Chemicals’, Study Finds from EuroNews
🇮🇩 Indonesia
Indonesian Schoolgirls Face 'Harassment' as Pressure to Wear the Hijab Rises from SCMP
Saving Sumatran Elephants Starts With Counting Them. Indonesia Won’t Say How Many Are Left from Mongabay
Can Indonesia's Muslim Leaders Boost Public Climate Change Action? from Thomson Reuters
Dressing the Dead: Indonesian Villagers Clean Corpses in Afterlife Ritual from AFP
🇱🇦 Laos
LAK 20 Billion to Address Flooding in Vientiane from The Laotian Times
Lao Artist Reprimanded for Satirical Song from The Laotian Times
🇲🇾 Malaysia
Malaysia 1MDB Scandal: Najib Razak Running Out of Time in Final Appeal Against 12-year Jail Term from SCMP ($)
5,000-year-old ‘Penang Woman’ Now Has a Face from The Star
🇸🇬 Singapore
To All the En Bloc Buildings I’ve Loved Before from Rice Media
Singapore Makes a Global Mark With Its Culinary Diplomacy from SEAGlobe ($)
🇹🇭 Thailand
Postcard From Bangkok: ‘Travellers Have Returned — and Weed Tempura is on the Menu’ from The Times ($)
Full Moon Party Sees 10k Visitors, Govt Mulls 2-hour Extension from Bangkok Post
Pot-smoking Tourists Not Welcome in Thailand, Says Health Minister from Reuters
Beyond Bangkok: the National Park That's Just a Short Hop From Thailand's Capital from National Geographic
Arson, Bomb Attacks at 17 Spots in South from Bangkok Post
Time Up for Prayut? from Secret Siam
Ad: Bangkok’s Sala Arun from US$116 per night. Click here for the details.
🇻🇳 Vietnam
Tiger's Existence Under Verification at Phong Nha-ke Bang Park from VNExpress
Vietnam Still Struggles to Welcome Back Int’l Tourists from Tuoi Tre News
Hanoi Brings Back Loudspeakers as Old-school Propaganda Methods Return to Vietnam from The Guardian
The Legends of Thăng Long Tứ Trấn, the 4 Guardian Temples Protecting Hanoi from Saigoneer
Random other stuff
Endless Lines, Baffling Delays, Crocs for Days from The New York Times ($)
Walking Tours Get a Radical Makeover, Focusing on People’s Histories from Yes!
Revenge Travel May Be a Big Problem for Places Like Thailand's Famous Maya Bay from Time
Backpackers ‘on $10 a Day Eating Dried Noodles’ Not New Zealand’s Targeted Tourists from TravelWeekly
The Bicycle is Humanity’s Most Underrated Invention from The Economist ($)
The Future of Travel is Less Exotic from Taipei Times
#154: Female Motorcyclists in Asia from Travel Talk Asia (Podcast)
We’ve Travelled Too Cheap for Too Long: Are Tourism Taxes a Good Idea? from EuroNews
Raising the Cost of Tourism in South East Asia from Asia Media Centre
Couchfish (Free-to-read)
Couchfish (Paid subscribers only)
Always moving
At Huay Xai’s old slow boat pier. Photo: Cindy Fan.
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