Travelfish #484: The falling apart edition

A wrap on stuff worth reading

Hi!

This week I’m starting with a Guardian story on joints that are falling apart/returning to nature. Who doesn’t like something in a state of wrack and ruin?

Over on Couchfish, I had just a single free-to-read story—a rather long one—looking at Booking, Travalyst and their claims about sustainability. It should come as no surprise that few of their claims stand up to even the briefest of scrutiny.

The Guardian story set the theme this week—ruins!

Cheers

Stuart

Bygone Bali

A part of the long-ruined Taman Festival, just north of Sanur in Bali. The story goes that for years locals fed chickens to the crocs that were abandoned here when the owner bailed. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

---

⭐️ Story of the week 

• Decay And Discovery: The Allure Of Abandoned Sites In Malaysia from The Guardian

---

📚 What I’m reading

• Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

🇲🇲 Burma

• Memories Of Burma’s Art Scene In The 1970s from New Mandala

---

Looking to book your transport online when you’re on the road in Southeast Asia? For Vietnam, look no further than Baolau. For the rest of the region, 12Go should be your first port of call.

---

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• “Don’t You Remember Me?” The Crypto Hell On The Other Side Of A Spam Text from Bloomberg ($)

• ‘Like Becoming A Refugee Again’: They Paid For Their Crimes. The US Deported Them Anyway from The Guardian

Did someone order a beach view?

Ad: Salad Hut on Ko Pha Ngan’s beautiful west coast, from US$118 per night. Click here for the details.

---

🌴 Environment

• The Ocean’s Fever from ABC

• 15 Ways To Be A Climate-Friendly Traveller from Evening Standard

• Pacific Island Countries Facing Faster Sea Level Rise, UN Says from RFA

• Rich Countries ‘Trap’ Poor Nations Into Relying On Fossil Fuels from The Guardian

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Indonesia Celebrates 618th Anniversary Of Chinese Ming Dynasty Navigator Zheng He’s Arrival At Semarang from Xinhua

• ‘He Was Petrified’: Australian Surfer Drifts At Sea For 37 Hours After Boat Capsizes Off Indonesia from The Guardian

🇱🇦 Laos

• Savoring Luang Prabang from Champa Leuang Lao

---

Looking for deals on organised tours **with no domestic flying**? Here are a few for Southeast Asia via Travelfish partner TourRadar. (Prices are in US$)

Cambodia
Cambodia Explorer (11 days, $920)

Indonesia
Komodo Island Hopper (9 days, $1,196)

Laos
North Laos by motorbike (7 days, $2,062)

Malaysia
Sabah Highlights (7 days, $1,243)

Thailand
Bangkok to the North (9 days, $1,130)

Vietnam
North Vietnam by motorbike (7 days, $1,026)

---

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Penang Bans Airbnb (& Almost All Other Short-term Holiday Rentals) from The West Australian

• WWF Malaysia Uses The Power Of AI To Help Conserve Sabah’s Orangutans from The Borneo Post

• I Found Hell In A Lovely Place from Around The World In 80 Scrapes

• Echoes Of Kapit History from Tribal Stories

🇸🇬 Singapore

• Things Singaporeans Do To Appear Busy At Work from Rice Media

• Has Singapore Become Too Expensive For Tourists? from The Straits Times ($)

🇹🇭 Thailand

• How To Travel Border-To-border In Thailand, Entirely By Train from Adventure

• Inside Thailand’s Child Sex Tourism Trade from Aljazeera (Video)

• Musings Over An Old Map Of Bangkok from Siam Rat Blog

• Major Elite Card Overhaul Planned from Bangkok Post

• T.I.C.D.: Mu Ko Lanta & Ko Haa from Thai Island Quest ($)

• In Thailand’s Political Joust, The Democrats’ Demise Should Be A Warning To Pheu Thai from SEAGlobe ($)

Looking for somewhere special in Penang?

Ad: Campbell House in Georgetown, Penang from US$72 per night. Click here for the details.

---

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam’s Plan To Block Users Puts Internet Access At Risk from Nikkei Asia ($)

• Vietnam’s Popular Sailing Junks Face Extinction from Nikkei Asia ($)

• Vietnam Issues E-visa For All Countries, Extends Visa-Free Stay from VNExpress

• In Search Of Quy Nhơn’s New And Traditional Delicacies from Saigoneer

• Beyond A Barbie Ban, Vietnam Sets Its Censors On Netflix from Rest Of World

Random other stuff

• How To Save The World from NE Where

• Wish You Weren’t Here! How Tourists Are Ruining The World’s Greatest Destinations from The Guardian

• Vandalism, Tantrums And Narcissism: Entitled Tourists Are Out Of Control from The Washington Post ($)

• Evidence Of Our Connection from What Do We Do Now That We’re Here

Time for a flutter?

Cambodia’s Bokor Casino—from back before the whole hilltop was ruined by greed and idiocy. Photo: Stuart McDonald.

---

See you next week!

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

Cheers!

Stuart