Vietnam
The supply chain’s newest favorite alternative to China, absorbing factories and foreign investment faster than its roads, ports, and power grid can keep up.
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Jun- 2026 -16 JuneCompass
Vietnam is ditching backpackers for high-spending tourists
With a 2030 target of US$40 billion in tourism revenue—roughly double 2024 earnings—Vietnam is tightening visa rules and building luxury infrastructure to compete with Thailand, while racing against the overtourism…
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16 JuneLife & Health
Asian workers hide mental illness. Their employers are starting to pay.
An AIA study found 88% of Asian employees reported mental health symptoms last year, yet only 44% in Singapore felt their employer offered real support—and compensation laws barely register the…
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8 JuneEarth
A 7.6 earthquake just tested Asia’s tsunami warning system
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center forecast waves up to three metres along Philippine coasts and one metre for Indonesia and Malaysia, but the real test is whether people in remote…
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8 JuneCompass
Full hotels are not profitable hotels in Southeast Asia anymore
Minor International and Accor report revenue per room above 2019 levels, yet rising power and wage costs are eroding margins fastest in Thailand, where Bangkok and Phuket added rooms faster…
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3 JuneTech & AI
China’s AI center in Beijing is already writing Southeast Asia’s rules
The ASEAN-China Artificial Intelligence Industry Innovation Center opened May 24, embedding Beijing's governance model into regional standards before member states agreed on any enforceable safeguards against autonomous disinformation.
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3 JunePower
Asia’s defence ministers reject US call for more ships, more summits
At Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue on May 30, Pete Hegseth pushed allies toward 3.5% defence spending while regional leaders argued the real risk is a shortage of trust, not arms—a split…
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2 JuneEarth
Asia’s renewable surge is hitting a grid that cannot carry it
Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand need $155 billion in transmission upgrades by 2030 to move power from solar farms to data centres, but financing lags and national protectionism delays cross-border…
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1 JuneCompass
Southeast Asia just closed the party visa era for Western travellers
A viral incident in Da Nang crystallised a regional shift: Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia now enforce visa cancellations and multi-year re-entry bans for behaviour that would draw a fine at…
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May- 2026 -31 MayEarth
Vietnam’s clean-air gamble rests on a struggling state champion
Vietnam targets 30% electric motorbikes by 2030 under National Power Development Plan VIII to combat severe urban air pollution. But the strategy relies on loss-making VinFast, disputed pollution data showing…
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31 MayCompass
Iran war is emptying Southeast Asia’s guesthouses this summer
Southeast Asia's tourism economies are absorbing their second major shock in five years as the Iran conflict drives up energy prices and chokes long-haul travel demand. Visitor numbers to Cambodia's…
