Your insider guide to Southeast Asia
Your Week in Southeast Asia
This week, in what is possibly the region’s most progressive country, Vietnam’s northern highlands, the world’s largest bamboo resort has just opened inside a national heritage landscape – offering us a reminder that luxury and environmental responsibility don’t need to pull in opposite directions. With the region’s luxury sector leaning more towards sustainable and eco-friendly offerings, it’s clear that the drive to cater for more aware travellers is stepping up a gear. Unfortunately, while business operators tilt in the right direction, evidence of a more reckless past is highlighted in a report showing that Malaysia’s coral reefs have lost a fifth of their cover in just three years, which is the kind of number that should make every diver in the region pause for thought before they book.
In other news, Bangkok confirmed its third consecutive year as Asia’s best city and we can understand why. Of all the cities in the region, nowhere quite hits the spot like Bangkok does, offering cultural diversity, international cuisine, and electric nightlife combining to offer a quintessential welcome to Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Indonesia quietly made island-hopping cheaper by scrapping domestic flight taxes, and the long-running question of how to stay legally in Southeast Asia as a remote worker finally has some real answers across five countries, albeit with caveats.
This Week
The World’s Largest Bamboo Resort Has Opened in Vietnam’s Northern Highlands
Banyan Group’s Garrya Mu Cang Chai has opened in Yen Bai province, northern Vietnam, and it has already earned a Robb Report Best of the Best award for 2026. The numbers tell you why: 110 rooms, suites and villas spread across 6.5 hectares of terraced mountainside at 1,000 metres above sea level, all built primarily from bamboo in collaboration with local architects, with brocade motifs drawn from the H’Mong communities who have farmed these valleys for generations.
Six hours from Hanoi and a million miles from your inbox
The resort sits within a national heritage landscape, six hours’ drive from Hanoi through highland passes. The 8LEMENTS Spa offers a 13-step hydrotherapy circuit, and the restaurant focuses on seasonal menus sourced from nearby Hmong farms. Culturally, guests can join guided treks, beeswax painting workshops, and village storytelling sessions. It is the first international resort brand in the Mu Cang Chai region. Read Tatler Asia’s first look here.
Bangkok Keeps Winning – and Thailand Is Quietly Raising Its Game
Bangkok has been voted Best City in Asia for the third consecutive year at the DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards, chosen by over a million votes from 45,000 readers worldwide. Tokyo and Singapore placed second and third. In the hospitality rankings, Capella Bangkok took top spot for Best Boutique City Hotel in Asia-Pacific – worth knowing if you’re planning a stay in the capital this year. What sits behind the headline, though, is a shift in how Thailand is positioning itself. The Tourism Authority has moved its strategy for 2026-2027 firmly towards quality over volume: longer stays, higher-value experiences, and a deliberate push into wellness and sustainable travel. Bangkok remains the natural starting point for most visitors, but the intention now is to move them beyond it – into slower, greener Thailand.
Indonesia Waives VAT on Domestic Flights Amid Rising Fuel Costs
Indonesia has scrapped value-added tax on economy-class domestic flights in a move designed to cushion travellers from rising fuel prices driven by Middle East tensions. The temporary policy applies nationwide and could meaningfully reduce the cost of getting between islands at a time when international arrivals from Gulf markets are already under pressure. The country had set itself targets of 16-17.6 million international visitors for 2026, and the measure is partly aimed at keeping domestic tourism moving while the government recalibrates its international strategy.
In practical terms, flights between Java and Bali, or Bali and Lombok, will cost less. For travellers already in the archipelago, this is the nudge to book that side trip to Raja Ampat or Flores. Check current fares with Garuda, Batik Air, or Citilink for the latest prices under the new policy.
Malaysia Has Lost One-Fifth of Its Coral Cover in Three Years
The numbers are hard to look at, but looking away costs more. Photo: reefcheck.org.my
Reef Check Malaysia’s 2025 national survey of 297 reef sites found that average live coral cover across the country has fallen to just under 40%, down from close to 50% in 2022. That three-year decline is equivalent, in percentage terms, to losing four million hectares of forest. The causes are overlapping: the fourth global bleaching event of 2024 hit reefs already weakened by pollution, coastal development, dynamite fishing, and heavy tourism pressure. Bleaching was recorded at two-thirds of the sites surveyed.
Reef Check Malaysia is not calling for less tourism. It is calling for better-managed tourism, with local communities formally integrated into marine protected area management rather than excluded from it. For divers and snorkellers visiting Malaysia’s islands, the choice of operator matters: those who follow Green Fins protocols and charge conservation fees are directly supporting the reef system you came to see. The data is alarming, but the pathway forward is clear – and it runs through your booking decisions.
Southeast Asia Finally Has a Legal Route for Remote Workers – But Choose Carefully
If you’ve been working remotely in Southeast Asia on a tourist visa, you’re far from alone – and the region’s governments have finally caught up with reality. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines have all launched dedicated remote-work visas, each with different rules, costs, and catches worth understanding before you commit.
Thailand’s Destination Thailand Visa is the most accessible entry point: 10,000 THB for up to 180 days per entry across a five-year validity, and it accepts freelancers. Malaysia’s DE Rantau pass is widely regarded as the most mature programme in the region, requiring a minimum annual income of $24,000 and offering up to three years’ legal residence. Indonesia’s E33G visa sets the bar highest at $60,000 annual income and demands an employment contract, which shuts the door entirely on freelancers. Vietnam and the Philippines remain works in progress, with extension workarounds still the practical reality for most.
Worth checking the small print before you commit: Indonesia excludes freelancers, Vietnam and the Philippines still lack functioning pathways, and Thailand’s tax treatment of overseas income remains inconsistently enforced.
What’s On
Coming Up
PAHIYAS FESTIVAL – Lucban, Philippines | 15 May 2026
One of the Philippines’ most extraordinary cultural spectacles: the farming town of Lucban covers its houses in intricate displays made from rice wafers, tropical fruits, and vegetables in thanksgiving for the harvest. Street parades, folk dances, and local food stalls complete the picture. Tickets and logistics at Guide to the Philippines.
DA NANG INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS FESTIVAL (DIFF 2026) – Da Nang, Vietnam | 30 May – 11 July 2026 (six competition nights)
Ten teams from nine countries compete over six evenings above the Han River under the theme “United Horizons.” The opening night on 30 May pits Vietnam against China. Tickets through the official DIFF website at diff.vn, with grandstand passes selling fast.
WAISAK (VESAK) PEACE LANTERN CEREMONY AT BOROBUDUR – Central Java, Indonesia | 31 May 2026
The year’s most atmospheric Buddhist celebration takes place at the world’s largest Buddhist monument: thousands of sky lanterns released above Borobudur’s 9th-century stone stupas at the precise moment of the full moon. Public lantern tickets available through Borobudur Park’s official site – book early, they sell out fast.
Worth Reading
The Malaysia coral reef story this week connects directly to a question Asia Unmasked has explored in depth: whether tourism can be structured to protect the ecosystems it depends on, rather than degrade them. Vietnam has one compelling answer.
How Vietnam’s Coastal Communities Became Marine Conservation Leaders
