Southeast Asia’s forests are fighting back – from Laos’s mass reforestation drive to Borneo’s ancient jungle.
Around the Region
For those of us in Bangkok who found ourselves knee-deep in flood water this week, this is merely a sign of things to come. Briefly, messily, typically a storm can see the water table in Thailand’s capital rise quickly. And this is why you’ll find many older Bangkok residents seeking retirement in hill country. Bangkok is sinking and has earned the moniker Venice of the Orient. The rains are in full swing across the north of the region and the low season is doing what low season does – emptying the popular spots, filling the skies, and making Southeast Asia feel a little more like itself again. Which, if you’re paying attention, is exactly when things get interesting. Laos is using the rain productively, planting nearly ten million trees across 50,000 hectares of degraded land. Siem Reap is quieter than it’s been in years – genuinely worth understanding why. Bali’s biggest cultural festival opens in nine days, free entry, a month long. And Vietnam, which has just recorded its hottest May in years, has a new entry requirement landing 1 July that nobody is talking about yet. All of that, this week, just for you.
This Week in Southeast Asia
Laos Is Planting Nearly Ten Million Trees – and Encourages You to Visit While It Does
Laos has committed to planting trees across 50,000 hectares of degraded land in 2026, with seedlings going into the ground across every province timed to National Arbor Day on 1 June and World Environment Day on 5 June. The target is part of a longer national forestry strategy to restore 70% forest cover by 2035 – a significant ambition for a country that has seen forest cover drop from roughly 70% in the 1940s to around 40% by 2010, before partial recovery to approximately 62% today. The government has mobilised community groups, schools, and provincial authorities to make this year’s campaign its most visible yet.
Laos is mobilising communities across every province to restore its forests in 2026.
For travellers, this is a meaningful moment to engage with Laos as more than a transit stop. Operators running community-based stays in the highlands and river valleys are increasingly weaving conservation into their programmes. A country actively restoring its forests is one that rewards the traveller who arrives curious rather than comfortable – and right now, that story is happening in real time and deserves your attention.
Borneo’s Greatest Music Festival Returns and the Rainforest Sets the Stage
The Rainforest World Music Festival returns to Sarawak Cultural Village from 26 to 28 June 2026, marking its 29th edition. Ranked in the top ten music festivals globally by the Transglobal World Music Chart, RWMF is a genuine one-of-a-kind: three days of daytime instrument workshops and evening headline concerts, set at the base of Mount Santubong in the heart of Borneo’s rainforest. This year’s headliners include Malaysian legend Dato’ M. Nasir on 26 June and American funk icons The Commodores featuring Thomas McClary on 27 June. Over 6,000 trees have been planted in conservation areas since 2023 as part of the festival’s environmental programme, with the initiative on track to reach its 10,000-tree target this year – three years ahead of the original 2027 schedule.
Tickets are available now through the official RWMF website – link in the Whats On section below – with single-day and three-day passes on sale via Ticketmelon. Kuching pairs well with a longer Borneo itinerary – Sarawak’s rainforests, longhouse communities, and wildlife corridors make a strong case for staying on.
Angkor Is Quieter Than It Has Been in Years – So It’s a Great Time to Go
Visitor numbers at Angkor Archaeological Park fell 32% in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period last year, with ticket revenue also down 30% . Across Cambodia as a whole, international arrivals dropped roughly 45% in Q1 2026. The immediate cause is well-documented: a border conflict with Thailand in the second half of 2025 closed all land crossings at precisely the moment high season should have been filling hotels. Almost half of all visitors to Siem Reap province previously arrived by road via Thailand. Losing that route, alongside the travel advisories that followed, hit Siem Reap harder than anywhere else in the country.
Siem Reap is seeing its quietest visitor numbers in years – which, for independent travellers, changes the calculation entirely.
For independent travellers, this is an unusual window. The temples are less crowded than at any point in recent memory, hotel rates are competitive, and the local operators who depend on tourism are genuinely glad to see you. The Cambodian government has introduced a visa-free pilot aimed only at Chinese nationals from 15 June to 15 October 2026 – a direct attempt to fill the gap – so the quieter period may be short-lived. Anyone considering Angkor would do well to go before that dynamic shifts. Angkor without the crowds is a thing to be cherished.
Indonesia’s “Ten New Balis” Dream Met Reality – Here’s What Worked
A decade ago, Indonesia launched one of the region’s most ambitious tourism plans: replicate Bali’s success across ten new destinations simultaneously. The results, assessed in a sharp new analysis published this week, are revealing.
Labuan Bajo has emerged as the clearest success story from Indonesia’s super-priority tourism programme.
The programme eventually narrowed to five “super-priority” destinations – Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, and Likupang – after fiscal realities and slow private investment forced a rethink. Of those five, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara has emerged as the clearest success, its proximity to Komodo National Park giving it a conservation hook that the others lacked. Lake Toba has built a genuine cultural identity around its Batak heritage. Borobudur remains contested, its management squeezed between mass visitor pressure and preservation demands.
The lesson for travellers is practical: the destinations that worked are the ones with a reason to exist beyond infrastructure spending. Read the full analysis. If you’re planning Indonesia beyond Bali, Labuan Bajo and Lake Toba now have the track record to justify the trip.
Bali Opens Its Biggest Cultural Festival – and It’s Free!
The Bali Arts Festival – known locally as Pesta Kesenian Bali – opens on 13 June and runs through 11 July at the Taman Werdhi Budaya Art Centre in Denpasar. Now in its 48th year, this is the island’s most significant annual celebration of Balinese culture: more than 20,000 artists and cultural practitioners from every regency across Bali, and a month of daily events spanning traditional dance, gamelan music, shadow puppetry, weaving, and ceremonial arts. This year’s theme – Atma Kerthi: Jiwa Sidha Parisudha, translated as “Honouring the Perfect Soul” – frames art not as entertainment but as a path to spiritual balance. Entry is free for all visitors.
The festival opens with a ceremonial parade through Denpasar worth planning around if you’re on the island mid-June. It sits in the middle of Bali’s dry season, which makes it a better time to visit than most people assume. Details and the full programme can be found in the Whats On section below.
Vietnam Introduces a Mandatory Health Declaration for All Travellers from 1 July
All travellers entering, leaving, or transiting through Vietnam will be required to complete a health declaration from 1 July 2026, under Decree 165/2026/ND-CP issued by the Vietnamese government on 21 May. The declaration must be submitted within seven days before crossing any Vietnamese border gate – by air, land, or sea – and is available in both Vietnamese and English. A digital version is being piloted at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City; the Ministry of Health has not yet published the final electronic form for all border points, so travellers should monitor official guidance in the weeks ahead.
This sits alongside Vietnam’s existing digital arrival card requirement, introduced at Tan Son Nhat in April 2026 and being rolled out to other airports. Anyone travelling to Vietnam this summer is now managing two pre-arrival digital steps rather than one. Worth building into your planning now rather than finding out at check-in.
What’s On
This Week
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY – Region-wide | 5 June 2026
Marked annually on 5 June, this year’s theme is “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future.” Across Southeast Asia, conservation organisations, national parks, and community groups are running tree-planting drives, beach clean-ups, and reef monitoring activities. It is a good moment to support a local initiative wherever you are in the region – and Laos’s mass reforestation campaign (see above) is one of the most tangible examples this year of what World Environment Day looks like in practice.
Coming Up
BALI ARTS FESTIVAL – Denpasar, Indonesia | 13 June – 11 July 2026
48th edition of Pesta Kesenian Bali – 20,000+ artists from every Bali regency, free entry at Taman Werdhi Budaya Art Centre. Theme this year: Atma Kerthi: Jiwa Sidha Parisudha – Honouring the Perfect Soul.
PHI TA KHON GHOST FESTIVAL – Dan Sai, Loei, Thailand | 20-22 June 2026
One of Thailand’s most visually arresting festivals – locals don elaborate ghost masks and costumes, parading through Dan Sai in a merit-making ritual rooted in Buddhist and animist tradition. The northeast of Thailand in June is green, quiet, and far from the tourist circuit. Dan Sai is a four-hour drive from Khon Kaen.
RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL – Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia | 26-28 June 2026
29th edition at Sarawak Cultural Village, Mount Santubong. Global headliners, indigenous music workshops, and one of the world’s great festival settings. Tickets from RM235 (single day) and RM635 (three-day pass). Book early – early bird passes sold quickly.
Worth Reading
This week’s Indonesia analysis on what the “Ten New Balis” programme actually delivered is a sobering moment to balance both the hype and the doom. If you want the practical guide to where in Indonesia the crowds haven’t yet arrived in force, this Asia Unmasked piece from last year holds up well.
