The Japanese train in Cambodia

Nomadic Notes Newsletter (February 2025): 3 months in Vietnam, Bangkok to Sihanoukville by train (mostly), and other site updates

Welcome to the Nomadic Notes Newsletter. This newsletter summarises the latest posts at nomadicnotes.com, site updates, and other unblogged ramblings.

---

Travel updates

Greetings from Phan Thiet in the Southeast Coast region of Vietnam. I’m back in Vietnam with another 3-month visa, and I’m currently making my way up the coast. I will be taking a detour to the Central Highlands to visit some places I haven’t been to, and then I will spend a month in Da Nang. I also have some unplanned weeks which I will decide on what to do later.

Most of my travels are related to work I’m doing at Future Southeast Asia. I haven’t published a Nomadic Notes trip report for a while, so I plan to restart that series soon.

Latest posts at Nomadic Notes

In December 2024 I went by train from Bangkok to Sihanoukville. The main reason for this trip was to ride the Japanese trains that Cambodia is now using on their railways.

The first section of this trip was from Bangkok to the Thailand-Cambodia border. This is an “Ordinary Train” (3rd Class seating), and tickets cost 49 THB ($1.40 USD).

My review: Train No. 275: Bangkok to Ban Klong Luk Border (train to the Thailand-Cambodia border)

The section between Poipet to Battambang was out of action when I went, but that is expected to be restored this year. After getting a minivan I got the train from Battambang to Phnom Penh. This train wasn’t running the last time I went to Battambang, so it was good to have this as an option.

My review: Battambang to Phnom Penh by train

The last section was from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. This line now uses a second-hand Japanese KiHa 183 series train that Royal Railways of Cambodia bought in 2024.

My review: The Japanese train in Cambodia: Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville on the KiHa train from Hokkaido

The KiHa trains will eventually be deployed on the Northern Line, so it will be possible to go from Poipet to Sihanoukville on these trains. Unfortunately, there is still no timeline for an international train between Cambodia and Thailand.

My other sites

The Travel Wire

The Nomadic Notes Newsletter used to feature a weekly travel reads section. This section is now a separate newsletter at The Travel Wire. This weekly newsletter lists the most interesting travel reads I found each week.

Future Southeast Asia

I’ve been spending most of my work time on the Future Southeast Asia Newsletter. I publish a weekly news round-up, and I am now publishing weekly editorial articles for subscribers.

Southeast Asia Railways

The Southeast Asia Railways Newsletter is usually monthly, but I haven’t published there for a few months. I will be restarting the newsletter next month.

…

James Clark – Phan Thiet, Vietnam.

Follow me at Bluesky.