Nomadic Notes Newsletter (July 2025)

Chiang Mai Update: Aussie passport, Thailand-Cambodia conflict, notes on Surabaya, Da Nang - Hoi An bus

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

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Travel updates

Hello from Chiang Mai!

I’m back in Thailand after a month in Vietnam. I came back to Bangkok this week to collect my new passport from the Australian embassy. An Aussie passport costs $398 AUD (257 USD), making it the most expensive in the world. I also had to pay an overseas surcharge of $178 AUD (115 USD), making the application even more expensive.

The Australian passport is currently the 7th most powerful passport in the world, so I don’t take that for granted. My friends in this region have trouble getting visas to my country.

The Australian embassy in Bangkok has moved since the last time I visited, and it is now in a massive compound opposite Lumphini Park (a big park in a central location of the city). At least my overseas surcharge is helping pay off this wonderful new building. No photos (obviously), but you can see the building in the background in this photo.

[New passport from the Australian embassy in Bangkok (via @nomadicnotes).]

I arrived back in Bangkok amidst the Thailand-Cambodia border war. I am subscribed to every English news site from both countries, and both sides tell two very different stories. It’s depressing to see the nationalistic comments on Facebook as well.

This article has a good summary of the conflict and the online discourse:

Nationalist zeal & AI slop fueled the Thai-Cambodia conflict

I noticed that the malls with electronic billboards were flying the flag more than usual, but other than that, it was business as usual in Bangkok.

Before Bangkok, I was in Vietnam for a month. I arrived in Da Nang on the 1st of July, which was the day of the big provincial and city mergers in Vietnam. Da Nang and Quang Nam Province have now merged as a new supercity, so that means that Hoi An is in Da Nang City.

All of these new province and city names mean that maps and guidebooks will need to be updated. I see that Google Maps hasn’t updated yet, and Wikipedia will probably be outdated for a while. I will need to update my guides soon.

I was also in Ho Chi Minh City this month, which has merged two neighbouring provinces, including coastal Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. This means that Ho Chi Minh City now has proper beaches. I saw this headline (Pristine beaches in Ho Chi Minh City draw global praise), which confused me for a second until I remembered the merger.

Latest posts at Nomadic Notes

• Notes on Surabaya – In the midst of an old town renaissance

The Old City (Kota Lama), Surabaya Chinatown, and Jalan Tunjungan (one of the coolest streets in Indonesia).

• Da Nang to Hoi An by public bus (LK-02)

Da Nang and Hoi An are about 27 km apart, but getting the public bus isn’t as straightforward as you would expect.

What I’ve been working on / My other sites

The Travel Wire

Subscribe to my weekly travel reads newsletter at The Travel Wire.

Future Southeast Asia

Improving bus services between Da Nang and Hoi An

After taking the bus from Da Nang to Hoi An, I wrote about how to improve bus services between the two cities. I would start by improving bus stations, and launching an airport and railway station bus service to Hoi An.

Southeast Asia Railways

The Southeast Asia Railways Newsletter goes out this week.

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James Clark – Chiang Mai, Thailand.