Southeast Asia

城市概覽

Southeast Asia is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, and for a reason. Some of the countries here have it all: a tropical climate, warm (or hot!) all year around, rich culture, gorgeous beaches, wonderful food and last but not least, low prices. While its history and modern-day politics are complex, most of it is also quite safe and easy to travel around in. The region is also a very popular destination for retiring abroad, and several governments in the region offer special long-term visas specifically for retirees.

History

Southeast Asia is a very diverse region, with numerous ethnic groups of different origins. Pre-historic Southeast Asia was lightly populated. The first group of people known to populate Southeast Asia were the Austroasiatic peoples, who were believed to have originated in what is today southern China, and are believed to be the ancestors of today's Vietnamese, Khmer and Mon peoples. Later groups to follow including the Tai people, who are believed to be the ancestors of today's Thai, Lao and Shan peoples, Sino-Tibetan peoples who are believed to be the ancestors of today's Bamar and Rakhine peoples, and the Hmong. The Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula were mainly populated by Austronesian peoples, who are believed to trace their origins to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Indian influences would begin to grow among the various Southeast Asian peoples starting from the first century AD, in a process known as Indianization. The exact way through which this happened is disputed, though the most popular theory is that Brahmins travelling in the ships or caravans of traders from India brought Hinduism and later, Buddhism with them and spread it to the elite classes, from whom it trickled down to the rest of the population. The Indic scripts still used to write modern Thai, Lao, Burmese and Khmer have their roots from this process, and those languages, along with others such as Javanese, Balinese, Malay and Cham would ado

如何抵達

Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand do not require visas for most Western visitors. Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Timor-Leste offer visas on arrival for citizens of most Western countries at most points of entry. Vietnam and Myanmar require advance paperwork for most visitors, but most Western visitors are eligible for eVisas, thus saving you the hassle to needing to make your way to an embassy or consulate. Travellers to ASEAN nations (all nations covered in this article) may need to be aware of the effects on visas. ASEAN citizens are entitled to visa-free tourist travel to most other ASEAN countries, and agreements are in place with nearby nations such as China which affect visas in either direction. Visa-free travel may be for a shorter period than travel with a visa, limited to as little as 14 days. A common ASEAN travel area, similar to the Schengen Agreement for Europe, is proposed but has not yet been implemented. Visitors from outside the ASEAN area still need to consult the specific visa requirements for the countries they are visiting. Business travellers may wish to take advantage of tariff reductions and other economic measures between the nations. For tourists, however, normal duty free limits on cigarettes, alcohol, perfume and the like, apply when travelling between them.

By plane

The main international gateways to Southeast Asia are:

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK IATA) is the busiest air hub in the region, and serves as the "gateway" to Southeast Asia from Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Central Asia. In many cases, it will be the only destination to which there are regular flights from many countries. It is also the airport that receives the most flights from East Asia. However, it is not served by flights from Oceanian countries other than Australia and New Zealand. The second most important air hub is Singapore Changi Airport (SIN IATA). It is well-connected with Oceania, South Africa and North America, but rece

當地交通

With the exception of Singapore, public transport networks in Southeast Asia tend to be severely lacking. However, due to reckless driving habits, driving is also usually not for the faint-hearted. Most of the time, plane, bus or rail travel tends to be the best way to get around. There are local means of transport based on converting a motorcycle, truck, van or even bicycle to haul passengers. These include jeepneys, UV Express and traysikels in the Philippines, songthaews and tuk-tuks in Thailand, and similar vehicles elsewhere. Unmodified motorcycles also provide taxi services in various places. All these modes of transport are generally cheap and rather colorful, but somewhat uncomfortable and perhaps dangerous. Be aware of various scams when crossing international borders. If someone offers to help you obtain a visa for the next country, or tries to direct you to a "health check", you can be certain that that person is trying to scam you. In Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, it is not uncommon for immigration officers to ask for bribes to stamp you in or out of the country; this is usually not a problem at airports, but bribes of up to US$10 per person are often demanded at land borders. Bus companies often charge a "border crossing fee" for international routes, in which case company staff will take your passport and process you through immigration at the border, with any potential bribes having already been factored into the fee; not paying the fee may mean you get stranded at the border as officials try to extract bribes from you. The most popular ride sharing apps with a strong presence in multiple Southeast Asian countries are Malaysia's Grab and Indonesia's Gojek. Uber and Lyft do not have a presence.

By plane

Much of Southeast Asia is now covered by a dense web of low-cost carriers, the largest being Malaysian carrier AirAsia and its Thai, Indonesian, Filipino and Cambodian affiliates, making this a fast and affordable way of getting aro

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Landscapes and nature

From active volcanoes to spectacular coastlines, from pristine rainforests to equatorial glaciers, and from impressive rice terraces to great river systems. Southeast Asia has it all. There are fourteen natural UNESCO World Heritage sites in the region, with dozens more on the tentative list, and hundreds of national parks and otherwise protected nature areas. Most countries in Southeast Asia have impressive mountain ranges. The highest mountains of the region (more than 5,000 m) can be found in the eastern end of the Himalayas in Northern Myanmar, but almost equally high are the mountains of the Lorentz National Park of Indonesia's Papua province, known for their equatorial glaciers. Another high mountain (almost 4,100 m), that is easier to reach and therefore popular for climbing, is Mount Kinabalu in the Malaysian part of Borneo. As Southeast Asia is on the Ring of Fire of the Pacific Ocean, there is a large number of (active) volcanoes, mainly in Indonesia