Southeast Asia

From the early first millennium AD, Indian traders and priests sailing on the monsoon brought Sanskrit, Hindu gods, Buddhism and ideas of divine kingship to the region. Local rulers adopted them selectively, which historians call Indianisation. Nearly every script in mainland Southeast Asia, from Burmese and Thai to Khmer and Lao, descends from southern Indian writing. Early states such as Funan in the Mekong Delta and the Cham kingdoms of central Vietnam grew rich on trade between India and China.

Three great powers followed. Srivijaya, based near Palembang in Sumatra from the 7th century, controlled the Strait of Malacca and was a centre of Buddhist learning. The Khmer empire of Angkor, founded about 802, built Angkor Wat in the 12th century and ruled much of the mainland until about 1431. Majapahit, a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in east Java from 1293, claimed influence across most of today’s Indonesia. Java also produced Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the world, in the 9th century.

Islam arrived through traders rather than armies. Samudera Pasai in north Sumatra had Muslim rulers by the late 13th century, and the Sultanate of Melaka, founded about 1400, made Islam the faith of the Malay world. Over the next two centuries it spread across Java, the southern Philippines and Brunei. On the mainland, Theravada Buddhism replaced older Hindu and Mahayana cults, and new kingdoms rose: Ayutthaya in Siam, Lan Xang in Laos, the Burmese dynasties and Vietnam pushing south.

Europeans carved up the region between 1511 and 1900. Portugal took Melaka; Spain founded Manila in 1571; the Dutch East India Company made Batavia, now Jakarta, its base in 1619; Britain took Penang, Singapore, Malaya and Burma; France built Indochina from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; and the United States seized the Philippines from Spain in 1898. Siam, now Thailand, alone stayed independent, thanks to reforming kings, border concessions and its role as a buffer between British and French territory.

Japan occupied almost the entire region from 1941 to 1945, which destroyed the myth of European invincibility. Independence followed, often through war: the Philippines in 1946, Burma in 1948, Indonesia recognised in 1949 after four years of fighting, Cambodia and Laos in 1953, Vietnam divided in 1954, Malaya in 1957, Singapore in 1965, Brunei in 1984, and Timor-Leste in 2002 after Indonesian occupation. The Indochina wars ran until 1975, followed by the Khmer Rouge regime and Vietnam’s intervention in Cambodia.

ASEAN was founded in Bangkok in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei joined in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999. Timor-Leste became the eleventh member at the Kuala Lumpur summit in October 2025. ASEAN works by consensus and does not interfere in members’ internal affairs; for travellers its main effects are visa-free travel for ASEAN citizens, growing cross-border QR payment links and a shared tourism calendar.

Theravada Buddhism dominates mainland Southeast Asia: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Most men traditionally spend some time as monks, sometimes only weeks, and monasteries are the centre of village life. Monks walk alms rounds at dawn; lay people give food to earn merit. Monks may not touch women or receive items directly from them, so women place offerings on a cloth. Vietnam is the exception on the mainland, following East Asian Mahayana Buddhism mixed with Confucian and Taoist practice.

Islam is the faith of the Malay world. Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country on earth; Malaysia and Brunei make Islam the state religion, and southern Thailand and the southern Philippines have large Muslim populations. Practice ranges from relaxed Javanese traditions to strict Sharia rules in Aceh and Brunei. During Ramadan, eating in public in daytime is frowned on or restricted in some areas, and in Malaysia and Brunei non-Muslims should be discreet.

The Philippines is Asia’s largest Christian country, around 80% Catholic after more than three centuries of Spanish rule, with fiestas, processions and a Holy Week that shuts much of the country. Timor-Leste is even more strongly Catholic, over 95%. Vietnam has a large Catholic minority and Indonesia significant Protestant regions, such as North Sulawesi, Papua and the Batak lands of Sumatra.

Bali is a Hindu island in a Muslim-majority country. Balinese Hinduism mixes Indian gods with ancestor veneration and local spirits; daily offerings called canang sari are placed on steps, shrines and even car dashboards, so do not step on them. Temples require a sarong and sash, usually lent or rented at the gate, and women who are menstruating are asked not to enter. Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, closes the island and its airport for 24 hours each year.

Beneath all of these faiths lies a layer of animism. Thai and Lao homes and businesses keep spirit houses, small shrines where food and drink are offered to the land’s guardian spirit. Myanmar honours 37 official nats. In Indonesia and the Philippines, rituals for rice, village founders and ancestors continue next to mosque and church. Treat all of these with the same respect as a temple: do not touch the offerings or sit on shrines.

Practical rules are consistent across the region. Cover shoulders and knees at every religious site; remove shoes before entering temple buildings and mosque prayer halls; sit with feet pointing away from Buddha images; do not climb on statues or ruins; keep voices low. Images of the Buddha must not be used as decoration: Thailand and Sri Lanka have refused entry or deported travellers over Buddha tattoos or misuse of images. Buying Buddha heads as souvenirs is legally restricted in Thailand.

Rice is the base of the meal everywhere, and in Thai, Lao, Khmer, Vietnamese and Malay the word for eating a meal means eating rice. Laos and northeast Thailand eat glutinous sticky rice by hand from small baskets; the rest of the region eats steamed long-grain rice with a spoon and fork. Rice is also turned into noodles: flat rice noodles in phở and pad thai, thin vermicelli in bún and laksa, and rice paper for Vietnamese rolls.

The key seasoning divides the region. Fish sauce, made by fermenting anchovies with salt, is the salty backbone of Vietnamese, Thai, Lao and Cambodian food. Further south, shrimp paste takes over: belacan in Malaysia, terasi in Indonesia, bagoong in the Philippines, kapi in Thailand. The Philippines relies more on vinegar and souring agents; Indonesia and Malaysia build dishes on spice pastes of chilli, shallot, garlic, galangal and lemongrass, cooked in coconut milk.

Hawker culture is the region’s great leveller. In Singapore and Malaysia, food is sold from licensed stalls in covered hawker centres and kopitiams, coffee shops with several vendors. Singapore’s hawker culture was added to UNESCO’s intangible heritage list in 2020. In Bangkok, Hanoi and Jakarta, food is sold on pavements, from carts and plastic-stool stalls. Prices are low, turnover is high, and many stalls sell only one dish, refined over decades.

Street food is generally safe when chosen well. Pick busy stalls, food cooked to order and served hot; be wary of pre-cut fruit in heat and of raw herbs and vegetables in rural areas. Ice in cities is usually factory-made in tubes and safe; tap water is not drinkable outside Singapore and parts of Kuala Lumpur, Brunei and Bangkok’s treated supply, where old pipes still make bottled or filtered water the norm.

Diets need care. Fish sauce, shrimp paste and pork fat are hidden in many ‘vegetable’ dishes. Vegetarian Buddhist restaurants, marked chay in Vietnam and jay in Thailand with yellow flags, are reliable. Malaysia and Indonesia are easy for halal eaters; Singapore labels halal stalls. Peanuts, shellfish and fish derivatives are everywhere, so people with serious allergies should carry a translated card and their medication.

Eating customs are informal but shared. Dishes are placed in the middle and everyone takes small portions onto their own rice rather than piling a plate. In Malay and Indian settings, many eat with the right hand; washbasins are provided. Tipping is not expected at street stalls. Coffee culture is strong: Vietnamese robusta with condensed milk, Malaysian and Singaporean kopi brewed through a sock, and Indonesian kopi tubruk with the grounds left in the cup.

The region has two monsoons, and which one matters depends on which way the coast faces. The southwest monsoon, roughly May to October, soaks coasts facing west and southwest: Myanmar, Thailand’s Andaman coast around Phuket and Krabi, Cambodia, Laos and most of Vietnam except the central coast. It is the green season, with lower prices, afternoon downpours, rough seas on west-facing beaches and some boat services suspended.

The northeast monsoon, roughly November to March, is the dry season for most of the mainland, but it hits coasts facing northeast. Vietnam’s central coast, from Huế to Nha Trang, is wettest from September to December and floods most years. The Gulf of Thailand islands, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, have their heaviest rain in October to December. The east coast of peninsular Malaysia, including the Perhentian, Redang and Tioman islands, largely closes from about November to February.

Near the equator the pattern softens. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Sumatra get rain all year, with slightly wetter spells. Java, Bali and Lombok have a clearer dry season from about April to October and a wet season from November to March, the opposite of Thailand. That is why a year-round island trip is possible in the region if you choose the right coast: Andaman in winter, Gulf in summer, Bali in the northern summer.

Typhoons form in the Pacific from about June to November and track west. The Philippines is hit most often, with around 20 named storms entering its area each year, then Vietnam’s northern and central coasts. Myanmar and Bangladesh face cyclones from the Bay of Bengal. A storm means cancelled ferries and flights for one to three days and, in the worst cases, flooding. Watch forecasts from local agencies and avoid tight ferry or domestic-flight connections in peak months.

Haze is a separate hazard. From about February to April, farmers in northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar burn fields and forest, and Chiang Mai regularly ranks among the most polluted cities in the world for weeks. In some dry years from August to October, peat and plantation fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan send smoke across Singapore and Malaysia. Check air-quality apps, carry N95 masks if you have respiratory conditions, and consider going south or to the coast in the burning season.

Southeast Asia has some of the best overland routes in Asia, but the rules differ at every crossing. Well-used lines include Bangkok to Vientiane via the Friendship Bridge at Nong Khai, with a train now running across to Khamsavath near Vientiane; Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh via Mộc Bài–Bavet; Hanoi to Laos via several northern and central posts; Thailand to Malaysia at Padang Besar by rail or Sadao by road; and Singapore to Johor Bahru over the Causeway, one of the world’s busiest land crossings.

Visa regimes vary. Most Western passports get visa-free entry to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (on a paid visa on arrival or e-VOA), the Philippines and Brunei. Vietnam requires an e-visa for most nationalities, valid up to 90 days, with some visa-free exemptions. Cambodia and Laos sell a visa on arrival at most international crossings, priced in US dollars, typically around USD 30–40 depending on nationality (check). Myanmar requires an e-visa and its land borders are mostly unusable. Timor-Leste charges USD 30 on arrival (check).

Digital arrival cards are spreading. Thailand requires the online Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), Malaysia the MDAC and Singapore the SG Arrival Card, each filled in free within a few days before arrival. Use only the official government sites: copycat sites charge fees for the same form. Keep proof of onward travel, since airlines and immigration officers ask for it, and bring passport photos for visa-on-arrival counters in Cambodia and Laos.

The Thai–Cambodian border has been unstable. After an armed clash in May 2025 and heavier fighting in July 2025, both sides closed most land crossings, including the main Aranyaprathet–Poipet route between Bangkok and Siem Reap. A ceasefire and later peace agreement were signed, but crossings have opened and closed with political tension since (check before planning). If you are going from Bangkok to Siem Reap, fly or check the current status of each crossing with both governments and bus operators.

Rail is changing the map. The Laos–China Railway opened in December 2021, and since April 2023 international passenger trains run from Vientiane to Kunming, with exit and entry checks at Boten and Mohan. Tickets sell out and must be booked through the LCR ticket app or at stations with a passport. Southward, Malaysia’s electrified line links the Thai border to Kuala Lumpur and Johor, and the Johor Bahru–Singapore RTS Link is due to open around the end of 2026 (check).

Borders with Myanmar are mostly off limits for tourists due to the civil conflict since 2021; many crossings are closed or controlled by armed groups (check). Land travel from Vietnam or Laos into China requires a Chinese visa or eligible visa-free entry; confirm that the specific crossing accepts visa-free travellers. Sea crossings exist, such as Singapore to Batam and Bintan, Malaysia to Sumatra, and Borneo routes, but schedules are irregular.

Face governs most interactions. Keeping one’s own and other people’s dignity intact matters more than being right in public. Shouting, angry complaints and open criticism rarely work and can escalate quickly; a smile, patience and an indirect request usually solve a problem. Thais call the attitude jai yen, a cool heart. A smile can mean embarrassment or discomfort as often as pleasure, and a direct refusal is often avoided by a vague ‘maybe’.

Hierarchy is built into language and behaviour. Age, rank and social status decide who speaks first, who pays and how people are addressed. Thai uses khun before names; Vietnamese pronouns change with the age of the person you speak to; Indonesians use Bapak and Ibu for older men and women. Royal families in Thailand, Brunei and Malaysia are protected by law: Thailand’s lèse-majesté law punishes criticism of the monarchy with long prison terms, and it applies to foreigners and online posts.

Temple and public dress codes are enforced. Cover shoulders and knees at temples and palaces; beachwear stays at the beach. Topless sunbathing is illegal or offensive almost everywhere. Public displays of affection are frowned on in Muslim areas and rural towns. Remove shoes at homes and many small shops. Do not touch heads, point feet or step over people sitting on the floor.

Scams follow well-known scripts. In Bangkok, a stranger says the Grand Palace is closed and directs you to a gem shop; tuk-tuk drivers offer a cheap tour that stops at tailors. Unmetered taxis overcharge at airports; use ride-hailing apps or official taxi queues. Jet-ski and scooter rental operators claim damage and keep your passport; photograph the vehicle and never leave your passport as a deposit. Online job offers that lead to scam compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos are a real risk; never accept work arranged online.

Bargaining is expected in markets, with street vendors and for unmetered transport, but not in shops with price tags, restaurants, malls or convenience stores. Start around half to two-thirds of the asking price, keep it friendly, and walk away politely if you cannot agree. Do not haggle hard over tiny sums with poor vendors. Agree prices before any ride, massage or tour begins.

Drug laws are severe across the region, with the death penalty available for trafficking in several countries. Thailand’s cannabis rules have been tightened since 2024, and a prescription is now needed to buy it (check). Vaping is banned in Singapore and Thailand, with fines and possible jail. Chewing-gum rules in Singapore, e-cigarette rules in Cambodia and Vietnam, and alcohol limits in Muslim areas all change; check each country page.