Southeast Asia is increasingly central to conversations around urban growth, digital economies, manufacturing transition, infrastructure, logistics and emerging consumer markets. Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam each represent different stages and models of development within the region.
This comparative faculty-led field program uses cities, institutions, startup ecosystems, public space, transportation systems, river environments and universities as learning sites. The aim is not to run a generic startup tour, but to help students examine how entrepreneurship, infrastructure, governance, consumer economies and everyday systems interact across changing regional contexts.
A 14-day faculty-led field program across Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam for courses in business, entrepreneurship, urban studies, sustainability, public policy, regional studies and related interdisciplinary fields. It is one example of Scivi’s wider faculty-led program support in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Why this program is comparative
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are close enough to be read as part of the same regional system, but different enough to make comparison useful. Students move from a highly structured regional hub, to a consumer-market gateway, to a fast-changing emerging economy. That sequence creates a stronger academic structure than a single-country business visit program.
Singapore
A structured regional hub focused on infrastructure, governance, finance, water systems, talent and global connectivity.
Thailand
A consumer-market gateway where students observe retail culture, platform economies, tourism systems, digital adaptation and urban-commercial life.
Vietnam
A fast-changing emerging economy shaped by manufacturing transition, entrepreneurship growth, youth enterprise and rapid urban transformation.
What students examine in the field
Entrepreneurship ecosystems
How founders, universities, public systems, investors and support organizations interact across different economic environments.
Urban systems and infrastructure
How mobility, density, public order, transportation, water systems and infrastructure shape daily life and economic activity.
Consumer economies
How retail, payments, logistics, platform economies and consumer behavior differ across Southeast Asian markets.
Emerging markets
How mature, transitional and rapidly changing economic environments create different constraints and opportunities.
Sustainability and water systems
How cities and river environments respond to pressure around climate, density, logistics and urban growth.
Informal and everyday systems
How adaptation, small enterprise, public space and informal coordination shape regional urban life beyond formal institutions.
Learning across cities and systems
Learning takes place not only through formal lectures or company visits, but also through observation across transportation systems, river environments, commercial districts, startup ecosystems, university settings and public urban life. The structure is designed to help students connect entrepreneurship, infrastructure, governance, urbanization and everyday systems rather than viewing each city in isolation.
Sample 14-day faculty-led field program
Day 1 – Arrive in Singapore | Multi-cultural Singapore and the regional hub
Arrive in Singapore and transfer to the hotel. Begin with an introduction to Singapore as a multi-cultural city-state and regional coordination hub through selected urban districts, mobility corridors and waterfront environments, including the Singapore River. The session introduces migration, trade, infrastructure, governance, finance and Singapore’s role in connecting Southeast Asia to global systems.
Day 2 – Singapore innovation and urban systems
Full-day learning program focused on Singapore’s innovation ecosystem through a mix of ecosystem briefings, founder conversations, public learning sites and university or innovation-sector engagement. Themes may include infrastructure, talent, water management, entrepreneurship policy, urban planning and Singapore’s role as a regional hub.
Day 3 – Marina Bay, water systems and maritime Singapore | Fly to Bangkok
Morning continuation with a university-linked, startup, public-sector or innovation-sector session. Continue through Marina Bay and selected waterfront infrastructure environments examining urban planning, land constraints, water systems and maritime connectivity before transferring to the airport for the flight to Bangkok.
Day 4 – Bangkok: river communities, state symbolism and the consumer city
Begin with a cycling experience on Ko Kret, a river island environment known for local communities, pottery heritage, small-scale commerce and slower urban rhythms on the edge of metropolitan Bangkok. Continue to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew to examine monarchy, Buddhism, state symbolism and sacred space within Thai public life. In the late afternoon or evening, continue to ICONSIAM as a contrast with Bangkok’s contemporary retail, food and consumer culture.
Day 5 – Bangkok business and consumer ecosystems
Full-day ecosystem visit program in Bangkok with a university innovation centre, founder group, coworking environment, fintech, logistics or platform-economy partner. The focus is understanding how Thai entrepreneurs adapt to consumer markets, digital systems, payments, logistics and regional growth.
Day 6 – Bangkok half-day session | Fly to Ho Chi Minh City
Morning company, university, founder or ecosystem session followed by a synthesis discussion connecting the Singapore and Thailand sections before flying to Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 7 – Ho Chi Minh City context and enterprise environment
Morning orientation introducing Ho Chi Minh City as Vietnam’s commercial and entrepreneurial centre. Afternoon company, startup, social enterprise or investment-related visit examining Vietnam’s changing business environment, consumer growth, market transition and practical constraints facing entrepreneurs.
Day 8 – University workshop in Ho Chi Minh City
Lecture or workshop at a university in Ho Chi Minh City. Themes may include Vietnam’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, youth enterprise, economic transition, foreign investment, manufacturing growth, consumer markets or social enterprise. Include guided discussion and reflection.
Day 9 – Mekong Delta systems field day
Full-day Mekong Delta field visit framed as a systems day rather than a simple excursion. Students examine water systems, agriculture, logistics, small enterprise, informal trade, rural-urban links, climate pressure and adaptation within one of Southeast Asia’s most important river environments.
Day 10 – Fly to Hanoi | Hanoi context orientation
Morning flight to Hanoi. Afternoon orientation in Hanoi’s Old Quarter and surrounding urban environments examining density, mobility, small enterprise, heritage systems and the relationship between political structure and everyday urban life.
Day 11 – Hanoi ecosystem visit
Company, incubator, university-linked or social enterprise visit comparing northern and southern Vietnam through policy proximity, entrepreneurship support, technology ecosystems and differing urban and institutional rhythms.
Day 12 – University lecture or roundtable in Hanoi
Lecture or roundtable session connecting Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam through comparative discussion around infrastructure, governance, entrepreneurship, regulation, capital access, talent and market development.
Day 13 – Ha Long Bay overnight reflection
Transfer to Ha Long Bay for an overnight program. The slower environment provides space for synthesis and comparative reflection following the intensive urban and systems-focused sections of the program. Evening guided reflection connects Singapore as a structured regional hub, Thailand as a consumer-market gateway and Vietnam as a fast-changing emerging economy.
Day 14 – Departure from Hanoi
Return to Hanoi or transfer directly to the airport depending on flight schedules.
Adaptable for multiple academic directions
The same regional structure can be adjusted for business and entrepreneurship, urban studies, sustainability, public policy, Asian studies, international development, infrastructure and planning, supply chains and logistics, innovation ecosystems or comparative regional studies. Visits, lectures and field emphasis are shaped around faculty goals, academic level, group profile and seasonal conditions.
How this sample connects to Scivi’s higher-ed work
This Southeast Asia entrepreneurship route is a sample program, not the parent page for university work. For universities comparing Vietnam or Southeast Asia as a field location, these pages explain the broader support structure behind faculty-led programs, field schools, academic field visits and study abroad planning.
For a deeper explanation of the business-learning logic behind this route, see Entrepreneurship programs in Asia: why Vietnam works as a field context and Doing business in Asia: why students need more than company visits.
Faculty-led programs in Vietnam
The main higher-ed hub for faculty-led courses, university field programs and regional routes.
University field programs in Vietnam
How Vietnam can work as a field site for observation, comparison and course-based inquiry.
Academic field visits in Vietnam
How institutional, company, community and urban field visits are prepared around a course question.
Short-term study abroad in Vietnam
Planning logic for shorter mobility programs where pacing, synthesis and route discipline matter.
Next step
Planning a Southeast Asia faculty-led program?
We work with faculty and institutions designing field-based programs across Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Programs are built around academic objectives, operational realities and how cities and systems actually function on the ground.