I was wondering… since Age of Empires 3 is set on the Age of Discovery and Colonial Age, we should also have Southeast Asian civilizations.
As a leaf through history books, (and correct me if I’m wrong) three European powers had colonies in Southeast Asia, namely French, Dutch and Spanish. And if I’m correct, Portuguese did had a colony over there but lost to the latter two. French held Indochina, Dutch colonized what is now Singapore and Malaysia, and the Spanish took hold of Philippines (my country) that lasted 300 years.
So here will be my civilization suggestions, if I may: Siamese (Thailand), Khmer (Cambodians), Vietnamese, Malays, Indonesians.
As for Philippines, since we have a lot of tribes, I may suggest a few: Tagalogs, Kapampangans, Visayans and the Moros. Though I don’t know which one will be the main pick, or maybe, the other ones will be marked as indigenous.
There I go! I’d like to hear what everyone thinks. Thanks for reading! 
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In my opinion, Siamese and Burmese are the two most obvious choices. As each other’s rival enemies, their centuries of war and feuding will be a great addition to the game content. These two potential Southeast Asian civs can share common units, such as the Elephant Archer as an archaic ranged light cavalry unit and many type of Barge as military ships in Docks.
First there were the Siamese, who actively interacted with European powers, worked to modernize and successfully avoided becoming a colony. Obviously, they can actively develop gameplay related to the Consulate and mercenarie units.
The Burmese were a regional power until the mid-19th century. There were wars with Qing China and the Siamese, and attempts were made to expand westward until conflict with British India broke out. They can develop a more aggressive gameplay in earlier game and focus on non-gunpowder units. They can also develop native unit strategies to reflect Myanmar’s multi-ethnic status.
As for the Vietnamese, I personally prefer to have them form a DLC with the Koreans, after the introduction of Danes + Poles, Persians + Omanis, Siamese + Burmese, Kongolese + Zimbabweans, and Brazilians + Mapuche. The Vietnam and Korea were the two most important and major tributary states of China, and they can obtain unique mechanics based on this.
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I don’t like the way they handle the Indonesia revolution in the game. The term Indonesia firstly use by native and also the national sense of unity start in 20th century, as early as 1913. Current Indonesia revolt is much more suited to be called as Yogyakarta Sultanate.
So in case there gonna be civ for Indonesia, I think it’s more suitable for it being Yogyakarta Sultanate which adopting the current Indonesian revolution, and another one the Aceh Sultanate as their own entity and Ottoman protectorate. Aceh Sultanate itself finally annexed by the dutch in 1903 and resistance ended in 1912.
The top priority choices for Southeast Asian countries during this period were undoubtedly Myanmar and Siam. These two countries had long been adversaries competing for hegemony in the Southeast Asian mainland and exerting their influence on the Malayan islands. The confrontation between Myanmar and China, Britain, and the interaction between Siam and China, Japan, and European powers were also important themes of this period
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Care to elaborate on what the Khmer even did during this time period?
They were getting eaten up by Siam and Vietnam… Siamese, Burmese and Vietnamese would be good additions, but Koreans and Vietnamese could be added. Or Vietnamese or Zungars as enemies of China pack too…
Yogyakarta sounds like an absurdly specific name for a civ. I think a Javanese civ would be more appropiate.
Malays is an obvious choice too, although Malays are less Indonesia and more, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei… well, just the area in general.
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Yes - give us some SE Asian civs, pretty please 
Siamese, Vietnamese and Malaysians would float my boat.
The Malay would work nicely with the Johor sultanate as the basis of the civ. They have a really interesting history, rising from the ashes of the prosperous Malacca Sultanate, with lots of interaction with the Portuguese, Dutch, Aceh Sultanate (Indonesians) and the British. They outlasted their rivals, Aceh and were exceptional traders (becoming wealthier than Malacca).
Any form of future South East Asian DLC would be a fantastic excuse to bring in new Minor Civs (minus the Religious site gimmick please - it sucks) - Bugis and Iban (Sea Dayaks of Borneo) for a start.
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Kongsi are practically meant to be native sites, hell they may even fit Borneo map better than the Jesuits that are there currently.
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