In general yes, antimalarial prophylaxis are advised for those regions. You SHOULD be okay for Sabah depending where you are going (For example, there is a high risk of malaria in inland areas of eastern Sabah and the inland areas of Sarawak.There is a very low risk of malaria in the coastal areas of Sabah and Sarawak). But yes, it is advised you have prophylaxis for these three countries. The rest of SE Asia you are fine.

You should also be aware of dengue which is present throughout the region so take precautions. (I assume your travel nurse spoke to you about this??)

My rough route is Singapore>Peninsular Malaysia (Melaka, Perhentians, Georgetown, Cameron Highlands, Taman Negara, KL)> Borneo (just around Sabah)> Cambodia (Siem Reap, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kratie)> Laos (4000 islands, Bolevan Plateau, Pakse, Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang)> Thailand (Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, islands)> London.

I was advised I would need anti malarials for Borneo, Cambodia and Laos in addition to taking precautions to avoid being bitten.

it depends on where you are going and what you are doing Matt. You are right the absolute majority of travellers and tourists sticking to the well worn banana pancake trail won't need antimalarials. I haven't taken any in the majority of my trips there. There are however a few areas (border regions of Thailand/Myanmar, Thailand/Laos, Laos, Cambodia outside of the Angkor Wat complex, etc) that are considered a high risk for malaria and therefore antimalarials would be recommended by any health professional.

Since the OP doesn't specify, it's hard to advise properly.

I can only speak for myself but I don't know anyone who has taken anti-malarial in Southeast Asia, resident or traveler. I've never taken them in the six years I've been going!

But you might not be comfortable doing that!

I can only speak for myself but I don't know anyone who has taken anti-malarial in Southeast Asia, resident or traveler. I've never taken them in the six years I've been going!

But you might not be comfortable doing that!

Hey!

I used Atovaquone Proguanil for a better part of 6+ months and had no side effects. I also didn't get Malaria woohoo!

While traveling, someone suggested buying anti-Marlarial pills in Bangkok at the Red Cross - apparently ridiculously cheap. I don't know the details but perhaps something to look into.