Bangkok Receives World's Best City Award 2008

Travel + Leisure Online Poll Favors Thailand’s Tourist Destinations

Sep 20, 2008 Gill Hart

Readers of Travel + Leisure, the world's leading travel magazine, have voted Bangkok as the World's Best City for 2008.

Bangkok, also known as the “City of Angels” and fondly referred to by residents as “the Big Mango” beat last year’s winner, Florence, topping the list for the first time.

Travel+ Leisure's "10 Best Cities of the World for 2008," named Bangkok as the best city, beating New York and San Francisco, which came in at 8th and 10th place. Istanbul, the bridge between two continents (Europe and Asia) came 9th, and runner-up was Argentina's style-obsessed capital of Buenos Aires.

Phuket – Thailand’s Pearl

The Travel + Leisure awards have been running for 13 consecutive years and polls its readers on travel destinations (cities and islands), hotels, spas and airlines. Thailand’s pearl in the Andaman Sea, the beautiful island of Phuket , was ranked 2nd for the consecutive year amongst Asia’s top 3 islands.

Other Thailand Awards

According to the Travel + Leisure rankings, 3 of Thailand's hotels also featured in the Best Hotels category — the world famous Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, The Peninsula, Bangkok and the Four Seasons Resort in Chiang Mai. Thai Airways was voted 3rd in the list of top 10 airlines.

Thailand also led the rankings for the "Top 10 Cities in Asia 2008", with the popular northern city of Chiang Mai coming 3rd. Details of the results of all the awards are currently featured in Travel + Leisure's September 2008, South East Asia issue.

Bangkok Attractions – Culture and Cuisine

For residents and longtime visitors to Bangkok, the award does not come as a surprise. For the last 3 years the City of Angels has ranked in the top 5. Recently Bangkok has improved its infrastructure with the opening of the new Suvarnnabhumi International Airport and introduction of the MRT metro system. There are large deluxe shopping malls opening up at almost every turn, and ever increasing family attractions like Siam Ocean World in the Siam Paragon Center; the biggest aquarium in South East Asia.

One of the biggest draws in terms of shopping is the Bangkok Weekend Market (Chatuchak), the world’s largest open air market, where shoppers who are adept at bargaining can buy many of the same goods at a fraction of the price of those in the main tourist areas.

In addition to its rich history and culture, part of Bangkok's attraction is its low cost of living for many Western and Asian tourists. Thailand’s spicy cuisine is not only cheap but renowned across the globe for its culinary merits.

From temples to tuk-tuk’s, palaces and parks, museums and massage parlors, shopping and spas, to girlie bars and glamorous restaurants, Bangkok has something for everybody at a price to suit their budget.

“Bangkok deserves the top ranking in the world’s best city survey because it has everything to offer to different types of visitors, from its modern infrastructure and world-renowned hospitality and service, to our rich culture and to-die-for Thai cuisine.” Says Khun Phornsiri Manoharn., Govenor of the TAT (Tourist Authority of Thailand).

The 5 Charm's of Bangkok

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is working hard to continually improve the image of the city. According to the 4Hoteliers website, which provides information for those in the hospitality and tourism industry, the BMA is working hard to promote the “5 Charms of Bangkok — culture, the Chao Phraya River, shopping, nightlife and cuisine."

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