Bangkok named Best Asia-Pacific Leisure Destination

Travel log 

 

Photo: Tourism Authority of Thailand

 

Bangkok wins big at the Business Traveller Awards once again

The Business Traveller Awards 2017 named Bangkok the ‘Best Leisure Destination in the Asia Pacific‘ for the second straight year, marking a record sixth time Thailand’s capital city has received this prestigious international accolade.

 

Ms. Sarima Chindamat, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Hong Kong Office, was on hand to receive the award from the magazine’s representative, Mr. William Tang Tat Chi, a Hong Kong-born veteran fashion designer, at a ceremonial luncheon in Hong Kong. Other awards for Thailand included The St Regis Bangkok that won the Best Business Hotel in Bangkok honour.

 

According to Ms. Sarima, the Best Leisure Destination in the Asia Pacific and the Best Business Hotel in Bangkok awards reflect the hard work and close cooperation between Thailand’s private and public sectors plus an ongoing commitment to the highest standards of service and product excellence.

 

Ms. Sarima said, “I am delighted that Bangkok has once again been rightly recognised as the Best Leisure Destination in the Asia Pacific. We thank all involved in this award. No one will be resting on our laurels. Even after receiving the accolade for the sixth time, we intend to constantly strive to improve for many years to come.

 

“Bangkok has superb hotels and improving mass transit infrastructure that helps visitors conveniently move around the city. The destination offers no shortage of entertainment options ranging from superb restaurants, excellent shopping and unique Thai local experiences.”

 

This marked the 26th edition of the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards. Each year Business Traveller Asia-Pacific magazine confers the Awards based on votes cast by its readers and subscribers. These include frequent travellers who use airports, airlines and hotel services to visit a variety of regional destinations.

 

Next year, TAT aims to continue to maintain the destination’s competitive edge in line with its ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ marketing plan by providing quality leisure offerings to travellers.

 

These include ‘Gastronomy Tourism’, highlighting local Thai culinary experiences; ‘Ladies’ Journey’ focusing on the needs and interests of female travellers and ‘Sports Tourism’ for adrenaline enthusiasts who are keen on diving, running marathons or viewing Thailand’s first MotoGP World Championship motorcycle races starting in October 2018.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Travel_log/30327028

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-19

‘Gastronomy Tourism’ guess this can't mean street food what BKK is or was famous for.

Another B.S. award.

 

What next? Maybe Pattaya wining Asia's cleanest beach award!

If you regard "shopping 'til you drop" as a leisure, then OK, but otherwise I smell something very fishy about this "award".

Personally, I find Bangkok to be an amazing city. I have been visiting Bangkok for 40 years now. First came in 1976. It was quite a different world. A lot of swamps, few high rises, very funky. But, I think it has evolved quite nicely. Sure, it would use more parks. Sure, it would be better if there was less traffic.

 

It has one of the best mass transit systems anywhere. It has great food. It has fantastic four star hotels, at $60-$70 a night! Very reasonable taxis. It has a lot of entertainment, some culture, and a world class museum called MOCA, near Don Muang. It is a structure that was built by the brilliant and visionary Boonchai Bencharongkul. The five storeys of MOCA contain over 800 pieces of art collected by communications magnate Boonchai, and showcase the development of Thai fine art since the introduction of modern western concepts. Since he could not find funding from the non visionaries in the government, he self funded the museum. $30,000,000 for the land and the building, and then he added his personal collection, which is outstanding. 

Read more at: http://www.bangkok.com/magazine/moca.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001

 

Also, I love the people of Bangkok, as I consider them to be the most well adjusted big metro people I have ever encountered. Most big cities of the world these days are populated by disenchanted, listless, occasionally hostile, unfriendly, relatively unhappy, heavy hearted, hurried, harried, and generally joyless souls. Not Bangkok. They are lighthearted, reasonably friendly, helpful, fun, animated, and it feels as if they are leading lives that are somewhat fulfilling. Very unique for such a huge city anywhere.

 

Lastly, it has what I consider to be the highest concentration of beautiful women on the planet, by far. One only has to stand in one spot for a minute or two, to see an absolute stunner. Try that in KL. Or Jakarta. Or Tehran. Or Shanghai. Or Chicago. Or London. 

 

I do not live in Bangkok, but visit a lot. And I love every day I can spend in that great city.