Chiang Mai and Pattaya ranked among the healthiest cities in the world: study

[webfact]

Chiang Mai and Pattaya ranked among the healthiest cities in the world: study

 

 

Chiang Mai and Pattaya have been named among the healthiest cities in the world, according to a new study.

 

The study, carried out by UK travel site TravelSupermarket, saw Chiang Mai ranked in second place and Pattaya ranked fourth out of 100 other cities around the world.

 

Paris was in first place, while Barcelona came in third.

 

The study ranked each city based on the number of parks, gyms, spas, yoga and pilates studios, health food shops and vegan friendly restaurants and eating options are available.

 

The average cost per night to stay in a city and the hours of sunlight were also used to the create the rankings.

 

Chiang Mai scored 59.6 overall and was found to have 273 spas, that’s almost seven spas per square kilometre, 307 vegan option restaurants, 11 gyms, 5 parks or green spaces and 20 yoga and pilates centres. The average cost of a one night stay was found to be £41, approx 1672 THB.

 

“Thailand is known for its incredible spas and skilled spa therapists, and Chiang Mai is home to some of the best spas in the country, the study said.

 

“This, along with a wealth of yoga and pilates retreats, and approximately 2,512 hours of sunshine a year, makes Chiang Mai the perfect place to relax and unwind”.

 

 

Pattaya, which scored 47.66 overall, was found to have 56 spas, 9 gyms, 6 parks or green spaces, and 145 vegan option restaurants. The study found the average cost of a one night stay in Pattaya to be £31, approx 1264 THB.

 

“Although it’s renowned for its cabaret bars and 24-hour clubs, the vast number of 5-star spa and fitness centers means that Pattaya really is the perfect place to maintain your health and well-being”, the study said of Eastern seaboard resort.

 

The top 10 in full is: Paris (first), Chiang Mai (second), Barcelona (third), Pattaya (fourth)  Vancouver (fifth), San Francisco (seventh), Lisbon (eighth), Denpansar in Indonesia (ninth) and Buenos Aires (10th).

 

Bangkok was ranked in 30th place.

 

Emma Coulthurst, travel commentator at TravelSupermarket, said: “We are part of a generation that prioritises health and wellness more than ever before - this means tourist destinations will have to consider tourists' needs and cater for the healthy lifestyles of travellers.

 

“Providing facilities such as gyms, fitness classes in hotels, a range of healthy meal options in restaurants, that also cater for specific dietary requirements, and spas around their cities are all great ways to increase the chance of health-conscious travellers visiting.

 

“It may seem surprising to some that Paris is the healthiest city in the world with an indulgent food and wine culture being one of their key attractions.

 

“However, with 894 spas, almost 150 green spaces and a large number of gyms, yoga studios and health food shops, tourists really are able to emulate the healthy lifestyle they practice at home whilst they're away.

 

“Visiting the city of love and lights can leave you feeling relaxed, refreshed and re-energised.”

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-01-09

[pegman]

6 parks or green spaces in Pattaya? They must be including some vacant lots. That town is a concrete jungle.

[happy chappie]

And Thailand has been voted the number 1 hub of extra large bs.in the survey they forgot to count in beer guts and air,sea pollution and diseased soi dogs.

[KhunBENQ]

Pattaya, healthy?

Is it April fools day already?

Who paid for this scientific study?

[petedk]

What is the definition of healthy?

I thought that the air pollution in Chiang Mai sometimes is so bad that health warnings are given.
Never mind....just go to the gym or one of the green spaces and all will be well.

Sent from my SM-C710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Justgrazing]

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

Chiang Mai and Pattaya have been named among the healthiest cities in the world, according to a new study.

No mention of the STD clinics , traffic pollution , getting mullered on the roads and Thai girls going beserk and chucking whatever comes to hand at you when you tell 'em its over then .. Other than that yeah some nice 'elf food restaurant's if Nut cutlets are you're bag .. 

[dcnx]

Laughable.

 

We wear a face mask 3 months out of the year in Chiang Mai due to the hazardous air. Lung cancer is the worst in Thailand here. The rest of the year the air is marginally OK but hazy most of the time. And it’s the healthiest in the world. Right.

 

And Pattaya.... not even going to comment.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

14 minutes ago, webfact said:

Pattaya, which scored 47.66 overall, was found to have 56 spas, 9 gyms, 6 parks or green spaces, and 145 vegan option restaurants. The study found the average cost of a one night stay in Pattaya to be £31, approx 1264 THB.

 

 

145 restaurants with vegan options? ???? ???? I would not even trust their vegetarian offerings. I once saw a Thai company's frozen "vegetarian" pasta topped with two small slices of cooked ham. 

[Spidey]

Not many true spas in Pattaya, unless you include the soapy's, which are indeed good for you. I always feel invigorated after a visit, I can concur that the staff are very skilled therapists.

[Vacuum]

17 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Who paid for this scientific study?

TAT?

[Spidey]

5 minutes ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

 

 

145 restaurants with vegan options? ???? ???? I would not even trust their vegetarian offerings. I once saw a Thai company's frozen "vegetarian" pasta topped with two small slices of cooked ham. 

Lots of vegan options in Thai restaurants. Pad pak bung and pad pak rua mit are 2 of my favourite dishes.

[freedomnow]

Actual physical environment of CM is anything but healthy...dangerous pedestrian walk strips or no walkways...ugly 60s concrete, air pollution very bad in hot season..yes there is a high density of business -oriented wellness for your wallet, but its a kind of skewed way of looking at the place....lots of greenery accesible very quickly...Queen's Park, temples high up on the hills but the roads are a danger to LIVING the way they drive...True environmental data would knock it down several rungs I'd imagine.

Not to say CM does not have its 'thing' but its a very mixed bag of pluses minuses.

 

Bringing in crash stats would also knock it beyond position 100.

2nd most dangerous in the world for road accidents I believe.

Edited January 9, 2019 by freedomnow

[jonclark]

Obviously travelsupermarket - That beacon of scientifically proven wellness and good health have clearly not been looking at the AQI readings or traffic fatalities and injuries for these two cities over the past few weeks. 

 

IMO I think having spa's, massage parlours, parks etc has been poorly equated with being a 'healthy' place, which is just a very poor and blinkered interpretation.  I would imagine travelsupermarket will use this to sell holidays.   

[DavisH]

Healthy huh...I guess they didn't include respiratory disease or STD's in that LOL

[scorecard]

24 minutes ago, dcnx said:

Laughable.

 

We wear a face mask 3 months out of the year in Chiang Mai due to the hazardous air. Lung cancer is the worst in Thailand here. The rest of the year the air is marginally OK but hazy most of the time. And it’s the healthiest in the world. Right.

 

And Pattaya.... not even going to comment.

About as accurate as tripadvisor...

[jerojero]

Pattaya over Vancouver? Bhaaa...ha.ha.ha. Utterly rediculous!

[sungod]

45 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Pattaya, healthy?

Is it April fools day already?

Who paid for this scientific study?

Ha ha, says the expert from Khon Kaen.

[LomSak27]

43 minutes ago, webfact said:

The study, carried out by UK travel site TravelSupermarket,

 

Doh! Say no more.

[Lacessit]

This is a study using specific attributes to assess scores. When stuff like air pollution, traffic etc. is factored in the score changes dramatically, depending on what weight is given to each attribute.

From memory, Melbourne, Australia has been rated world's most liveable city several times. Anyone who has lived there in the middle of winter, with 10 degrees being dropped with windchill to about 2 degrees, plus 80 km/hr winds to boot, would ROFL at the suggestion it is liveable then.

[bluebluewater]

I love it when they touch my spa . . . 

[Oziex1]

Do to add some balance to all the healthy options considered, how about all the non healthy temptations. Beer, drugs, late night partying, over sugared and salty food, pesticide laden produce it goes on. 

 

Wich lifestyle do people go to Thailand for?

[DrTuner]

Somebody owns me a new keyboard.

[losworld]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahah

[DrTuner]

42 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

From memory, Melbourne, Australia has been rated world's most liveable city several times. Anyone who has lived there in the middle of winter, with 10 degrees being dropped with windchill to about 2 degrees, plus 80 km/hr winds to boot, would ROFL at the suggestion it is liveable then.

Weather is just a part of it. Oz cities do well at Numbeo as well: https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_current.jsp

 

Pattaya? Not even on the list.

[ChipButty]

“Although it’s renowned for its cabaret bars and 24-hour clubs,

56 spa's and no mention of 500 pussy bars

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

6 parks or green spaces in Pattaya? They must be including some vacant lots. That town is a concrete jungle.

Thappraya is basically wilderness past the first two blocks. Nobody lives there as it's inhabited by the infernal koel birds that will drive you mad in 0.002sec flat. Same with vast areas of the Darkside.

 

Pattaya is a bit bigger than the Bali hai-3rd road - dolphin square. Still, just about as unhealthy as it gets, the usual lifestyles here are plain toxic.

[mok199]

Sorted then ,my condo in Pattaya just trippled

[Ossy]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Chiang Mai and Pattaya ranked among the healthiest cities

Oh yeh . . . ranked by whom . . . the TAT? TravelSupermarket must have received the healthiest of thank-yous for this little gem.

[DoctorG]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The average cost per night to stay in a city

This should have played no part in a survey on "healthy" as it skews the result towards such unhealthy places like CM and Patts.

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, sungod said:

Ha ha, says the expert from Khon Kaen.

What do you know what I know?

But indeed after week it's usually enough Pattaya for a while.

Standing 3 to 5 min at red lights covered in big smoke is not what I find healthy.

Edited January 9, 2019 by KhunBENQ