Thailand Wins Four Awards For Top Asian Beach Destinations

[kuifje]

Thailand Wins Four Awards for Top Asian Beach Destinations

Monday, June 21, 2010The results of the TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice 2010 awards are in, and the beautiful islands of Thailand brought home four out of 10 awards for beach destinations in Asia.The islands of Ko Lanta, Khao Lak, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui were ranked #3, #4, #5 and #6, respectively, on the list of “Top 10 Beach & Sun Destinations in Asia.” With these honors, Thailand became the most-awarded Asian country in the category, besting Vietnam, the Maldives and the Philippines.

In other award categories voted on by TripAdvisor users, Thailand fared equally well. In “Top 10 Culture & Sightseeing Destinations in Asia,” the Thai cities of Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Ayutthaya all made the list-with Bangkok also being named to the “Top 10 Food & Wine Destinations in Asia.” And the islands of Koh Lanta and Koh Samui were both named the “Top 10 Romance Destinations in Asia” and the “Top 10 Relaxation & Spa Destinations in Asia,” with Chiang Mai also awarded the latter.

Thailand Wins Four Out of 10 Tripadvisor Awards for Top Asian Beach Destinations

“We are immensely proud to have Thailand recognized so extensively in such diverse categories by the members of the TripAdvisor community,” says Srisuda Wanapinyosak, Director of the TourismAuthority of Thailand (TAT) – New York. “It is particularly gratifying for Thailand to be awarded for its many facets, including beaches, cultural sites, food and spas.”

TripAdvisor, which features traveler reviews, advice and opinions of vacationdestinations around the world, attracts more than 9 million unique visitors per month.

[roamer]

Really ? Think people should travel more.

[gotlost]

Anothe buy it award.

[sanook2me]

Farangs love lying on Thai beaches...

[Jingthing]

The island of Khao Lak?

[liveinlos]

Only people that do not live in Thailand could vote these places the best

I guess if you are coming from some dark, dreery, rat hole in the UK, any beach would seem like heaven

Almost unbelievable at times

Samui is filthy...

[johnnort]

So, is Trip Adviser now on the list for companies accepting bribes?

[angiud]

I like Phangan beaches

[lonewolf99]

They have got to be Joking......

Just back from Queensland Sunshine Coast Australia.

I went for 17km on Rainbow Beach and found one broken flip flop ...never even saw a dog end... now that is a clean beach.

Check it out on the internet.

Thailands beaches clean....I do not think so. Thailand suffers badly from plastic bag syndrome. While other countries are banning them Thais are dropping billions of them at their ass along with rubber bands.

They even drink tea and coffee out of "Tung Plastic"..........

[doggie888888]

They have got to be Joking......

Just back from Queensland Sunshine Coast Australia.

I went for 17km on Rainbow Beach and found one broken flip flop ...never even saw a dog end... now that is a clean beach.

Check it out on the internet.

Thailands beaches clean....I do not think so. Thailand suffers badly from plastic bag syndrome. While other countries are banning them Thais are dropping billions of them at their ass along with rubber bands.

They even drink tea and coffee out of "Tung Plastic"..........

I agree, Aussie beaches are far better IMHO. I guess the people who voted are not merely looking for great swathes of clean, unspoilt beaches....they'd tolerate a bit of dog poo as long as they can stop every 50m for a gin&tonic or beer or massage, brought directly to them on command by some humble kow-towing native:whistling:

[bangkokburning]

Farce, promotion!

Samui, Lanta <deleted>!!!!!!!!

I hope they mean the tiny islands surrounding Khao Lak

Parts of Kradan are nice but too rustic for anyone who is reading that tourist promo trash for sure.

[travelnguy]

Farce, promotion!

Samui, Lanta <deleted>!!!!!!!!

I hope they mean the tiny islands surrounding Khao Lak

Parts of Kradan are nice but too rustic for anyone who is reading that tourist promo trash for sure.

So for those of us not living in Thailand, but going to visit very soon, which beaches are the best? I always read that these reviews are biased, but rarely have I read anyone agree on anything here.

In your opinion, which beaches have the whitest sand? Which beaches have the clearest water? Which beaches are easily accessible, yet still remotely attractive?

[747man]

Farce, promotion!

Samui, Lanta <deleted>!!!!!!!!

I hope they mean the tiny islands surrounding Khao Lak

Parts of Kradan are nice but too rustic for anyone who is reading that tourist promo trash for sure.

So for those of us not living in Thailand, but going to visit very soon, which beaches are the best? I always read that these reviews are biased, but rarely have I read anyone agree on anything here.

In your opinion, which beaches have the whitest sand? Which beaches have the clearest water? Which beaches are easily accessible, yet still remotely attractive?

Try Pattaya Mate for Clean pristine sands,and Clear Blue Ocean...... Edited June 27, 2010 by 747man

[bangkokburning]

travelnguy

If you are still monitoring this thread, pm me and I will give you some spots. You will need to bring basic camping gear, but food can be had in the nat'l park restaurants or short walks to a "restaurant (shack)". I can provide you with one bungalow recommendation.

google tezza + islands and that should get you to my friends page. Have a look. he does bungalows, I only camp. I can't stand the bungalow atmosphere any longer.

[geriatrickid]

Anothe buy it award.

So, is Trip Adviser now on the list for companies accepting bribes?

Thailand does indeed have some nice beaches, if you do not mind the pollution and garbage. that seems to a curse everywhere these days. However, I like you do question the methodology and motives of the survey. Here's why;

Who owns Trip Advisor?

Expedia, the travel website.

Does this explain why a travel website owned by a travel sales operation with a vested interest in selling vacation packages and profitable long haul air tickets would be delighted to praise a profitable destination?

I know that Wendy Boswell is wary of Black Hat SEO. She says,"Black Hat search engine optimization is customarily defined as techniques that are used to get higher search rankings in an unethical manner. A lot of what is known as black hat SEO actually used to be legit, but some folks went a bit overboard and now these techniques are frowned upon by the general SEO community at large. These black hat SEO practices will actually provide short-term gains in terms of rankings, but if you are discovered utilizing these spammy techniques on your Web site, you run the risk of being penalized by search engines ."

Does this explain why some of the rating and ticket engine sites seem to favour certain service providers? If I look at who owns what, it gets a little clearer;

A. Expedia Inc owns; Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Venere.com, TripAdvisor.com — plus TripAdvisor subsidiaries CruiseCritic.com, BookingBuddy.com, SmarterTravel.com, SeatGuru.com, AirfareWatchdog.com and IndependentTraveler.com.

B. Orbitz Worldwide owns; Orbitz.com, CheapTickets.com and RatestoGo.com.

C. Sabre Holdings Inc. owns Travelocity.com, IgoUgo.com, LastMinute.com and the gigantic Sabre reservations system used by the travel industry. Travelocity also powers the search on Yahoo! Travel.

D. Priceline.com Inc owns; Priceline.com, Travelweb.com and Lowestfare.com.

Then I Now look at the deals some travel providers have on certain destinations. Then I look at how some of the contests are structured with what seems to me to be an an emphasis on some locales in the questions.

Was the "survey" structured with integrity? Does Expedia stand to profit from promoting Thailand this year? I do not know the answers to these questions,