Bangkok Targets To Retain World’s Best City Title Next Year

[thedistillers]

I'm not sure how can people argue against a subjective survey Best can mean 100 things. If you're into nature, Bangkok is one of the worst city in the world.

If blue is voted the best color by people, how relevant is it that "you" (the people who disagree) think blue sucks.

[mstribling]

I was wondering how long it would take people to complain about the sidewalks. 5555 old people crack me up.

How do you know the ages of the people responding to this thread?

Must have hit a sore spot Don't worry it will be over soon.

Yep, one of the worst things about Thailand are the young, skinhead, tattooed, farang lager-louts out looking for trouble and making uninformed, asinine comments about things they haven't a clue.

See how easy it is to make broad generalizations.

As far as the OP, I can name at least 10 cities that are far superior to Bangkok across the entire spectrum of ranking criteria. It's a bullshit award which means nothing, except to the Thais which only care about face.

[mstribling]

Lmao I can picture Wilford Brimley making the comment "lager-lout" .

[bitterbatter]

This is news! I will have to tell my family that I live in the world's best city so they stop worrying about me.

I wonder if the mayor took the "World's Best City" evaluation team to Nana or Patpong.

[Soutpeel]

Bangkok IS the best city in the world, I have worked in every capital city in Asia, and BKK beats the others by a mile

Based on your post I see geography was not your best subject at school...

The WORLD is the big round thing and ASIA is mearly a part of that big round thing, therefore ASIA is not the world...If you have had said BKK is the best city in ASIA then your post would have made some sense...

You are obviously well travelled, but you sure you have worked in EVERY captial city in ASIA ?.....so you have worked in North Korea then or Mongolia or Bhutan ??

My opinion of BKK....not the worst not best, but certainly TAT paid someone off to get this ranking...

[HowardB]

I'm not sure how can people argue against a subjective survey Best can mean 100 things. If you're into nature, Bangkok is one of the worst city in the world.

If blue is voted the best color by people, how relevant is it that "you" (the people who disagree) think blue sucks.

I like blue

[moetownblues]

The title of this topic is wrong or TAT are twisting it around to suit themselves. This has nothing to do with Bangkok being the worlds best city and BKK is definately not. It was a poll conducted by a backpackers magazine. The voting was around good affordable accomadation, transport, food and tours. It had nothing to do with Infrastructure, tidyness, business, education, health or quality of life which are the criteria to hold the real title of World's best city. The title of this topic should read more like "Bangkok worlds best backpackers city."

Can't wait to see these awards for 2010 - " Worlds best Infrastructure" Winner THAILAND. " Worlds best Education System" Winner Thailand "Worlds best Social Services" Winner Thailand.

There is one title that TAT have not mentioned. Thailand won "Sin City of the World" Yes this is real just google it and you will see that Pattaya won the title for 2010 beating Amsterdam. Probably holds the same credibility in voting as Bangkok being the Worlds best City.

[TheBaron]

My first bitter middle aged westerner posting thank you very much.

And Brisbane is much better as a city

BRISBANE! You have got to be kidding. Brisbane is the back-end of the world 30years behind the rest of the country.

[moetownblues]

Looks as tho they have lost the title. Chiangmai voted number 10 and poor old Bangkok did not even rate a metion. Has fallen off the edge of the world.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

The title of this topic is wrong or TAT are twisting it around to suit themselves. This has nothing to do with Bangkok being the worlds best city and BKK is definately not. It was a poll conducted by a backpackers magazine. The voting was around good affordable accomadation, transport, food and tours. It had nothing to do with Infrastructure, tidyness, business, education, health or quality of life which are the criteria to hold the real title of World's best city. The title of this topic should read more like "Bangkok worlds best backpackers city."

Can't wait to see these awards for 2010 - " Worlds best Infrastructure" Winner THAILAND. " Worlds best Education System" Winner Thailand "Worlds best Social Services" Winner Thailand.

There is one title that TAT have not mentioned. Thailand won "Sin City of the World" Yes this is real just google it and you will see that Pattaya won the title for 2010 beating Amsterdam. Probably holds the same credibility in voting as Bangkok being the Worlds best City.

Er...where does it say that TAT came up with this list? Why do people not read before they mouth off their ignorant comments? Have you actually heard of Travel+Leisure? It is as far from backpackers as Khao San Road is from the Oriental. I don't normally get irritated on TV, but reading this thread has put me in a right grump. It seems that everyone is pouring scorn over this list without the least bit of knowledge about it. First of all T+L is a high end travel magazine, an industry giant. They are NOT paid by TAT to 'manipulate' this list. They have a far better reputation than TAT! Their hundreds of thousands of readers/subscribers independently vote for this. You are entitled to disagree with them, but these are their opinions. They have not been bought. These people don't take tuk tuk, they take hotel limos or taxis, they don't stay in a guest house, they stay at the Penninsular, they take barges up to Ayutthaya, shop at Siam Paragon, visit Jim Thompson's house, eat at Lord Jim's, have quality guides to show them around and all of this for a fraction of what they would pay in Paris..or, god help us, Brisbane (for you who says Brisbane is a better city to visit than Bangkok...bless, why not look at the numbers of incoming tourists - that may offer a more accurate picture). Basically this is not a world wide poll, it is not claiming to be. It is a poll by T+L's readers. Five years ago, when Chiang Mai first made this list, I emailed senior editor at T+L and got this response:

According to senior editor Heidi Sherman in 2005, “With the opening of the Mandarin Oriental and the overall evolution of the city, Chiang Mai is finally ‘on the map’. American travellers seek authenticity when we venture beyond our borders, and Chiang Mai gives visitors a real cultural experience, without being a difficult place to navigate. More and more, we're seeing smaller cities (like Oaxaca in Mexico, and Chiang Mai) topping our lists, which shows how we're venturing beyond the big cities and the obvious destinations. And with great shopping, restaurants, nightlife, culture, hotels, and location - not to mention gentle and welcoming people - no wonder Chiang Mai is moving up the ranks.”

So, it is not about the most hygenic city, or the most cultural or poshest or anything. Bangkok (which, I personally dislike) has the exotic factor, world class hotels/spas/shopping/cuisine/bars, culture, is easily accessible and most of all offers best bang for the buck. I am sure many of you will go on about pavements again, and yes, they suck, but perhaps T+Ls readers find other aspects more worthy of comment than broken pavements.

[Chalongian]

My first bitter middle aged westerner posting thank you very much.

And Brisbane is much better as a city

Brisbane is crap....FACT! Bangkok is awesome....FACT!

[Tokay]

Worlds best city... not in a million years.

Entertaining, fun, vibrant, big, dirty, smelly, and hot? You betcha.

[moetownblues]

The title of this topic is wrong or TAT are twisting it around to suit themselves. This has nothing to do with Bangkok being the worlds best city and BKK is definately not. It was a poll conducted by a backpackers magazine. The voting was around good affordable accomadation, transport, food and tours. It had nothing to do with Infrastructure, tidyness, business, education, health or quality of life which are the criteria to hold the real title of World's best city. The title of this topic should read more like "Bangkok worlds best backpackers city."

Can't wait to see these awards for 2010 - " Worlds best Infrastructure" Winner THAILAND. " Worlds best Education System" Winner Thailand "Worlds best Social Services" Winner Thailand.

There is one title that TAT have not mentioned. Thailand won "Sin City of the World" Yes this is real just google it and you will see that Pattaya won the title for 2010 beating Amsterdam. Probably holds the same credibility in voting as Bangkok being the Worlds best City.

Er...where does it say that TAT came up with this list? Why do people not read before they mouth off their ignorant comments? Have you actually heard of Travel+Leisure? It is as far from backpackers as Khao San Road is from the Oriental. I don't normally get irritated on TV, but reading this thread has put me in a right grump. It seems that everyone is pouring scorn over this list without the least bit of knowledge about it. First of all T+L is a high end travel magazine, an industry giant. They are NOT paid by TAT to 'manipulate' this list. They have a far better reputation than TAT! Their hundreds of thousands of readers/subscribers independently vote for this. You are entitled to disagree with them, but these are their opinions. They have not been bought. These people don't take tuk tuk, they take hotel limos or taxis, they don't stay in a guest house, they stay at the Penninsular, they take barges up to Ayutthaya, shop at Siam Paragon, visit Jim Thompson's house, eat at Lord Jim's, have quality guides to show them around and all of this for a fraction of what they would pay in Paris..or, god help us, Brisbane (for you who says Brisbane is a better city to visit than Bangkok...bless, why not look at the numbers of incoming tourists - that may offer a more accurate picture). Basically this is not a world wide poll, it is not claiming to be. It is a poll by T+L's readers. Five years ago, when Chiang Mai first made this list, I emailed senior editor at T+L and got this response:

According to senior editor Heidi Sherman in 2005, "With the opening of the Mandarin Oriental and the overall evolution of the city, Chiang Mai is finally 'on the map'. American travellers seek authenticity when we venture beyond our borders, and Chiang Mai gives visitors a real cultural experience, without being a difficult place to navigate. More and more, we're seeing smaller cities (like Oaxaca in Mexico, and Chiang Mai) topping our lists, which shows how we're venturing beyond the big cities and the obvious destinations. And with great shopping, restaurants, nightlife, culture, hotels, and location - not to mention gentle and welcoming people - no wonder Chiang Mai is moving up the ranks."

So, it is not about the most hygenic city, or the most cultural or poshest or anything. Bangkok (which, I personally dislike) has the exotic factor, world class hotels/spas/shopping/cuisine/bars, culture, is easily accessible and most of all offers best bang for the buck. I am sure many of you will go on about pavements again, and yes, they suck, but perhaps T+Ls readers find other aspects more worthy of comment than broken pavements.

So what you are saying is the people who make this choice are the eleite. People who wear blinkers and never see the seedy side or the poor and desparate people living in the streets. The people who throw the food scraps and watch the common folk fight over them and then laugh whilst you and your kind sip on a nice red.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

If you can take that massive chip off your shoulder for a minute you will realise that you don't know me from Eve, I never claimed I was a T+L reader, but the facts are that the readership of T+L is top end. So, yes, elite, or moneyed, or affluence, whatever you want to call them, they are a big part of the redership of T+L. There is no point getting upset about it, those are the readers. So you are staying that peole who choose not to visit the seedy side of Bangkok have blinkers on...well, interesting perspective. And what on earth are you on about throwing scraps and 'my kind'? Please stick to the facts, it is embarrassing reading your ignorant accusations.