Thais Choose Chiang Mai as the Top Cool Season Destination

Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai ranks as the top destination for Thais wanting to travel during the upcoming cool season. According to the survey, conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), some 39% said that they wanted to go to Chiang Mai, 11% said they chose Loei province, and 9% said they wanted to go to the resort island of Phuket. NIDA conducted the opinion poll among 1,245 Thais nationwide at all educational levels and careers.

Regarding travel companions, 73% said they wanted to go with family, 19% said with friends, and 8% said with lovers. For each journey, most of them said they planned to take three to four days for a holiday and to spend around Bt14,500 per person. Concerning types of accommodation, 30% said they would stay at resorts, 23% at hotels, and 20% at relatives’ or friends’ homes. 42% said they searched for tourism information from the internet, 41% from relatives and friends, and 23% from television.

Bangkok Voted Number 1 City in Asia in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards

Thailand has once again been recognized as a premier travel destination in the 25th Condé Nast Traveler’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards, one of the highest accolades in the industry. This year’s awards reflect the opinions of a record 46,476 readers who participated in the survey, and who honored the Land of Smiles in several categories including the world’s top cities and the top cities, best islands, and favorite resorts in Asia.

Judged on factors such as Shopping, Ambience and Friendliness, Bangkok came in with a #4 ranking on the Top Cities in the World list, one spot behind Florence, Italy, and ahead of other world-class destinations like Vancouver, Sydney and Buenos Aires. As for the Top Cities in Asia, Condé Nast’s readers rated Bangkok #1 – edging out Hong Kong and Kyoto, who took 1st place in the 2011 survey – giving it high marks for its Restaurants, Lodging and Culture. Readers also heaped praise on Northern Thailand’s largest city and cultural centre, Chiang Mai, which earned the #5 spot in Asia sandwiched between Singapore and Ubud, one of Bali’s major arts and culture centres, and ahead of Tokyo and Shanghai.

Moving from the cities to the sea, Thailand continued to score high marks. In the Top 10 Islands in Asia category, it rang in with two of the top five selections once again. Phuket, ranked #2 on the list behind this year’s winner Bali, was favored for its beautiful beaches (scoring second-highest in Asia on that criteria behind only Lombok, Indonesia) and its wealth of activities; and Koh Samui, the #5 island in Asia, was buoyed by its lovely scenery and its diversity of lodging options and placed just a fraction of a point behind fourth-place Langkawi, Malaysia and one spot ahead of Hokkaido, Japan. Others making the list include Philippines favorites Luzon, Cebu and Mindanao, and Malaysian Borneo.

Berlin’s Wild Nights and Days

Berlin has become a major destination for backpackers from all around the world, thanks to it’s relatively low prices and permissive party atmosphere that

sees clubs and bars open til the sun comes up. Here are a few suggestions to help you get the most out of your stay in Germany’s party city.

1. Do a walking tour

Berlin is huge in terms of size, and walking around on your own will likely get you lost. This can be great fun if you have time, but it also means that

you might miss some of the monuments and features that are essential and need to be explained to you by a guide. There are several tour companies offering

tours of different parts of the city, so find one you like and try it out.

2. Eat street food

There are two main snack foods on the streets of Berlin, which both have cult status. First is the Doner kebab, invented here in the 1970s by a Turkish

immigrant who had the genius idea of putting traditional Turkish kebab meat into a piece of bread. Kebabs are available all over the city, and are a cheap

way to fill up on the go.To hire vehicles to get into Berlin, check out erento.co.uk.

Currywurst is quite different to the curry you might be familiar with, since it is actually a sausage sliced up and smothered in a spicy tomato sauce. It

might not sound like much, but it’s a Berlin favourite and currywurst stands are all over the city.

3. Go out at night

Berlin’s night-life stopped being a secret a long time ago, and now the clubs and bars are full of tourists and locals alike, all enjoying an atmosphere

of raucous fun that other cities lost long ago. The clubs are a particular draw for electronic music fans, who line up for hours in the hope of being allowed

into some of the world famous venues.