Bangkok is 'World's Best' for 4th year

The 10-country ranking by travellers gave Bangkok 90.40 per cent votes, followed by Istanbul, 89.96 per cent and Florence 89.84 per cent. 

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday received the award from the magazine’s editors at a ceremony in New York, where the magazine is based.

Bangkok also received the “Best City in Asia” award from Travel and Leisure for the seventh time – from 2005 to 2013, with the exception of 2009.

The top-10 table this year also sees Chiang Mai ranked at 10th, receiving 88.15 per cent of votes, after Cape Town, Kyoto, Rome, Charleston in South Carolina, Barcelona and Paris.

The criteria used for the rankings were: tourist attractions; culture and customs; food hygiene and taste; and shopping availability; hospitality; monetary worthiness.

In his statement, Sukhumbhand thanked all Bangkokians and relevant government agencies for the recognition, adding that all road and other signs would be made bilingual and public safety would be boosted as an assurance to foreign and Thai tourists.

He said all agencies under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration had been instructed to visit English-language websites containing feedback or complaints from foreign tourists to look into them and correct the problems.

Sukhumbhand said defending the top position would not be a priority apart from maintaining high standards of the BMA’s public service, which also focused on security, life quality, food and hygiene.