How Long Can Thailand be “Amazing”?

by Josh Lew on

Thailand has always been at the top of Southeast Asia’s tourism game. The P.R. for the country as a tourist destination is head and shoulders above the rest. You’ve probably seen the pictures: silhouettes of sky-high temples, smiling local residents, quaint floating markets, comely service industry workers flashing their most photogenic wai. But is the image that Thailand has spent so long building for itself becoming cliché?

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the whole Amazing Thailand campaign is just getting started. Industry insiders at TTGAsia report that TAT is going to ride its campaign into the ground:

“TAT is considered to be repeating the same old story. It is Amazing Thailand again. It is Seven Amazing Wonders product again. It is even Visit Thailand Year (tagline) again.”

Will that type of campaign continue to fly? What if some of the negative press that the Land of Smiles has been getting lately continues: rumors of another coup, ongoing complaints about Suvarnabhumi Airport (like having to walk half-a-mile to reach the W.C.), and security threats from southern militants?

Add to that the fact that regional player Vietnam is upping the ante by constructing a new airport and new rail system for Ho Chi Minh City.

Most visitors to Thailand still buy the “amazing” thing. But, one wonders if TAT will have to come up with a new branding scheme sometime soon.


Where to find the world’s 10 best rooftop bars

by Anna Brones on

With summer in full swing it, finding good outdoor spaces to have a drink is the thing to do. Nothing says summer more than a couple of friends sitting on an outdoor terrace sharing a pitcher. But even better than your average terrace or patio has to be a rooftop.

Stopping for an evening drink is an excellent activity, but if you can find a bar on top of a tall building with an excellent view of your host city, even better. While in Vietnam last fall, my hostel in Hanoi had a rooftop bar and it seemed none of us ever wanted to leave. Our friends over at Matador Nights — part of the Matador Network — think along the same lines and have graced us with an article on The World’s 10 Best Rooftop Bars. It’s the insider’s guide to finding the best rooftop nightlife, from the ultra cool to the ultra sexy.

Here are the top five:

  1. Sirocco, Bangkok, Thailand
  2. The Penthouse, Madrid, Spain
  3. Luna Bar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  4. Rooftop Bar, Melbourne, Australia
  5. Gravity, Dublin, Ireland

For the rest of the list and descriptions to all of the bars, read the Matador Nights article here. Do you have a favorite rooftop bar?

Three Hidden Gems in Bangkok

by Tynan on

With a title like that, it may surprise you that this article has absolutely nothing to do with ladyboys. I’m a little bit ashamed to say that when I first headed to Bangkok, I didn’t expect much beyond backpacker bars and a ubiquitous haze of sleaze covering everything.

Boy, was I wrong. Bangkok is an incredible place to visit, and possibly even to live. I’ve only carved two weeks out to visit this year, but next year I’ll be back for a month or two.

Here are some hidden gems that I discovered in Bangkok that really made my stay a whole lot better.

1. The Atlanta Hotel

The Atlanta Hotel is simultaneously a hilarious spectacle and an awesome place to stay.

It was built in 1952, and at that time was THE hotel to stay at in Bangkok. It had the first hotel swimming pool in the city, for example.

It’s now a bit run down and is a budget hotel, but it still has some of the features that made it great in the first place. It’s in the best area of Central Bangkok, still has the original pool, which is a full meter deep, and has a great restaurant that’s open until midnight.

The best part is still the pool area. There are three nice hammocks and a bunch of tables where you can order food from the restaurant. I’ve spent many a day writing on my laptop while eating a $1.50 fruit plate by the pool. And yes, there’s free wifi.

The rooms are basic, but they get the job done, especially for somewhere in the ballpark of $20/night.

What makes it hilarious? Their vocal and pointed aversion to the sex trade. Check out this five foot tall sign.

Get more info at their site at http://theatlantahotel.bizland.com/

2. Rajawongse Tailor

I had no intention of buying a suit, but when I found out that George Bush (both of them, actually), regularly got suits made from Rajawongse Tailor on Sukhumvit, I had to visit.

Victor and Jesse, the two owners of the shop, are as charismatic and friendly as two guys could be. I found myself stopping by to chat any time I passed their store.

I got carried away and had a white tuxedo made, and I couldn’t be happier with it. They did a great job measuring and fitting, and the end result is far better than any other suit I’ve worn.

Suits go for $350-$450 including high quality Super 150 wool/cashmere fabric. If you’re on a budget, get some Egyptian shirts made for around $30 each. A friend had two made and they looked amazing.

Their shop is a fun place to hang around and rub elbows. Just by association you become friends with everyone else in the small shop, many of whom are higher ups in big companies, or even different governments.

Their site is at http://www.dress-for-success.com/

Tell them Tynan sent you. They somehow remember everyone’s name.

3. ChefsXP

I still don’t understand how this place stays in business. After coming across it I all but stopped actually going out to restaurants.

ChefsXP will deliver food from any of 50 or so restaurants they feature. The cost? 60 Baht, which is right under $2.

Crazy. They don’t even mark up the food cost or charge you more if you order from more than one restaurant.

Even though some of the restaurants they cover don’t take credit cards, they’ll take yours and pay cash to the restaurant. Ordering online is a snap and they’ll deliver straight to your hotel.

Combine this one with Atlanta’s poolside, and you’ll find yourself in paradise.

My favorite restaurants that they deliver from are Beirut and Indian Tandoor.

Once you get to Bangkok, order at www.chefsxp.com

Villages all over the world open their doors to tourists

by Iva Skoch on

The search for authenticity is central to postmodern traveling. Nobody, or almost nobody, wants to be the token tourist and be treated as a token tourist.

Many destinations around the globe are starting to figure that out. Instead of assuming that “rich Westerners” want to sleep at the Marriott and sample foreign culture only by sipping a “theme martini”, places like Thailand know that more and more travelers want to experience the authentic life average people of Thailand are living: feeding pigs, planting vegetables, harvesting fruits. Swapping places, if you will.

The Guardian has an interesting article about the “community tourism” phenomenon. The author spend time with the “mountain people” in Ja Bor in north west Thailand, a three-hour drive from Chang Mai “on a road of endless hairpin bends”.

Visitors apparently “stay in a local home mattresses on the floor with outside washing facilities or in a large dormitory-style building, and are fed lavish amounts of food from the villages ubiquitous rice fields, its fish farm, organic vegetable garden and from the nearby forest, nurtured by sparkling streams. Close to a waterfall is a delicate bamboo shrine to thank the spirits for carrying water to the rice fields. And then there is coffee production. Dried by the sun, roasted over an open fire and sifted on bamboo platters, this arabica coffee bears a Fairtrade label and gets sold to Starbucks.”

Aside from the Starbucks piece, it sounds blissful.

“Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel: Asia potpourri

by Jamie Rhein on

Location: Tokyo and Kobe Japan; Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Penang, Malaysia. (This episode was a repeat of a previous season. I missed this one the first time, so I was happy to catch it.)

Episode Rating: 4 Sheep Testicles (out of 4) using Aaron’s system that certainly works well for this episode–if you trade sheep for pig.

Summary: After watching this episode, it might seem like there is nothing but bizarre food in Asia. I can attest that the eating is among the finest. I’ve been to all three countries and promise there’s food to suit most people’s palate. Being an adventurous eater helps. What Andrew Zimmern honed in on is foods that are thought to give power. Feeling a bit blah? There’s nothing like some frog meat.

In Japan, frog sashimi is a real health pick me up. Sashimi is usually raw seafood–unless it’s frog. Chase it down with some lizard sake and you’re good to go. The lizard was leaning out of the glass like a garnish one might see at a Halloween party. Even more macabre, but maybe that’s just me, is eating the frog’s beating heart. Zimmern proclaimed it “not bad…not a lot of flavor.” To eat a beating heart, I’d need a bit more than “not bad.” See the YouTube video for the full effect.

Suppon, a soft-shelled turtle has been eaten in Japan for 450 years. In Japan, turtle is mega power food. It gives men extra get up and go, if you know what I mean. For women, it’s supposed to do wonders for the skin. The soup version looked tasty, if one ignored the detail of Zimmern gnawing on the turtle leg. Watching the turtle bleed beforehand, though, was a big ick. Zimmern downed some turtle blood mixed with rice wine before he dug into the soup. I’d like my rice wine plain, thank you.

Another bizarre dish Zimmern tackled was fugu, poisonous blowfish. I’d pass on it. First of all, 100 people a year die from eating fugu when it’s not prepared correctly. Secondly, even when it’s prepared correctly, there’s enough poison in it to make your mouth numb. See Matthew’s post that gives more specifics.

The detail about Kobe beef was interesting–those are some happy cows, and I got a kick out of the yakitori contest when Zimmern and a Japanese pal had dueling moments of eating chicken part skewers. Evidently, not all chicken parts are tasty. “I’d rather be tied naked to an ant hill than eat the rest of this,” Zimmern declared.

Once Zimmern left Japan for Thailand, it was market browsing past ant larvae, grubs, beetles, grilled frog on a stick and a host of other taste treats. I have eaten bird’s nest soup, however, and thought it not bad–for swallow nests. Zimmern went shopping and pointed out that swallows’ nests cost up to $1,000 for a package of 12 of the finest.

Outside Chiang Mai, Zimmern ate street food which were hits and misses. One miss was some sort of red sausage that was a mix of pork and organ meats. A real gag with that one. He also downed spirulina, a drink made from live algae that’s supposedly one of the healthiest foods. It’s gotta be good for you. It’s green. Plus, he said it smelled like the bottom of an aquarium. You can get it in pill form if you want.

Although visiting a hill tribe in Thailand is a wonderful experience, the bat eating is something I’d do without. Those fruit bats, when stir fried, look like fruit bats stir fried–perfect for that Halloween party with the lizard sake chaser.

When Zimmern hit Penang, an island of Malaysia, I had flashbacks to some awesome meals. Sambal, the sauce made from shrimp paste is good–I wouldn’t eat buckets of it, but it’s good. Zimmern ate the fiery version and in between fanning his hands in front of his face, asked, “Is their steam coming out of my ears?” Penang is also a wonderful place to spend time. One thing I appreciated about this segment was the inclusion of Indian food. Indian food in Malaysia (and Singapore) is superb. I ate Indian food in Georgetown myself.

The food that Zimmern spit out was durian, the smelliest fruit on earth. It’s so smelly it’s not allowed on public transportation in Malaysia or Singapore.

Although this episode was a repeat, it was a good one for a trip around high points of places I’ve been. Next week, Zimmern’s back with a new episode. Stay tuned for India.

For Gadling recaps of this season: