Arlymear Travel
World's Best Awards
Bangkok, Thailand; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Florence, Italy; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; and Rome, Italy are the top five cities overall in Travel + Leisure’s 2010 World’s Best Awards readers’ survey, announced in New York on July 8, 2010.
The Best City Overall, Bangkok, returns to the No. 1 spot, having last held that ranking in 2008.
The top winners in each category were honored at an awards luncheon on July 21 at the new Trump SoHo New York in NYC. A gala event to celebrate the fifteenth annual World’s Best Awards was held at the new Andaz 5th Avenue in New York City that evening
Travel&Leisure Magazine, which caters to the luxury travel market, has released its 2010 "World's Best" list, with Bangkok voted by readers as the top city in the world, followed by Chiang Mai.
The magazine said in its press release that it was quite certain there had to be a bit of celebrating going on at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which had been battling hard to bring back tourists following the March-April unrest in Bangkok, although it must be noted that the survey was completed before the mass protests.
Rounding out the top 10 on the "World's Best City" list, after Bangkok and Chiang Mai, are Florence (Italy), San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), Rome (Italy), Sydney (Australia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Oaxaca (Mexico), Barcelona (Spain) and New York City (the United States).
The votes were based on: 1. Places for sightseeing, their beauty and greenery; 2. Arts and culture; 3. Food; 4. Shopping areas; 5. People's friendliness; 6. Value for money spent.
Surin Island, Pangnga
Surin Island, Phang-Nga 
There are five islands that make up the Surin Islands named Koh Surin Nua, Koh Surin Tai, Koh Ri, Koh Kai, and Koh Klang. The two main islands in the group are Koh Surin Nua (Northern Surin Island) and Koh Surin Tai (Southern Surin Island). The islands are about 55 kilometres away from the Thai coastline heading towards Burma and are famed for being one of Thailand’s most relaxed and beautiful travel destinations. They are also renowned for having some of the best diving and snorkelling opportunities in the kingdom – particularly in the waters between the two islands. Between the two islands there are ten bays of which Ao Mae Yai is probably the best known and Ao Luk the most visited. Both Koh Surin Nua and Koh Surin Tai boast glorious white sand and crystal clear water surrounded by dense forest – a picture of paradise!
Museum of Siam
Long before there was a Thailand, or a Siam, or even an Ayutthaya, people have lived in this region. Some of the earliest humans known to mankind have left their traces in the soil of what we now call Thailand.
The National Discovery Museum of Thailand was to create an experience where visitors could understand how the identity of Thai people, their customs, beliefs and civilizations has developed over millennia of continuous habitation in this place.
And that long, continuous heritage led us to think of a river, a bolt of silk, a rainbow (or Roong), with no beginning and no end, as a metaphor to show that Thailand always was and always will be - right here.
So the story of Thailand and its people is played out along waving panels in the form of a rainbow, sweeping through the formal spaces of the building at odd angles, carrying images and objects from all periods of history and always asking questions, challenging perceptions, seeking answers.
