Bangkok, Thailand, August 7, 2003 -- Readers of one of the world's best known travel magazines have voted Bangkok as the Best Tourism City in Asia and the third Best Tourism City in the world. A Bangkok hotel has also been voted the best in the world.

News of the vote by Travel + Leisure Magazine has been warmly welcomed at the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

TAT Governor Mrs Juthamas Siriwan said, "This is a reflection of the hard work that has been done by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration as well as the private and public sectors to improve the quality of the visitors' experience in city.

"It will certainly go a long way towards moving ahead with our objective to make all of Thailand the Tourism Capital of Asia by 2006."

The 200,000 readers of the New York-based Travel + Leisure Magazine, a leading magazine in North America, voted for Bangkok as part of the "2003 World's Best Awards Reader's Poll".

The "best tourism cities" were rated in terms of attractions, arts and culture, cuisine, friendliness of people, shopping and value for money.

For the past seven years, the magazine has conducted an annual poll to rank tourism cities, islands, hotels, airlines, spas, cruise lines and car rental agencies around the world and honour them with the World's Best award.

This year, about 200,000 readers were surveyed, all of whom have years of travelling experience around the world.

Thai private-sector tourism companies picked up a number of awards. Seven Thai hotels were in the
top-100 hotels of the world, with the Peninsula Hotel, Bangkok, being ranked the world's best.

Mrs. Juthamas complimented all the award winners, noting that it is their commitment to high standards and professionalism that helps attract more visitors to Bangkok and encourages them to stay longer.

"There is no doubt that improvements in our transportation infrastructure, like the Bangkok Skytrain, have helped tremendously. A second mass-transit system is due to open in August 2004.

"All these improvements will make not only Bangkok but Thailand even more attractive and value-for-money in the eyes of travellers," added Mrs. Juthamas.

The Minister of the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations, Mr. Pravit Chaimongkol, represented Thailand in receiving the rewards on July 24, 2003 at the Four Seasons Hotel, New York.

Nancy Novogrod, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, said "This year's World's Best Award winners confirmed that Travel + Leisure readers embrace destinations and properties that offer the best experiences in virtually every corner of the globe."

She noted that the poll showed that the top hotel is in Asia, the top city is in Australia, and the top small hotel is in South Africa.

Travel + Leisure Magazine is one of the world's most prominent travel magazines with a readership of about 950,000 per issue.

Contact
International Public Relations Division
Tel: 66 2 250 5500 ext. 1573, 1569
Fax: 66 2 250 5682
E-mail: prdiv3@tat.or.th