ロビーに到着してまず圧倒されるのがそのワイルドな眺望。剝き出しの岩肌を幾筋もの渓流が流れ落ち、そのかたわらを孔雀が極彩色の羽を広げ悠然と歩いているのだ。　渓流沿いに造成されたこのリゾーとは、‘04年5月にオープン。今はまだ6棟のヴィラしかないが、年内にはさらに6棟（うち2棟はスイート）をオープンさせるという。ヴィラはロビーはよりもー段高い位置につくられ、眼下には渓流を望むことができる。窓を開け放てば、水辺特有のマイナスィオンをたっぷりと含んだ涼風が吹き抜けてゆくのを感じる。内装はオーナーの趣味が生かされたバリとランナーの折衷スタイル。建材や家具にはチークや竹が用いられ、部屋のいたるところに色あざやかな木版画が飾られている。あのアンジェリーナ. ジョリーも愛息を伴ってステイしたことがあり、その際「「ステキな部屋ね」と褒めたれました」とオーナーは胸を張る。

さて、なにをして過ごそうか。そんなことを考えつつ敷地内を散歩していると、渓流にせり出したテラスでデッキチェアに寝そべるゲストを見かけた。テーブルにはビール、胸に乗った読みかけの本が寝息とともに規則正しく上下している。そう、この他での過ごし方はまさにこれ。ワイルドかつシンプル。だれにも邪魔されない休みがここにはある。

Florence in Italy, San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and Rome, Italy were the other cities that made up the top five.
Bangkok returns to the No 1 spot, having last held that ranking in 2008. The capital ranked third last year and Chiang Mai was fifth.
A questionnaire developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure, in association with ROI Research Inc, was made available to its readers from Dec 15, 2009, to March 31, 2010.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said that he will go to New York next week to receive the award, the ceremony for which will be held next Wednesday.

MR Sukhumbhand said he is pleased with the award and it shows that Bangkok’s popularity among tourists worldwide remains good.
“It must be noted the survey was completed in March when the political situation and the red shirt protest were not yet critical,” he said.

“Bangkok regained the top spot in Travel + Leisure’s 2010 World’s Best Awards readers’ survey, announced last week, closely followed by Chiang Mai in the second. Meanwhile, 10 Asian hotels are placed in the top 100 hotels in the world, with Peninsula Bangkok (named as Asia’s number 1 city hotel) coming in at number 7 and Four Seasons Singapore at 14. Other Asian properties placed in the list’s top 50 include Shangri-La Singapore at number 20, the Four Seasons Resort in Chiang Mai (27), the Hotel de la Paix in Cambodia (29) and the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, also in Chiang Mai (45).
Also scoring highly in the poll, voted for by readers of all six editions of Travel + Leisure, are Singapore Airlines (Top International Airline) and Bali (Top Asian Island and fourth in the Top Islands Overall category).”

The above is culled from our own T+L SEA press release, but it doesn’t delve into how Bangkok won, what it means, and how it should be interpreted. Some of the livelier forums, at least here in Bangkok, have been buzzing about this “honor,” with many users complaining that it’s inaccurate at best.

The full results will be published in the August edition of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, out August 1.
Chiang Mai was the first apperance the World’s Best in year 2005 in to the top ten at the 5th place and 2nd Place for Asia’s Best Cities, year 2006, 2007 & 2009 was the 5th Place.

Chiang Mai, the “City of Life & Prosperity” of its own unique culture and nature with 715 years old city (Ancient Kingdom of Lanna) used to voted as the following accolades;
ASIA’s Most Livable Cities
Voted by AsiaWeek Magazine / CNN.com

Year 1998 (Ranked 20th) Year 1999 (11th) Year 2000 (13th) Year 2002 (13th) Year 2009 (9th)

Good news for travelers to/from China! China Eastern Airline will open direct flight Chiang Mai-Kunming(China)-Chiang Mai. First flight start 10 Sep.’10. 2 flight/week(Mon.,Fri.).

There are another interesting activity in this occasion. We will release “Kome Loy” in to the sky. The “Kome Loy” is a drum-size lantern similar to a hot-air-balloon. It is made of lightweight rice paper to be able to float in the air, and in order to send it up, a method to heat the air is included by tying a small receptacle underneath the open section of the lantern. Oil is then placed with a cotton cloth. As the oil catches fire and burns, hot air quickly fills the lantern and it soon rises into the air. Some beliefs that flying Kom Loy to the air could also release all wrongdoings, unlucky and sadness. Sooner the new good things will come to life. Wishes should be made before the kome loys were let go.

There are a lot of other activities in this festival. The activities include a procession and Yi Peng Khom Contest as well as various Krathong designing contests. They will be presented on a fantastic decorative parade together with beautiful ladies from Miss Noppamas beauty contest in the same occasion. Lanterns will be posed and decorated around the temples and houses. Arches will also be set up. In addition, various fun fests will be arranged to participate in; for example, Lanna cultural performances, light and sound presentation, boat racing on the Ping River, and floating of Krathongs.
It is also nice to go shopping in style, finding some artistic decorative items, at the famous Nimmanhemin Road. During this festival, there are musical performances, art exhibitions, demonstrations by shops along the Nimmanhemin Road area including Northern plays, and Lanna style market or Kard Mua.
Under the beauty of full moon night on “Loy Krathong”, Sukantara Cascade Resort & Spa would be decorated beautifully by many kinds of traditional lanterns keeping Northern-Thai Lanna style. “Kratongs” and “Kome Loy”would be prepared for our customers as complimentary to let them enjoy the festival by releasing them on the stream next to the waterfalls.

For almost 90 years, the village has grown up from 20 families to 125 families which are considered to be medium in size. The villagers normally live in a bamboo hut or wood house. They mostly grow crops such as corn, bean, rice, etc. for their living. Moreover, wild products from the forest such as bamboo roots, fruits, wild vegetables and honey are also important for them. Karen originally believes in ancestor spirit and spirit of nature.

However, over 30% of the Karen people are Christian according to visiting of western missionaries. This group is also Christian. They go to church every Sunday like other Christian do and wear their own traditional gown to the church.
Karen dresses are made to be loose to be comfortable to wear and work. The dress for a woman of the tribe is very distinctive. Unmarried girls wear white V-necked sack called “Che-wa”. Married women wear black gown decorated with grain beads only on the top portion called “Che-Zu” and loin cloth as blouses. Men wear hip-length red gown with colorful stripes called “Che-gnor” with loose black cotton trousers. Unlike other tribes, the Karen does not like large pieces of silver ornaments.