Many Thai islands, hotels, and resorts also placed highly on other ‘best of’ lists in the just-announced Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2022, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced in a press release.
With its third place spot among the ranking of 48 ‘Top Countries in the World’, Thailand was only one of two Southeast Asian countries to make the top 10. The Kingdom scored 90.46, after Portugal (91.22) in first place and Japan (91.17) in second, and ahead of Singapore (90.09) in fourth.
Similarly, Bangkok was only one of two Southeast Asian cities to appear on the list of the 10 ‘Best Cities in the World’. The Thai capital placed in fourth spot with a score of 89.36, after San Miguel de Allende in Mexico (92.94) in first spot, Singapore (89.49) in 2nd, and Victoria in Canada (89.46) in third.
On the list of the 10 ‘Top Islands’ in Asia, Ko Samui was named third with a score of 92.13, Phuket was fifth (90.88) and the Phi Phi Islands was 10th (76.41).
The list of ‘The Best Resorts in the World’ saw Rosewood Phuket named 11th best out of a total of 50 resorts.
The list of ‘The Best Hotels in the World’ saw two Thailand properties featured among the total of 50 hotels. These were The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok in 20th place, and Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River in 48th place.
On the list of ‘The Best Destination Spas in the World’, Chiva-Som in Hua Hin was named in the number one spot with a score of 99.57, and Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa on Ko Samui was named in the number four spot with 99.01.
On the list of ‘The Best Train Trips in the World’, the Eastern & Oriental Express, A Belmond Train, Southeast Asia journey from Singapore to Bangkok was named eighth best out of a total of 20 train journeys.
There were five Thai properties included on the list of ‘The Best Hotels in South-east Asia’. These were The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok in first place (99.45), Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River in third (99.04), Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok in fifth (98.65), Capella Bangkok in seventh (98.49), and COMO Metropolitan Bangkok in eigth place with a score of 98.20.
The Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2022 also featured Thailand-specific lists – ‘The Top 15 Resorts in Thailand’ and the top resorts in Thailand under ‘The Best Resorts in the World’ listings by country and region.
Top 15 Resorts in Thailand:
- Rosewood Phuket (99.49);
- Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort in Chiang Rai (97.63);
- COMO Point Yamu in Phuket (96.62);
- The Nai Harn in Phuket (96.62);
- Aleenta Phuket Resort & Spa (96.52);
- Angsana Laguna Phuket (96.51);
- The Slate in Phuket (96.09);
- Anantara Hua Hin Resort (95.46);
- The Sarojin in Khao Lak (94.74);
- Banyan Tree Samui (94.73);
- Anantara Chiang Mai Resort (94.59);
- Trisara in Phuket (93.16);
- Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort (92.02);
- Pimalai Resort & Spa in Ko Lanta (91.94);
- Avani+ Samui Resort (91.65);
The TAT expects the number of inbound foreign travellers to reach the forecast of 10 million in 2022, around 25% of what was recorded in 2019 before the pandemic broke out.
The country exceeded the halfway point with 5.7mn inbound visitors in the first nine months of 2022.
Tourism officials are now working on projects such as increasing aircraft seat capacity this winter to more than 50% of the level in the fourth quarter of 2019, said TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
There are also ongoing campaigns to spur foreign spending by providing longer periods of stay for arrival and tourist visas, which the government approved last month, Mr Yuthasak added.