Bangkok has had a very hard year, at least for the first half. But when the votes were counted, Bangkok came out on top with Chiang Mai, a northern city also in Thailand coming in second. The August edition of the magazine will have the award in it.

Travel + Leisure award for top city is based on a poll of readers who cast votes from December to March. The leaders in Bangkok are very humbled to say the least. With all the unrest and violence that had happened in Bangkok earlier this was a very pleasant surprise.

Even after the military crackdown and all the damage done, the Thai people put on their very best effort to get the city back up and running like normal. The community had planned cleanup days and scrubbed down the whole city that was affected by the protesters.

I have been in Bangkok many times. I must say that it is a wonderful place to see. There is anything there that you would want in a vacation destination. Even in the outlaying areas is plenty to do and see. You cannot find a more friendly culture of people either. Thai’s are very warm in welcoming their guests to Thailand. The food is the best that you will ever eat.

I was in Chiang Mai once, and it is a very nice city to visit also. The culture is a little more laid back than in Bangkok. The city traffic is not as rushed either. Even the weather is a bit cooler being in the north. Nights are very nice for sleeping.

I am glad to see Bangkok get this honor. I love Thailand and its people. My wife Ning and I will make it our home when we retire. So I will say to Bangkok, Congratulations, you have always made me feel welcome any time that I have been in the city.

Ning and I have a friend in Thailand that used to work in a factory. He had gotten laid off from making socks and decided to start his own business. The majority of Thai people are very hard working, so it was not surprised to me that he is doing very well at selling his noodles.

What you see him making them in is a typical Thai Noodle pot for scalding the noodles and warming all the other ingredients. He serves his noodles with some broth, but other venders will serve just the noodles and sides with very little broth. It all depends on the cook’s own recipe. That is one thing about Thailand, you can find a large variety of foods, and some made a lot of different ways.

This is a fish type dish that he is making. He has put in several different types of fish balls with some octopus. He also uses Thai herbs and vegetables in the dish. And of course there is a good amount of Thai spices added. That brings out the taste.

On the side, you can always choose from a variety of condiments too. The four common ones at almost every shop will be fish sauce, vinegar with chili, sugar and ground dried chili. With these you can heat it up, make sweeter or sour. And of course the fish sauce will make it a little salty to adding some more fish flavor.

So if you are ever in Thailand and see a noodle shop or cart, do not hesitate to go get a bowl. You may just have found one of the best meals you may ever have. I have eaten at a lot of different Thai noodle shops, and have not found a bad one yet!

During one of my trips to Thailand, Ning and I went into Bangkok and found a movie being filmed there. I have no idea what movie or show possibly was being shot. The set was not really that big. However, it was kind of cool running into the set. It gives you an idea of what goes into filming on the street.

The set its self was not big, m only about three quarters of a block long at the most. We were on an over pass and did not go down the street level where they were shooting. The three Asian girls were the main characters for the seen that we saw. At least it looked that way.

Bangkok Movie Set

Bangkok Movie Set

Bangkok Movie Set

One thing that I have notice during my trips to Thailand, The Thai people are getting bigger. I do not mean taller, I mean rounder or should I dare say Fatter. The western way of life is taking its toll on the Thai people. Especially the kids, I see fatter Thai kids now than I did on my first trip back in 2004.

There are more and more western food chains like McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dunkin Donuts and Starbuck Coffee shops. If you visit any larger city in Thailand you will not have a hard time finding good old western type food with it large portions.

If you go in any of the major shopping centers where they sell groceries, you can get American cereal, cookies and almost any of the snack foods sold in the US. Pop is another big one sold also. We all know how much sugar is in that stuff.

Because of the western food invasion, I have seen a lot of billboards advertising Slime Up Centers. The Thai answer to a workout place to lose weight at. Even on TV, you will see ads for many different weight loss gadgets now. As the Thai waistline grows, so will the amount of Slim Up Centers, and anything to do with trying to get thin again.

Just maybe the thigh master has a chance after all. I have seen some real rip-offs on Thai TV for losing weight. As the credit card gets to be more popular in Thailand, The more of the infomercials you will see on their TV.

In Thailand bartering is the way most things can be bought out of a lot of markets. Now for the chain type stores, you have to pay the price that is on the item. Even food markets have a lot of set prices.

However, go to any of the flea type markets and deal with a private seller, and you should be able to negotiate a lower price. These are just the way things are done, and the Thais are not afraid of bartering.

Ning and I once went to an out door market here in the USA, and it had many different venders. The market’s theme was life in the early America. We went into one tent that sold silver hand made jewelry.

Ning found a necklace that had a piece of amber wrapped in silver. The cost was Forty-five dollars. Ning being use to bartering told the owner that she would give him forty dollars for it. The owner said the price was forty-five dollars. Ning wanting a better deal then offered forty-one dollars.

Now you could see the shop owner was starting to get a little annoyed by Ning’s unwillingness to pay full price. However, he was still interested in making a sale and still treated Ning friendly.

By the time the haggling was over, Ning had her necklace for the price of Forty-three dollars and the owner was kind of in shock that he let it go for less than he originally wanted for it. He looked at me with a look of what just happened, all I said was that is the way my wife is used to buying things in this kind of setting.

The owner assured us that Ning got a very good deal, and we were on our way. I will say one thing for my wife is that even in the large department stores here in the US, if she sees something that she wants, she will wait for it to be put on sale before buying it. She hates paying full price for anything.