Bangkok named "Top City" for 2010

In what many believe is a surprising choice due to the recent riots, Travel Leisure named Bangkok, Thailand the "Top City" for 2010.  Often considered by many well traveled individuals as a "must visit" locale, Bangkok has had a rough year with media coverage of the often violent political protests throughout the city.

This honor will no doubt give Bangkok a new found moral boost and hopefully assist in getting more tourists to take another look at the city as a travel destination.  

The poll asked readers to cast votes between December 2009 and March 2010 on such topics as favorite city, island, hotel and airline.  Nearly 16,000 readers responded.

The governor of Bangkok made a visit to New York last week to received the award from TL and briefly met with the city's Mayor Michael Bloomberg to get his advice on how the Big Apple recovered after the 9/11 attacks. New York ranked 10th on the "Top City" list for 2010.

Other cities that made the list included Rome (#5), Buenos Aires (#7) and Sydney (#9). Bangkok was ranked #3 in 2009 and #1 in 2008. 

Source: Travel Leisure