Time

anitagoldenbeauty at Chaeson

Relax time Lampang way 💕 #onsentime #lampang #thailand #dvicioexclusiveth #love #friends

As the Thai soaking season is well and truly behind us, what are the pictures popping up on instagram concerning Siam's soaking haunts?  And no, not those of the most popular soaks. well, maybe ...

Setting the tone, above a delightful typical Thai setting, soaking with the extended family (and friends?), a great way to start this photographical tour.

Going south, Ranong has one of Thailand's best hot springs: Porn Rong, a number of larger tubs located in a forest with a babling brook along side. 
The photo following this is probably the lesser appealing of this blog entry, but beggars are no choosers ...

dekyingkae555

 PornRung #hotspring 🔥🌫🌋💦🌫🔥อยากแช่มั้งเนาะแต่ต้องไปทำงานแล่ว😢

mairinfo 

Shortly after our luxurious bathe in the hot springs, this field trip full of school children arrived. They were so excited to jump right in, much to the amusement of the remaining adult bathers who came for a relaxing soak. #school #fieldtrip #children #allsmiles #purejoy #hotsprings #soak #mineralwater #thailand #krabi #seetheworld #natgeotravel

Stylish

nunnycosci staying at River Kwai Resotel and heading to Rock Valley hot springs

#หมูบุรินอินไทยแลนด์แปร๊นแปร๊น #kanjanaburi #working #บันทึกไทย #ThailandRecords #thailand #socool #feedgood #travelingram #traveling #travel #traveladdict #ilovetravel #hotspring #onsen #thaistyal #outdoor #canon #canon60d #canonthailand

Further up the isthmus brings to Khanchanabri (above) and of course Bangkok where fake Japanese style bathing places seem all the rage.

aomzaa_phakkasupat at Let's Relax Onsen and Spa Thonglor

Onsen Onsen สบายจาย

#ถ่ายรายการ #RogerWu

#TVB #HongKong

#Onsen #LetsRelax

#Spa #Thonglor

Lovers

nacklouis at Maejok, Phrae province

ออนเซ็น @แพร่ คือดีนะ

ไม่ต้องไปไกล.สบายตัวมาก

#onsen #phrae #phraeonsen #onsentime #แช่น้ำพุร้อน

Unfortunately many of Thailand's hot springs are locked up in unappealing cells. Above it says Maejok, but could be anywhere in the country. 

Following this, are more appealing hot springs of north Thailand, including another (spruced up) cell. 

Rounding this blog entry off is another from Pai's Sai Ngam hot / hot spring. 

 

kwang_litter, just out of Mae Hong Son town enjoying a soak at Pha Bong hot spring.

 #naturelovers #meahongson #hotspring

khunmamui at Sippa hot spring resort (near Sankamphaeng) with the transcript 'as hot as the water!'

ร้อนๆเยี่ยงนี้ แช่น้ำร้อนสิครับบบ 😂😂😂 #Hotspring #Chiangmai

too_badz86 at Pha soet (?) hot spring

Life is so much easier when you just relax.

#holiday #chiangraitrip #Thailand #hotspring

peter_morcos 

#Thailand #Pai #hotspring #a7s2

Experience

Gains fading away but still enjoying life [raising_hand] [ocean] [sunny]  #ChiangMai #Hotsprings #Hotpool #sankampaeng 

Se Siam soaking winner of 2015: Sankampaeng. Source

Consider to differ
With the end of the year fast approaching, let's look at what are Thailand's most popular soaks, based on internet awareness. 

Points were awarded to relative standings on Instagram, Google search (of the last 12 months), google search (based on % of the first 100 results), Twitter (number of hashtags), flickr / Tumblr / Youtube finds, Tripadvisor (number of comments) and Facebook (likes).

These scoring posssibilities differed from last years overview as bing and pininterest search results were excluded, while google percentage and Facebook likes were included. 

Was the result much different? 
No, there's little change to last year and the top 5 is exactly ranked the same as two years back! So much for changing the sources of calculation ...

Business as usual
Outside the top 5, there were some shifts, most notably the picturesque Wareerak hot spring (Krabi) coming in at number 7.
 

Amazing afternoon at #wareerak #hotspring #thailand #spaexperience

source
 

It is part of a pattern, whereby privately operated soaks are increasing their presence on the internet as that's what they need to do to continue to stay in business.

Those at the top of the lisst remain mostly non-business entities with a little enhancement of the original surroundings but mostly natural (though exclude the number 1 from this note). Whereas 4 of the numbers 6-10 have business interests at heart.

The Top 10:  
1 Sankampaeng, Chiang Mai (2014: 3rd)
2 Pai, Mae Hong Son (1)
3 Hin Dad, Khanchanaburi (6)
4 Fang, Chiang Mai (2)
5 Klong Thom, Krabi (4)
6 Rock Valley, Khanchanaburi (8)
7 Wareerak (-)
8 Raksawarin, Ranong (11)
9 Chaeson, Lampang (-)
   Natthawaree, Krabi (5)

I guess it's time to put on clothes and leave Thailand jungle paradise.. Off to Vietnam [rocket] [ramen] [fried_shrimp] [dancer] 

Off the top(s)? Pai's so-called hot spring; there seems to be quite a few hot springs in and around Pai each helping Pai to stay at or at least near the top. Source

Bubbling just outside the Top 10 are Chiang Dao (Chaing Mai), Betong (Yala), Mae Khachan (Chiang Mai), Pong Duet (Chaing Mai) and upcoming Thaweesin (Chiang Rai).