A real treat

Just a few photo's to celebrate the passing of the old year.

Starting off with Krabi and a cheeky byline:

 Natural hot springs #skinnydippers #nudestspa #hotspring

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One might intentionally take this top be true, but the following reveals [not] the dress code of Krabi's Klong Thom hot spring:

Note the difference in soaking styles, from the travelleur

Up north in Pai hot spring, Mae Hong Son province:

#tochkarazborki #Pai #Thailand #hotsprings #источники

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Not far away, but different province:

ที่อาบน้ำแร่ #HotSpring #PongDued

Chiang Mai province, source

Then a not often mentioned soaking place, Mae Umlong Luang hot spring, 13 km from Mae Saraing, Mae Hong Son:

'And finally...A real treat for the legs, they deserve it after all the ascents of late. None of the sulfur smell that usually accompanies such places the water was crystal clear'.

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Finally, near to Bangkok, this photo captures the soaking life of Hin Dad hot spring, Khanchanaburi:

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Waterwars

 

 Meditation & nature time #paithailand #paihotsprings #asiatrip #relax

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Staying hot
How does a top ranked hot spring stay popular in Thailand? 
Exactly that. By being top ranked: tourists, be they local or from overseas, tend to stick to the well-trodden paths. 

That said, we see that in the updated Top 10 of Thai popular ranked hot springs, the private hot spring Nattha Waree in Krabi province is a fresh newcomer, ranked fifth. Obviously this being a private facility, it means the need to advertise and socialize. While having overnight facilities means every hotel site in the world carries a reference. No wonder Nattha Waree shoots up the rank. 
However being highly ranked is no guarantee for quality, just check at the booking.com and tripadvisor sites for Nattha Waree. One person on tripadvisor even complained that the hot spring was too hot!

#foreveryoung #hotsprings #sankampaeng 

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Listing
This most recent ranking list is dependent on relative weights from hits / mentions on pininterest, tumblr, instagram, google past year search, bing, youtube and tripadvisor, with a relative weight adjusted to each depending on what would be a more important aspect. For instance google search carries more weight than pininterest.

The list below also shows little to no change in the most popular hot springs in Thailand. Besides the above mentioned, other newcomers are Rock Valley and Chiang Dao's cement pipes hot spring.

Oddly Phabong hot spring (Mae Hong Son) failed to score any point relative to others, while in 2013 it was ranked at 6. Raksawarin (Ranong; last year ranked eigthth) would drop to no. 11. Other just under the Top 10 bubblers are Wiang Pa Pao (Chiang Rai), and Chaeson (Lampang).

Something else noteworthy is that the Top 10 comes from 5 provinces: succes breeds more succes? Or tourists tend to stick together ...?

Life in Pai. #hotsprings #Paigang #waterwars #SEA2014

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Tops

The top 10 as of November 2014:

      1. (2013: 2) Pai, Mae Hong Son

      2. (4) Fang, Chiang Mai

      3. (1) Sankampaeng, Chiang Mai

     4 (5) Klong thom, Krabi

     5 (-) Nattha Waree, Krabi

     6 (3) Hin Dad, Kanchanaburi

     7 (7) Betong, Betong

     8 (-) Rock Valley, Kanchanaburi

     9 (-) Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai

     10 (9) Pong Duet, Chiang Mai

#hindad #familygathering #relaxing #hotspring 

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