BANGKOK IS LIT

So Bangkok has made it to the top slot, for the fourth year in a row, as the world’s most-visited city, according to the Mastercard 2019 Global Destination Cities Index annual rankings, beating Paris and London — again. On my first visit in 1994, I caught a longtail boat up the river at sunset and was simply moved by its beauty. Paris and London wish they had a river as wonderful and chaotic and lively as Bangkok’s. No surprise, then, that the city welcomed 22.8 million visitors (Paris and London received 19.1 million each) and this after Thailand’s tourism authority reported a “worrying” 1.03% drop in tourist arrivals in the previous year. Tourism accounts for 12% of Thailand’s GDP and the government watches the stats very closely. So when numbers drop off as they did in 2017, the authorities move fast. This time it waived the $65 visaon-arrival fee for tourists from 18 countries including China and India, two of the Land of Smiles’ most important markets.

Compare that to the years it has taken for the SA government to scrap requirements for tourists — both leaving and arriving — to produce unabridged birth certificates for all the minor children they were travelling with. While the intention was noble, the execution was a farce and it did this country’s reputation, and tourism revenue, great harm.

Thailand’s numerous attractions somehow manage to rise above the coups, murders on its beaches, sinking ferries and other assorted troubles to lure tourists and it’s not hard to see why: it has great food, it’s cheap (even for South Africans) and even at its most crowded, it is still breathtakingly beautiful.

● To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the name of the river on which Bangkok is built. Send your answer to travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on Tuesday November 19. Last week’s winner is Howard Gamaroff from Zonnebloem. The correct answer was Sicily.