As those opposed to Thailand's leading political party clashed with its supporters, the country's travel industry sat in the background and cringed. Thailand is already one of the most popular countries, if not THE most popular, amongst tourists heading to Southeast Asia. The Tourism Authority of Thailand had plans to draw even more would-be visitors than ever this year.

Are all those ambitious tourist quotas out the window because of the recent violence?

It looks like it, unless the situation changes. Thai Airways, which is already in the red because of high fuel prices, claims that the number of passengers from the Asia Pacific has fallen nearly 10% in the last few days. The drop is mostly due to cancellations, many following a travel warning issued by the governments of South Korea, China and Japan.

In Phuket, the protesting directly affected flights. The airport at the popular beach destination was closed as a security measure after anti-government protests broke out nearby.

The previous military coup was not violent. Tourists were actually out posing for pictures with soldiers. This time, though, chaotic riots make for a much more dangerous situation. Those who are planning a trip to the Land of Smiles won't find many smiling faces if they get caught up in a confrontation between pro and anti-government demonstrators or between one of the sides and the military.

The US State Department has yet to issue any travel warnings concerning Thailand.

Thailand has always been at the top of Southeast Asia's tourism game. The P.R. for the country as a tourist destination is head and shoulders above the rest. You've probably seen the pictures: silhouettes of sky-high temples, smiling local residents, quaint floating markets, comely service industry workers flashing their most photogenic wai. But is the image that Thailand has spent so long building for itself becoming cliché?

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the whole Amazing Thailand campaign is just getting started. Industry insiders at TTGAsia report that TAT is going to ride its campaign into the ground:

"TAT is considered to be repeating the same old story. It is Amazing Thailand again. It is Seven Amazing Wonders product again. It is even Visit Thailand Year (tagline) again."

Will that type of campaign continue to fly? What if some of the negative press that the Land of Smiles has been getting lately continues: rumors of another coup, ongoing complaints about Suvarnabhumi Airport (like having to walk half-a-mile to reach the W.C.), and security threats from southern militants?

Add to that the fact that regional player Vietnam is upping the ante by constructing a new airport and new rail system for Ho Chi Minh City.

Most visitors to Thailand still buy the "amazing" thing. But, one wonders if TAT will have to come up with a new branding scheme sometime soon.

With summer in full swing it, finding good outdoor spaces to have a drink is the thing to do. Nothing says summer more than a couple of friends sitting on an outdoor terrace sharing a pitcher. But even better than your average terrace or patio has to be a rooftop.

Stopping for an evening drink is an excellent activity, but if you can find a bar on top of a tall building with an excellent view of your host city, even better. While in Vietnam last fall, my hostel in Hanoi had a rooftop bar and it seemed none of us ever wanted to leave. Our friends over at Matador Nights -- part of the Matador Network -- think along the same lines and have graced us with an article on The World's 10 Best Rooftop Bars. It's the insider's guide to finding the best rooftop nightlife, from the ultra cool to the ultra sexy.

Here are the top five:

1. Sirocco, Bangkok, Thailand
2. The Penthouse, Madrid, Spain
3. Luna Bar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4. Rooftop Bar, Melbourne, Australia
5. Gravity, Dublin, Ireland

For the rest of the list and descriptions to all of the bars, read the Matador Nights article here. Do you have a favorite rooftop bar?

With a title like that, it may surprise you that this article has absolutely nothing to do with ladyboys. I'm a little bit ashamed to say that when I first headed to Bangkok, I didn't expect much beyond backpacker bars and a ubiquitous haze of sleaze covering everything.

Boy, was I wrong. Bangkok is an incredible place to visit, and possibly even to live. I've only carved two weeks out to visit this year, but next year I'll be back for a month or two.

Here are some hidden gems that I discovered in Bangkok that really made my stay a whole lot better.

The search for authenticity is central to postmodern traveling. Nobody, or almost nobody, wants to be the token tourist and be treated as a token tourist.

Many destinations around the globe are starting to figure that out. Instead of assuming that "rich Westerners" want to sleep at the Marriott and sample foreign culture only by sipping a "theme martini", places like Thailand know that more and more travelers want to experience the authentic life average people of Thailand are living: feeding pigs, planting vegetables, harvesting fruits. Swapping places, if you will.

The Guardian has an interesting article about the "community tourism" phenomenon. The author spend time with the "mountain people" in Ja Bor in north west Thailand, a three-hour drive from Chang Mai "on a road of endless hairpin bends".

Visitors apparently "stay in a local home mattresses on the floor with outside washing facilities or in a large dormitory-style building, and are fed lavish amounts of food from the villages ubiquitous rice fields, its fish farm, organic vegetable garden and from the nearby forest, nurtured by sparkling streams. Close to a waterfall is a delicate bamboo shrine to thank the spirits for carrying water to the rice fields. And then there is coffee production. Dried by the sun, roasted over an open fire and sifted on bamboo platters, this arabica coffee bears a Fairtrade label and gets sold to Starbucks."

Aside from the Starbucks piece, it sounds blissful.

Location: Tokyo and Kobe Japan; Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Penang, Malaysia. (This episode was a repeat of a previous season. I missed this one the first time, so I was happy to catch it.)

Episode Rating: 4 Sheep Testicles (out of 4) using Aaron's system that certainly works well for this episode--if you trade sheep for pig.

Summary: After watching this episode, it might seem like there is nothing but bizarre food in Asia. I can attest that the eating is among the finest. I've been to all three countries and promise there's food to suit most people's palate. Being an adventurous eater helps. What Andrew Zimmern honed in on is foods that are thought to give power. Feeling a bit blah? There's nothing like some frog meat.

On holiday, it's not uncommon to consume large quantities of toxic beverages. An attempt to check out the city's nightlife = an all-nighter pub crawl.

Some cities are just geared to allow for the most memorable crawls (assuming you remember stuff post getting plastered, which of course, isn't the objective). Here are the Lonely Planet blog's idea of a what entails a good pub crawl, here are mine:

• A number of bars in the same area, so you can walk the whole way (or even crawl if necessary!).
• No dress code. You have to be allowed to enter the places without stuck-up bouncers. Preferably, there shouldn't be bouncers at all and you should be able to enter with flip-flops.
  
• Cheap. Getting drunk, not remembering anything, AND not having any money left -- not a good combination.
• The places should be filled with locals rather than tourists.
• Friendly bar tenders. Rude bar tenders with a chip on their shoulder for anyone out having fun while they are working, can ruin your night.
• Bars with games, happy hours, and music. A little bit of research and you can find a cluster of bars with special drink offers and games to win them alongside music and/or jam sessions.
  

Basis these criteria, my favorite cities for a pub crawl -- that believe it or not, fulfill at least 5 of the 6 points above, are:

• Valencia, Spain
• Madrid, Spain
  
• Wollongong, Australia
• Phi Phi Island, Thailand

What are your favorite cities for a pub crawl?

On Anderson Cooper 360° last week, there was a brief video of a elephant painting a picture in Thailand as part of a show geared towards tourists. I wonder if this is a new trick? When I was in Chiang Mai a few years back, we went to Mae Taeng Elephant Park on a tour that included elephant, ox-cart and raft rides. I don't recall the painting demo. I do recall one elephant putting a foot on a tourist who was face down on the ground and thought, "That's brave." The painting looks quite tame in comparison. This video was shot at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, also near Chiang Mai.

In Thailand, it can be difficult to tell a ladyboy from a lady. The story of the backpacker who thought he was spending the night with a beautiful woman -- only to find out later that it was a beautiful man -- is practically a cliché in traveler's circles in Southeast Asia.

Some ladyboys would like to drop the "boy" from their identities, and an easier alternative to a full-on sex change is castration. That's right. Castration. If that word is sending shivers up spine, don't fret -- Thailand's Ministry of Health banned cosmetic castration this Wednesday, and doctors performing the operation could face up to six months in jail. Formal sex-change therapy "requires rigorous physical and mental evaluation of the patient," while castration can be done in 15-20 minutes and can cost as little as $125. The short time frame and cheap cost is why the procedure has become so popular.

The country has become a leader in sex-change therapy, due to its large number of ladyboys (a term which covers anyone from a transvestite to a man who has had a sex change). That's a whole new form of medical tourism that I hadn't thought about.

According to Anamaree Correia, a former flight attendant, three Australian soldiers wanted to have bit of fun with her on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Phukhet, Thailand. This wasn't the flirting kind of fun that leaves you feeling gloriously giddy. This was the giddy that gets you groggy and passed out. Correia said she was sitting next to a soldier with two others in front of her and they must have spiked her water while she trotted off to the toilet. The weird feeling she had in her head after drinking her water wasn't because of the wine she drank before she drank the water--it was what was in the water.

Whatever was put in the bottle made her pass out and pee on herself, as published in the Herald Sun. Okay, this happened a few days ago, but there hasn't been any more news about it that I found. Correia didn't want to press charges at the time of the incident, but I'm wondering, wouldn't she have gone for a test to find out what was put in the water, if anything? If something was put in my drink, I sure would want to know what it was. Also wouldn't it be good to stop drink spikers?

The article also doesn't say if the soldiers were questioned. We've posted stories about urine troubles on airplanes before. Add this one to the mix as another hard to believe, but stranger true things have happened, type tale.

What strange things have been found on planes?

Click the image to read the bizarre story...