The 34th floor may not sound like so high, but in an area with no other skyscrapers to challenge it, the Peninsula Hotel Bangkok's Helicopter departure lounge might as well be in heaven. Named "Paribatra" after HRH Prince Paripatra Sukhumbhand, Prince of Nakorn Sawan, the Pen's helilounge is one of those sweet secret spaces often heard of a city, but rarely visited. The only ways to access this one? You must either book a helicopter flight transfer for a grand chunk of change or rent out the place for a private function with others who appreciate aviation history; in other words, it's hardcore.

We managed to sneak around the helilounge recently, and though the helipads remained out of reach (for now), we did sink our heels into the rich carpeting, get up close with jet engine parts as wall decoration, and drink in what may be the best view in Bangkok, of Bangkok. You see, The Peninsula sits on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River, opposite like 90% of the central district. Therefore, The Peninsula is essentially gazing over at the metropolis, with the helilounge winking.]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-18T10:21:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/5/131421/7414

Action star Jeremy Renner had to fight off a real-life attack last night during a bar brawl in Thailand, one that sent two men to the hospital.

Jeremy was drinking with friends at Rachada Pub in Phuket Town around 4:30am when, according to the police, one of Renner's friends, Vorasit Issar (GM of the luxurious Sri Panwa Resort), dropped a glass on the floor which started an argument with the staff.

As the disagreement escalated, six men, who worked at the bar and the Canara restaurant next door, started attacking Renner and Issar with a a rotor axe, metal pipes, and a wooden club. ]]> cmb 2012-01-05T13:29:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/31/13531/742

Thailand's really tragic flooding of the last few weeks has been all over the news, complete with shots of locals pushing their belongings on rafts, homes lost. The water has reached Bangkok, but luckily still not the very center. It has however reached one of the city's two airports—Don Mueang Domestic Airport—out of which we flew only a month ago.

Don Mueang (DMK) is a huge complex owing to its history as the former main international airport for Bangkok...until Suvarnabhumi opened. Now it's just a hub for a few domestic airlines and it was most recently the makeshift emergency flood operations center. You know it's serious when the flood operations center is itself flooded out. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-31T14:50:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/24/05549/185

It's as we feared would happen. The rising floodwaters of the Chao Phraya River near Bangkok, Thailand have reached the city's secondary airport, Don Mueang. DMK was the focus of one of our recent stories on great places to go plane spotting, owing to the existence of a golf course in between the airport runways.

Well, it's safe to say that the entire place is in danger of becoming one giant water trap.

Although central Bangkok and the main tourist areas remain high and dry, the UNESCO historical sites in nearby Ayutthaya can't say the same. Although we aren't there now to show you some of the damaging floods (thank god), we were there as recent as a few weeks ago, when the waters of the river had already begun seeping into the first floors of riverside homes.]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-24T17:28:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/17/221250/07

As dedicated as we are to trying out the most local and unique foods for our Foreign Grocery Friday series, we also have a definite thing for investigating the fast food preferences of destinations. This usually involves stalking the pastry cases of Starbucks in Switzerland or snacking as the world's fanciest Taco Bell, but more likely we're around the corner squinting up at the menu boards of a McDonald's.

Hoping for some rice patties or other exotic offerings, we wandered into the Golden Arches in the Central Festival Mall in Phuket Town, Thailand. Instead we came face-to-face with the Samurai Pork Burger, a standard item on Thai McD's menus, and something that sounded safe to try. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-18T13:52:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/13/233055/01

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

There's a beautiful flower out there with an embarrassing name. It's Butterfly Pea, or, if you're using the proper name for the flower, it's Clitoria Mariana, and it makes an excellent (and rare) tea. Take one look at a photo of one of these violet blooms and you'll understand the reason for the latin name.

In Thailand however, the flowers are "Dok Anchan" and they're dried, steeped in hot water and served hot or cold with a splash of lime. Before the lime, the Butterfly Pea Tea is a deep indigo shade, but the addition of the citrus perks it up to a vivid purple. The more lime added, the lighter and sweeter it gets. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-14T14:55:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/12/214753/08

In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we've discovered quite a slew of odd places to get right up near the big jets; there've been coffee shops, a pool, Venetian water taxis and even an IKEA, but never before have we found a golf course.

At Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport, an entire 18-hole, par 72 golf course sits between the two runways. It's called Kantarat. Seeing it is believing it, and even better is crossing from hole to hole in a golf cart, waiting for a red light to change so you can drive across the tarmac for your next shot. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-13T11:22:52-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/