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/2011/12/30/125311/63

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2011 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2012, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2011 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

After an iffy last few years, our choice for Destination of the Year 2011 finally had huge tourist boom in 2011, that is until all of it was washed away by flooding at the end of this year. Well, they've dried off and are ready yet again to be inundated with both the ritzy and budget travelers. We're talking about Thailand.

We went to some many amazing places in 2011—Norway, Wales, Italy, Switzerland, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Amsterdam, Paris... just to name a very few. Thus, picking a place to highlight was stressful. Really you should visit everywhere you can, but Thailand stood out for us because we not only spend 3+ weeks there getting a feel for several areas of the country, but we were overwhelmed with how fully the country offers something for every type of traveler. Culture? check. Shopping? check. Adventure? check. Luxury? check. Cute animals? check. Fun airlines? check. LGBT? check. Food? Um, a million times check.]]> Jaunted11 2011-12-30T16:46:35-05:00 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 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/11/125413/89

And now, a first-person confession account of medical tourism:

I was in Thailand with a broken tooth. Granted, it had been broken for a while after chomping on some blackcurrant gummies in London, of all things. And then, while in Bangkok, I broke another one chewing blueberry gum. What was happening to my mouth? But more importantly, could I get this all fixed here for a fraction of what it'd cost me back in the States? Thailand is growing famous as a destination for dental tourism and without a dental plan, my US dentist was quoting well into four digits for a crown, so I decided to give it a go.

While researching and stopping into clinics around the city, the first warning I got was not to necessarily trust the Thai dentist clinics that rank highest in Google Search. Duh. The second was not to ask a local for a recommendation as that's about as trustworthy as the Google Search thing. Oh well, I went against the latter warning and sought advice from a local I trusted and she named The Dentist Clinic by the upscale Siam Paragon mall. Bingo.]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-11T14:54:33-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/