Peer-to-peer short-term property rental site Airbnb has chosen Bangkok as the first city in Asia in which to launch its hyperlocal Neighborhoods feature.
Neighborhoods offers a super in-depth tourist guide of the different hoods of a city, complete with beautiful photos. In Bangkok’s case, they’ve broken our fair burg into 19 neighborhoods: Siam, Pathum Wan, Chatuchak, Chinatown, Silom, Ratchathewi / Phaya Thai, Banglampoo, Victory Monument, Khlong Toey, Din Daeng / Huai Kwang, Thong Lo, Lower Sukhumvit, Bang Na, Upper Sukhumvit, Aree, Bang Na, Phra Kanong, Sathorn, and Thonburi.
Each hood gets a tagline – Sathorn is “New skyscrapers on old world streets” while Thong Lo is “We all need a really hip place to blog” – as well as a page with a longer description and lots of big, attractive pics from local photographers.
Also included are profiles of neighborhood locals – both expats and Thai – and great Google Maps.
Those searching for a neighborhood in which to stay can also filter results by tags like Shopping, Peace & Quiet, Great Transit, Artsy, Loved by Bangkokians and more.
All in all, it’s pretty damn spectacular and it sure blows anything from Lonely Planet (or any other travel media for that matter) out of the water.
Airbnb launching Neighborhoods here first is a savvy move too: As has been well-reported, Bangkok is now the most-visited city in the world.
Airbnb CTO and co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk told tech news site TheNextWeb that the company is very bullish on Asia and hopes to top 2 million listings on the continent.
The company has 2,700 listings in Thailand, up from 1,300 in November, according to TheNextWeb.
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