Thailand Books

Well written; excellent research. Will be using the book during my stay... I want to visit all these wonderful places that are off the track.

This book arrived in great condition. It is a very helpful guide to first time visitors to Thailand

I've traveled to Thailand twice and studied Thai language for a year and a half at university. This book, for my money, is the best introduction available to the land, people, and culture of Thailand. It is not a straightforward travel guide; it is a way into the country without being explicit. As a westerner, from the essays contained in this book, I learned so much about a culture - and land - that is so different than the culture and land of the United States. Topics range from religion, agriculture, politics, and customs, to the bar scene, prostitution, and nature, etc etc etc. After reading this book you will come away with a fuller sense of who Thai people are and what Thailand is as a nation.

My favorite story is 'Mein Gott, Miss Siripan' by Susan Fulop Kepner. I love this piece so much I must have read it about twenty times now. It recalls the story of Kepner's beginning struggles learning to speak Thai while living in Bangkok on business. Her characterization of the fierce and indomitable Miss Siripan - her language teacher - is a classic; one of the most memorable characters in all of literature. Kepner, by the way, is now professor of Thai language at Berkeley. If anyone knows her or will meet her soon, please tell her that I am a HUGE fan of her writing! Khap khun!

I usually don't do much preparation for international travel because my husband and I are so busy. We end up missing out on experiences during our travels simply because we didn't prepare. We definitely didn't want to miss out on anything in Thailand. This book was an excellent and easy read. I feel like I've already been to Thailand even though we're not going for another three weeks. Through the short stories and sidebar comments, the reader is presented tons of information about food, culture, and do-and-donts. Plus, this is a much nicer way of learning about Thailand vs reading a guide book that really just consists of lists upon lists. My only concern is that some of the excerpts used as short stories were originally published decades ago. However, I enjoyed reading them anyway since it offers more background info on Thai culture. I highly recommend using this book to prepare for a trip to Thailand along with a traditional guide book. I also recommend this to anyone who leaves to read and learn about other cultures. I definitely plan on purchasing Travelers' Tales, if available, for the next country we visit.

This is a hybrid bewteen guide book and an anthology of travel stories. Quite a novel concept, except that it doesn't work so well as a guide book. There are only a couple of dozen pages on visas, weather and other practical issues towards the end of the book. This book works much better as a collection of beautifully essays - some of the best work by authors like Pico Iyer, Joe Cummings, Ian Buruma and many others.

These essays are highly varied in terms of style and theme. Some are downright romantic and introspective. Some provide a little insider's information on things that most tourists miss out. Some are incisive social commentaries which touch on subjects which may be considered taboo by the sensitive Thais. The editors have attempted to organise the articles in 4 main parts, namely:

1.Essence of Thailand
2.Some Things to Do
3.Going Your Own Way
4.In the Shadows

The 5th part only has one essay. The way these parts are named may cause some confusion. For instance, "some things to do" may contain Pico Iyer's musings on the impact on Thai tourism.

I would give it 5 stars for the great prose, highly enlightening pieces like "Who Was Anna Leonowens" by William Warren and the brutal honesty of many of the articles that are not afraid to go against everything the travel brochures tell us. It's an extremely goo read for people who wish to explore the kingdom or stay awhile. But for the somewhat misleading format and arrangement, I would minus one star.

This cookbook is wonderful. My husband and I purchased it prior to our first trip to SE Asia. We enjoyed all of the recipes from the start and were pleased to find them to be very authentic after our travels. We are now on our second copy, after wearing out the first. My only complaint is that it is not available in hardback.

I was lucky enough to be "adopted" by the owners of a local Thai restaurant who were trying to make a go of it in Sanford, FL. Their chef was amazing & this cookbook is the best resource I can think of to get anyone producing food close to that level. Additionally, McDermott provides cultural insights and details from her time in Thailand that help you get to know this graceful & hospitable culture.

This book is excellent for those interested in Asian meals but do not have a lot of understanding of the grocery list that goes along with it. Meals are simple, delicious and easy to put together.

We've been using this book as our Thai cooking bible now for eight years, from LA to Baltimore. We became so addicted we even bought a kaiffer lime tree (sadly, had to leave in LA.) We love the tome kai gia, the clay pot shrimp with bean thread noodles, crab fried rice and use the dipping sauce for beef to marinate pork ribs. Once you master the flavors, the recipes are easy to adapt to your taste. We add ginger to the dipping sauce, and cut down on the coconut milk in the tome kai gai. However you do it, it's an amazing cook book. You will need to find a Thai grocery store in your area, though.

This is the best Thai cookbook I have found in the States, and makes the most authentic tasting recipes. Someone complained that surely it must not be authentic because of the lack of dried shrimp in the som tam and pad thai recipes. Well...while dried shrimp is normal in pad thai, it is not always included in som tam. I miss Thai food after having lived there for many years, and this is the only recipe book I've found that can reproduce my favorites and give me the taste of Thai food (which you don't find in many Thai restaurants!). Not 100% of the recipes are perfect, but they are by far and away close enough and you can adjust seasoning. The larp recipe is awesome. This is the one Thai cookbook I recommend to friends who want to do some Thai cooking.

My 22 month old son loves many books, but this one has been a stand-out since the first read. He keeps asking for it "again" at the ending and has started to take it to bed with him. I was initially surprised, but now I also love the rhythmic pace and gentle story.

My husband is from Thailand and we were having a hard time finding books that were for children with Thai themes. This was perfect. Our 1 year old son enjoys the colorful pages and the story is just the right length. I actually enjoy all childrens books by this author.

The little ones I read this to absolutely delight in the gentle, rolling rhythms of Hush! It's become a pre-nap favorite in their house.

I bought this book for my little grandbaby on his lst birthday .. I wanted to start building up his "library", and I found this title under a listing of Caldecott Award winners. The colors are wonderful, as are the graphics. The story is very sweet and something every parent can appreciate. I only wish this book was available in a more hard-bound format. I can see how little fingers can (and probably will) be too hard on the pages.

This is one of the few perfect books, perfect diction, few words as possible, using each word carefully and effectively to create a simple but strong story.

Not a book that is nice to have, but an indispensable necessary book. It's so special!

This is a great cookbook. My girlfriend is Cambodian and we like to eat alot of that style of food and I can't wait to try EVERY recipe in here. All of the recipes have great flavor and the pictures in here are gorgeous. If you are a fan of this type of food, (as I'm sure as everybody else has already stated) then try this cookbook out. You won't be disappointed. Some of the recipes call for some unusual ingredients, but that's what makes this cookbook great. More authentic type of stuff.

The recipes in this wonderfully illustrated book will give the reader a delicious taste of Thailand. It will not, however, give a 100% authentic taste of it. That may be good news to people who don't live near an Asian grocery where hard to find items necessary for authentic Thai cooking are to be found. Some of the recipes also save the reader time at the expense of authenticity. But unless you are obsessed with making something that tastes exactly as it does in Thailand, the recipes are close enough. This is one of the few books that break all recipes down by region, and that is important. I lived in Thailand for 3 years, with my in-laws for 1 year, and during that time I picked out tell-tale signs of authenticity. I've concluded that the most authentic Thai cookbook is "Thai Food" by Thompson (can't remember his first name.)

In sum, lovely pictures, delicious recipes, authentic enough but not absolutely authentic.

I have lived in Thailand and this book is the best cookbook I have found in the US. It made me very happy to be able to see Thai foods that are not offered in Thai restaurants in the US and not seen in other Thai cookbooks. Now I can finally have my Nam Gabi and Soup No Mai. (The spelling is different in the book.) I was happy to see both the Roman lettering and the true Thai word for the dish. It helps me figure out what the dish is and jogs my memory when reading the Thai. Thai food is great and I'm happy to see the recipes and the Thai regional information included.

This isn't my favorite Thai cookbook for recipes. There are several good recipes, and many that are not terribly authentic. But, if you love a cookbook with outstanding pictures, this is a wonderful book. There are so many terrific pictures of places I visited in Thailand, I had to get the book.

This book is great. The first dish I made (Ginger Chicken - p133) was simple to prepare, and tasted wonderful, with those subtle, yet distinctive Thai flavours that I have come to adore.

The only drawback is its physical size - unless you have a Heap of kitchen bench space, the book will need to be placed a good distance away to avoid the inevitable splatters...

I was present on Laem Tong on Phi Phi Islands during the Tsunami.
As a survivor I really loved to see this book and I hope it comes out in Chinese soon. My English is not so good so I had my friend read it to me then translate as she went along. I also got her to fix my grammar for this review. I loved the book because I am a woman and like most women I like stories which make me feel good about life. Not only that but because I was there I know that it is true. This is really a book about people working together to help others survive There is no exaggeraton that I can see and I can't spot any inaccuracies. It all seems real to me, the sad parts and the happy parts. Yes there were happy parts we all really felt like a community there despite all the differences of lanague race and religion. The Photos also take me back and I can imagine myself there again.

Some people might think we were uncaring when they read about the Tsunami parties but for a Chinese person like me it doesn't seem strange at all. We have many festivals to honour the dead and these are happy occaisions as are our funeral banquets. We honour their memory and ask them to look after us. I feel that in those days the dead really did look after us otherwsie we would have joined them.

Anybody who saw the Author on Boxing Day working himself to death looking after people will know what a sincere man he is and how this book really comes from the heart. I know he is a brave little man who sometimes acts cheerful even when he is hurting inside but anybody who really looked could see the pain in his eyes after he came back from Tonsai Bay would know that he was sincere in putting out this book to raise funds to help the people of Phi Phi Island rebuild.

Once you start reading these on-the-spot accounts, you have to read them to the end. The sense of immediacy is palpable. Buy this book! Its publisher will be donating 50 pecent of the profits to the people of Phi Phi Island to rebuild their homes, their boats and their lives.

`The Tsunami Diaries' by Mark Aldred is a vivid account of the `absolute horror' of the events of 26th December 2004. On that ill fated day, a tsunami, inaccurately described in English as a tidal wave, originating south of Aceh in Indonesia, tore a trail of destruction on the shores of most counties laying on the Indian Ocean.

Mark Aldred's narrative is suported on three pillars of evidence. Firstly the pages from a traveller's diary that Mark Aldred kept during his voyages are revealed unadulterated to the reader's eye with all the impact of immediacy. Photographs of the places and people affected on Thailand's Phi Phi Island accompany these words to give them colour and form. Thirdly, the accounts of many of the survivals of these tragic events complete this story of devastation on a small island group and show us what one set of eyes could never see.

What really separates this book from the newspaper and TV accounts of the tragic tales of loss and destruction, are the messages of hope, stories of humanity and sheer bravery which arise to transform this book into an account of real people becoming real heroes. Humour is not absent from the pages of `Tsunami Diaries' as one might fear. Moreover it stops the book becomming maudlin or melodramatic. Sam Han, a retired seaman from the Royal Thai Navy, recounts how " the long tail boat smashed through the door of my house without knocking. It was a very rude boat."

Other stories such as Joey's and Siobhan's, carry an explosive emotional charge in a language as pure as the pain felt throughout the region.

This book is a witness account of the events of 26th December 2004. Yet it is more than a reportage. It is an exploration of the depths of human despair and the heights of selfless dedication to the good of the many and at times just the sheer silly joy of being alive. If it resembles anything it resembles the Canterbury Tales in modern cadence with each character stepping forward to tell a story.

`The Tsunami Diaries' is a book for the moment, for the hundreds of thousands of victims and survivors of the Asian Tsunami, but above all it is a monument to the human spirit and to all our hopes for a better future.

I hope by now many people have read this wonderful book the Tsunami Diaries. I was at Laem Tong beach on Phi Phi Island on 26th December 2004. I am sorry it took me so long to write this but my English is not strong. I got my friend to read the book and translate the chapters to me in Spanish. Then I read the book for myself with a dictionary. You can be sure I was there my photo is in the book and my name also. It has both my nickname Vanessa and my full name Angelya Rodriguez Ospina. I am sorry I don't have a credit card to prove to Amazon that I am a real person so you will just have to look at my picture and believe me.

I still have problems to believe that I am still alive. This book helps me to understand what happened to me and my friends. Sometimes I makes me cry to read it and sometimes I laugh I don't know why. Maybe it is because I am still alive. The photos help me to understand that it was all real. This book is maybe not so pretty as the big books which will come later from the big companies but it is very real very strong. I don't know how exactly to say in English.

When I read the stories from Mark, Carl, Joey and Roger and May and all the other people who looked after me and looked after the injured and the dead I can understand the things that were confusing for me in this time. I also feel homesick in some way. In that time we had a special community and the stories take me back into that feeling. The book has no exaggeration. It is just about real feelings and real people. I really want to read this book in Spanish one day.

I got this book in the airport bookshop on the way out of Hong Kong. It was so intense it just tore my heart open. I wanted more copies but I couldn't find any in the UK. I didn't put it down I just read it from cover to cover on the flight. I was totally gobsmacked. I saw some really heavy stuff in the Army and the thing that always impressed me was the way that everything was kept low key. What he said about being in a bad Vietnam movie brought back memories for me that was how I used to cope. The bit where the Italian bloke dies brought it back for me. Its really bad when you think somebody is going to make it and it turns out they die of some naff thing.. Also I really liked the story from the Norwegian bloke he was so calm it was dead scary.

I just moved to Bangkok and have found this map so immensely handy that I had to get another one (my husband kept stealing our shared copy!) Now we have copies of both this edition and the updated one. While this is great, do yourself a favor and get the updated on with the sunset photo on the cover.

I visited Thailand for the first time last year. My first night there, I took a cab from Bangkok, followed the tout cabdrivers advice to to go to a certain hotel "bad mistake". I stayed at an awful, expensive, and overpriced excuse for a room. I was so disgusted by this experience that I left for Pattaya the next day. Pattaya was very nice, but I think I missed out on the true Bangkok experience. I bought this guide before I go on my trip this year, and I am very impressed with it. It has many words of wisdom from an experienced traveler. I enjoy his sense of humor and fun practical map. The graphics are excellent and having locations written in Thai as well as English will increase your chance of getting to your destination. Two thumbs up!!!

I liked this cool and hip guide which told me where to go for bars and clubs. I also liked the fact they had a gay section. The map is laminated so it wont tear or get wet. It is pretty cool and you wont feel dumb carrying it around with you as you tour the city.

This map has all the necessary highlights on sights, restaurants and hotels. The map is laminated so it can take alot of abuse during your travel. It really prepares one well prior to the visit. One of the best maps I have ever used.

I bought this map and guide expecting it to be a cute add-on and I didnt think I would actually use it for real info on my trip to Bangkok. BUT not so! I used this Groovy Guide way more than the guidebook I brought with me. Its packed full of really good info about temples, places to visit, what to avoid (scams and fake tour guides, gem scams and tuk-tuk scmas) what to defeinitely do (best views, best river trips, best massages) and what to eat (amazing street food!!) I totally used this map to bits for my stay and was worth every cent. I would say it was way better than the other guide books and stuff I had and didnt really use. The maps is easy to carry around with you. Highly recommend.

I have this book for a while now and still haven't wrote a review on this book yet. I have been reading this book more than once, it simply moved me. The love story between Petra and Simon is written so beautifully. I feel so sorry for Petra for losing such a wonderful man. She is really a strong woman, after having to go through so many downs, she is still positive in life. I really admire her for this, thank you Petra for writing such a wonderful book.

This is not your typical 'Romance" book. This is a true love novel! This book has everything~from the first spark of innocent love to the full blown tragedy of a broken heart of the worst, unimaginable kind! The story of the author is one of bravery, steadfastness and determination, thankfully unknown to the majority of readers. Yet the author continues to show grace, while enduring the worst of situations...only to be rewarded life's greatest gifts! She is indeed and inspiration to all...to remember that after all tragedy....comes hope.

This book is heartbreaking, and very moving. Petra did a great job on her first novel. This isn't all about the tsunami, and the aftermath, as many reviewers have showed it to be. Many chapters deal with her life before the tsunami, and her road to becoming a model. She certainly had an interesting life! It is a quick read, but I recommend it!

I just finished reading this truly inspiring and amazing story. She survived the tsunami that hit Thailand on December 26, 2004 by clinging to a palm tree for 8 hours all the while her pelvis had been crushed in several places. However, her boyfriend Simon, the love of her life, did not survive.

This woman is honest, hard-working, dedicated, loyal, loving, generous, unselfish, silly, open-minded, gentle. She has such a kind heart. Born under communism in the Czech Republic, she built her own career and became one of the world's top supermodels. She never forgot her roots -- her family and her pure core values. In this book, Petra explains how everything in her life -- all the challenges and all the lessons she learned -- helped her to survive and heal both emotionally and physically from the tsunami.

Petra is donating 100% of her proceeds of this book to a nonprofit organization that she herself started: GIVE2ASIA/HAPPY HEARTS FUND (a tsunami relief fund). So please, go out and buy (don't borrow) Love Always, Petra. You will be amazed and inspired by her story. I promise.

Peace: It's not just for hippies anymore. ~Nicole

This book called my attention since I saw it, maybe because of the tittle or the cover, then I read an article about it and decided I had to read it. If you have read some of my reviews, you would assume that I really like memoirs. This memoir is wonderful.

Particularly, I had never heard of her. I am very sure I've seen her on commercials or magazines but I just didn't know her name. The point is that I totally loved her book. She is an amazing person.

This is the story of a girl from Czech Republic who relates us her childhood before and alter communism, she tells us how she became the top model she is, how she fell in love a few times, and most important how she met the true love of her life, a British photographer, Simon Atlee, who would be taken away from her by the tsunami that hit Asia in December 2005.

She was a tsunami survivor. It's horrible the pain she describes she was in due to all the broken bones and cuts. But it's more than obvious that her greater pain was Simon's death.

It's very amazing how she still found good things out of a disaster like this. She says that this just made her realize how in times of desperation and pain, people help others without even having to speak the same language. Petra started to help Thailand's victims.

In conclusion, Petra Nemcova tells us the story of love between her and Simon. I really recommend this book. I read it in two days. You can read it in one if you want. Please don't miss it. It's written so beautifully. It's also very very moving. One of the things I learned with this book is not to take things or life too seriously and just live for the moment; you never know what can happen. One minute you're as happy as you can be (like Petra and Simon were, minutes before the tsumani hit) and the next minute you can lose it all.

vgxoxo@hotmail.com

This book is brilliant. I live in Bangkok and loved the attention to detail.

Memoirs of a Bangkok Warrior is brilliant. One of those where you read one book by an author and you have to go out a buy every book he written. You can tell he spent a lot of time here in Bangkok. Real incite into the Thai people.
Met the author a few times. Real friendly guy. Hangs out in some dubious joints. Guess that's where he gets his inspiration. Washington Square and Nana Plaza book signings.

Hey, I just saw a link to this book and had to give it a thumbs up. I had a business in Thailand and I'm an avid reader and found this book while there. Hilarious. Great fun. Worth reading.

This novel is set in Thailand during the Vietnam War. It could be compared to MASH but I liked it better. I found it more moving and actually funnier. I loved the names of some of the characters as well as the scenes in which the enlisted men go up against the officers. A really fine read.

I enjoyed this book as a non-veteran. It made much of the military history I have read more "real," by looking at it from the perspective of regular GIs. From the technophilia of the Vietnam Army to the disasterous Zero Defects Policy, the famous aspects of warfighting are presented as every-day minutae. Recommended.

An enjoyable "tongue-n-cheek" read of the rambunctious and sometime randy affairs of GIs in Bangkok, Thailand during the Vietnam War.

`Memoirs of a Bangkok Warrior' is Dean Barrett at his best. His irreverent understanding of his military time, as seen though the eyes of an enlisted GI, have the satire and wit that made the TV series `Mash' a favorite of millions. "Inspections were, for those forced to participate in them, absurd, excruciating, a waste of time, and a pain in the ass. For those who gave them, however, they provided a weekly dose of power, where none was desirable, a sense of purpose, where non was evident." His stories of life in Bangkok have the tang of "Mash".

His portrait of Doc. Spitz and the company's chaplain are worth the book in itself.

A commendable read, especial for veterans of a war gone by.

Breath of the Dragon successfully pits ancient Thai cultural beliefs against more modern day outlooks with main character Malila in the middle. Through her grandmother, she learns to embrace and appreciate her heritage while Grandmother grows and learns as well. Perhaps the central lesson is that life, while not always easy, often works out for the best. Gile's weaving of Thai language, customs, clothing and festivals adds to the richness of the well paced story and while not tying everything in a neat package at the end, leaves the reader with hope none the less.

I used to live in Thailand and I was worried how true to the culture the book was going to be. Not to worry, this book is wonderful. I can't believe how good it is. I'm glad I bought it and will highly recommend it to my Peace Corps friends.

I was so touched by the beautiful language and touching portrait of Malila. Every child has experienced ostracism at some point and this is an excellent story how one child not only survives it, but flourishes. Keep a hanky handy! A fantastic story to read aloud!

By the time I was reading the final three chapters aloud to my class, there was not a dry eye amongst my charges.

I had my students write letters to Malila (the main character) and the depth of empathy revealed in this assignment pored its soul in their expression.

BREATH OF THE DRAGON is a beautiful book, subtle, its language spare and poetic. It is the story of Malila, a young Thai girl who comes to live with her grandmother after a family crisis. Malila's grandmother is a wonderful person, creating an atmosphere where the little girl's artistic talents can flourish and where she can feel safe and loved. Within this story Giles seamlessly interweaves fascinating information about the customs and culture of Thailand. I highly recommend this book and eagerly await more works by Gail Giles!

I love biographies and this is one of the best.

Isobel Kuhn writes her story of her personal belief to Christianity with grace and honesty. She tells of her struggles to believe, and her climbing with God step by step as He leads her to greater heights. She tells how God called her to the mission field in China.

A great read for someone questioning their roots in Christianity and needing to find their own faith instead of simply accepting the way they were raised. It will strengthen your resolve to find God for yourself. This was Isobel's theme, and she tells how God gently and patiently led her into a grounded solid Christian faith of her very own...not just one "handed down" by her parents. An exceptional book.

You may also want to read "In the Arena" in which she briefly describes again her journey to faith, but mainly tells the story of she and her husband's miraculous mission to the people of China.

Isobel Kuhn's life and missionary work were nothing shy of miraculous due to her deep faith and continuous trust. What a beautiful book, what a beautiful life!

Isobel Miller Kuhn (1901-1957), a Canadian missionary to the Tibeto-Burmese Lisu people of southwest China, wrote a number of popular books about her missionary work. This one, published posthumously after her premature death from cancer, treats Kuhn's pre-missionary career from her teenage years until she sailed for China in 1928. Kuhn had a gift for storytelling, and By Searching is nicely written. Not only will sensitive Christian readers find the work spiritually uplifting, but they will also note the significant differences in the culture of Western conservative Protestantism between the 1920s and the present.

I read this superb book just about two weeks ago from today. It is the well written and inspiring story about a young college student in Vancouver, Canada---of how her professor has vowed that his students will leave his class atheists, and how he made her feel like she was stupid to believe in Creation "just because your parents do". Isobel Kuhn decided that she would not believe something -- "just because her parents did", and, although not an atheist, became an antagonist. In "By Searching", she tells of her life through college on "The Misty Flats", and how God brought her back to himself. She still was a very immature Christian, and this book also tells how she grew. . .how she trusted God to provide for her during her years at Moody, and then--as soon as the Boxer rebellion was over she went to China to serve Jesus among the Lisu of the South-west.

I'm really busy with my studies these days but when I got this book and started to read,I just couldn't drop it!I was extremely encouraged by Isobel's struggle and search for God,I realized a truth, that is whether you have or not believed in God already,as long as you want to know Him and search Him with your spirit and truth,He will prove Himself to you,just like the testimony which happened to Isobel.And for Christians,we should search God first in our daily lives,put Him in the first place,and get a deeper relationship with Him,be purer and holier,be more like Jesus our Savior.And I believe GOd has His own beautiful plans for us,only you can find it out with your sincerity and faith.
I'm also thankful for God,because I'm a Chinese,even nowadays,the place where Isobel went to is still very poor and remote,and even few people know that place and Lisu people(it's a minority of China).I really admire Isobel's sacrifice,if there is no God,how one is able to forsake his own and go to such a terrible place?!But God loves them although men even don't know them.
It's a must-read book,may it encourages each of you, me included,to find God,and as well as a lifestyle that leads us into the inner of truth of Christ.
God bless!