Thailand Books

I bought this book based on the Fodor reputation of providing detailed, quality information. Sadly, after reading the parts pertaining to the "Southern Beaches" I was left with no greater understanding of where to go and what to do. If you are looking for a general info book on Thai places to visit and culture, it's a good read. Outside of Bangkok and Chang Mai, the info is limited. As far as accuracy is concerned, I haven't gone to Thailand yet so I cannot comment on it (going in May). I've found plenty of web sites that give you the "real deal" on Thailand, shopping guides, suggested prices, web links to see these hotels and other points of interests. If you know where you are going, PLEASE spend the money on a specific book to that city or region. Fodors is simply too generic since there is so much to cover anyway. An ok read for additional ideas but definitely not an inclusive book!

Excellent information and up to date compared to other guide books. easy to use. A lot of information. I haven't done my trip yet so cannot say how accurate it is but I am going to several places based on this guide book and feel confident that I have made the right choices.

After receiving the book yesterday, I flipped through the pages and immediately noticed pages 177-192 are missing! Is every copy like this?

Northern Thailand, the location of the ancient kingdom called Lan-na whose capital was at Chiang Mai, is less well-known than Bangkok and the south. However, now that interest and tourism in this area is increasing, there is more of a need for information about this part of Thailand; Freeman's book is both timely and welcome.

As with the other books in Freeman's series, this is a guide to the temples, not a full-service guidebook. You still need a Fodor's, Lonely Planet, or whatever guidebook to plan the day-to-day practicalities of your stay. Once you get there, however, you will find Freeman's book to be essential in deciding what to see and in understanding what you are looking at. His expertise, writing, and photography remain unsurpassed.

The only criticisms I have about the book are that (1) it lacks a glossary (I recommend you jot down the definition and page location of unfamiliar terms, the first time they come up; you will thank yourself later,) and (2) the index is not up to par (for example, there is no index entry for the Emerald Buddha.)

But these are only minor criticisms. If your travels or studies take you to the temples of Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand, this book will be a very useful and valued companion.

I think this book is good and easy to read. It is suitable for learners of English. This story show the problems , which may be occur , if you do not say the truth. The story makes me follow it till the end. Importantly, it make me realise that we must tell nothing but the truth. This is a wonderful story and I think everyone will enjoy it!

Nothing but the truth is an interesting book. This story makes me stuck on it and did not want to put it down. The interesting point is the way that Hu solve her problem, and when she will tell the truth to everyone.

This is a well done pocket size photografic book on the birds of Thailand.The pictures are very good.It also is has some good information besides just being a picture book.It is a great book for the money.

I took this book to Thailand in 1999 with the full knowledge that it does not contain all the birds that I would most likely encounter, but its handy size and weight did fit the bill.

Unfortunately, it seemed that half the birds I saw weren't in the book, but maybe that was just my luck. In addition, due to space constraints, geographical distribution descriptions were vague, so I was left wondering if the sunbird I saw was the one pictured or it was another similar one mentioned but not pictured nor fully described.

Instead, I relied on a fat book available from a publisher in Bangkok (written in English) that both my hotel hostess and my hired guide used in Chiang Mai.

All in all, this small guide is good if you have concerns about weight and space and don't mind not knowing what species of sunbird you're looking at. It's also good for getting a general idea of the variety of Thai bird species.

Just returned from Thailand this week. We used this book (although the cover photo is different, so perhaps we had the previous edition). Some of the bungalow info was different (i.e. unrecognizeable from the book description), but they change so fast that's to be forgiven in any guidebook. What really irked me was the crazy light orange text colour for headings and numbers - trying to read in dim Asian lighting or the back of taxi was extremely difficult. Also, I found the maps oddly placed. Good size, though, and the transportation info was accurate.

I used this book while traveling in Southern Thailand this past summer. The book is great! Having a section on BKK is also very helpful as almost anyone coming/going to Southern Thailand passes through.

The book is small and much more convenient than the larger country wide or SE Asia guide books. Assuming you are just going to Southern Thailand.. this is all you need. The format is clear and very well formatted. The prices were a tad off, but this seems to be the norm with guidebooks.

Like most of your "Bangkok Hilton" books (and there are many) this one seems a little exaggerated and at times unbelievable due to the sensationalism that surounds this type of story. Thailand is notorious for there sub-standard prisons and I truly do feel bad for Mr. Martin who spent 8 years in one but if the "Hilton" (name given to any Thai prison that a foreigner is sentenced to) that he was sent to was as bad as he claims then why didn't he allow himself to be transfered back to Ireland after 4 years which was an option. On page 210 the author states that "I could have asked the Thai government to tranfer me back home to Ireland after I'd served 4 years but I had decided to stay and fight my case in the belief that I could eventually win." Hmm, eventually win? after all the hype about the corruption of the prosecutor, judge, and his own defense lawyers that Mr. Martin tirelessly repeats throughout his story, it almost seems like a contradiction.

After finishing this book I felt like there were pieces of a puzzle missing. The author states that he accidently killed the con mans bodyguard yet the cause of this mans death was do to being stabbed repeatedly. Is this another conspiracy fabricated by the Thai authorities against Mr. Martin? Did his first wife leave him because he had "lost everything" or is there more to this? The author lived in Thailand for 3 years waiting to seek revenge on the people that conned him yet he gives the reader little insight as to what he was doing during those 3 years except that he was working as a welder and married a women who he claims did not love him and only married him for his money. According to the author young Thai women only marry older men for there money.

The author voices his utter contempt for not only the Thai "system" but for Thais in general making himself sound rather narrow and ignorant which gave his story less credibility to this reader not to mention the inacurate explanations surounding some Thai customs that the author attempted to convey.

So was Mr. Martin an unfortunate victim who was "screwed" by everyone? Was he simply a poor judge of character? or is he just a person (like many people in this world) who absolutely refuses to take any responsibility for his actions? Maybe a little of each?

I read this book in a little under a day. It is a terrifying true story of a decent business-man who had answered an advertisement in a newspaper and through a series of events, had been swindled of almost half a million dollars in Thailand by a business deal that turned out to be an elaborate con.
In an effort to try and apprehend the man responsible, he finds himself in the wrong side of the law and facing life in a squalid Bangkok prison cell.

This is a well written, fast paced book that gets to the core of the story without over-embellishing the details. Some of the descriptions of abuse and torture were quite graphic, but were necessary to relay the experience the author had been through.
The sense of injustice is overwhelming and you feel pity when reading all the twists and turns and misfortune that happen along the way. An interesting read.

Interestingly enough this book is for men (big surprise). It has language brooken down and small paragraphs that explain different parts of the Thai courting ritual. Though I believe it needs more information on the way Thais act, and more information for the female farang it still rates high in my growing stack of Thai books.

Nothing new in this book.
Guide for sounds was weak at best.

I went to Thailand for heart surgery that could not be done here in the U.S. (stem cells implanted in my heart muscle) and found myself falling in love with a nurse in Bangkok. I had no idea how to really communicate with her, but this book helped me accomplish that.

Yes, this book starts out with some phrases that can be found in other books, but you have to start out with "hello," don't you? It dealt with a lot of handy things to say, and having learned them, I found I was able to "mix and match" pieces of one example sentence with pieces of others to actually communicate a little bit.

This book allowed me to bridge the language gap when I really needed it. I bought "Thai for Beginners" soon afterwards to develop a bit more ability before I returned to the states. I listened to "Thai for Lovers" repeatedly in the states, and used the book as a handy guide when I called my new girlfriend in Thailand. Even though I have gone back and forth several times this year, and have developed a small Thai vocabulary, I still find it handy.

Is it the best book to use to become fluent in Thai? No, but it does exactly what it says it does -- provides someone who loves a Thai enough working language ability to begin their relationship.

As to it's use in "sex tourism," this book has more about dating, courting, and marriage discussion than one of the "guide to bar girl talk" books one finds in the Bangkok bookshops. Just because it mentions sex (how could it not, being a book "for Lovers"?) it is NOT aimed at the sex tourist. If that is what you are looking for, there are much smaller and cheaper pocket sized books for that purpose, buy one of those.

I think people would be well advised to look at the book "Thailand Fever" to explore the differences in western and Thai cultures as it relates to mixed romantic relationships. Paiboon Publishing has done westerners a real service by publishing both this book and "Thailand Fever."

I highly recommend "Thai for Lovers", the book and CD to anyone interested in developing or maintaining a loving relationship with someone from Thailand. The information provided in "Thai for Lovers" is powerful, and far more than I expected. Now, I can't imagine not having it. Please do yourself a favor and purchase "Thai for Lovers", the book and CD asap! You'll thank yourself later.

An excellent book whether you are in a relationship or not, but I found the symbols used for the sounds confusing so when I'm in trouble I just show the word or phrase to my Thai friend to get (?) what I want.
It's a pity that it is not the same size as the LP or Rough Guide phrasebook.

The 2 tapes are a "must have"!

Buy it...... ;-)

Undoubtedly, the author knew Thailand and its history extremely well! This unfortunately is only necessary but not sufficient to write a readable book.
The author faithfully recounts which king invaded what place when, he tells us the outcome of that battle.....The book does not tell us at all, how the people lived, what their social behaviour was, etc. In other words, the reader does not get a feel for how life was.

The period fron the 80's onward is poorly covered. The fist edition was published in 1980 or so, and the overhaul it got in 2002 by the author was insufficient in my view.

This is not a book, I recommend.

Wyatt's first edition of this book was, for many years, the standard introduction to Thai history for English speakers. It was written for an academic audience and although Wyatt is more readable than the average academic, it really isn't a good choice for people who want a little history to go with their guidebook. A more readable history is Pongpaichit Pasuk & Chris Baker's "Thailand: Economy and Politics". Wyatt undertook this second edition in part because he felt that his earlier edition gave insufficient attention to Thailand's diversity and the different worldviews of its Lao, Chinese and other minorities. The book is only somewhat successful in this respect, although it's one of the few books to avoid the "happy peasants down on the rice paddy" view of Thailand that mars social histories of the country by Thai and foreign scholars (including Pongpaichit & Baker) and tends to betray the limits of what these academics really know about the country.

This book should appeal to people who want a fairly in-depth introductory history to the country and probably should be read with Pongpaichit & Baker's volume, which does more with Thailand's social and economic history. Wyatt is very weak on the last three decades of Thai history even though he would have had ample opportunity to know and understand it in-depth. He provides inadequate introductions to key figures such as General Prem, Chatchai Choonavan, Chuan Leekpai and Taksin Shinawatra (all major Prime Ministers of the last few decades). He is very coy in discussing prostitution in Thailand and neglects the AIDS epidemic, while giving a distorted view of Thailand's great success in implementing family planning programs (Wyatt completely neglects the role of the government). The maps are poorly laid-out and make it difficult to see some of the points made in the text. Still and all, this is a good introduction to Thai history for someone who wants a fair degree of depth and is willing to look beyond the weak treatment of recent history.

It is, of course, impossible to cover every aspect of a nation's history to everyone's satisfaction in a single volume, or in any series of volumes for that matter. My expectation of Wyatt's effort was that it would narrate the origins and development of the Tai and Thailand on a general level. Wyatt did an admirable job of fullfilling my expectations. For those who bother to read prefaces, the author begs forgiveness from other scholars who would balk at the necessary incompleteness such an outline implictly entails.

Wyatt's history focuses predominantly on the rise and fall of various Tai states from the influence of early Nan-Chao to modern Thailand's awkward internal pressures of democracy, authoritarianism, tradition and reform. He deals primarily with top-level political contests -- successions to the throne, conflicts between the Tai, Shan, Mon, Burmese, Khmer, and Lao ethnic civilizations, the pyramidal control structures typical of various Tai empires, and so on. What emerges then is a reliable gestalt of how Tai history unfolded from the earliest days to the present.

I found Wyatt's history to be sufficiently readable and engaging. One problem is the sometimes tedious litany of dynastic struggles and successions. Also regrettably absent is a more involved elucidation of the specific nature of Tai Buddhism beyond its broad political roles in Tai history.

"Thailand: A Short History" is ultimately more a political, material, and especially, a territorial history and somewhat less a cultural one. However, without Wyatt's effort most of us would need to settle for no familiarity with Tai history whatsoever. The author is to be applauded not only for his erudition and high-quality writing, but for enduring the anguish of omission that a short history necessarily demands.

For years, I have kept a cherished copy of this book, probably because someone I know and admire wrote a glowing review of it in the Asian press.

Recently, however, despite the fact that I live in Thailand and am fascinated by the region, I realized that I had never read this book!

So I picked it up again, and began to understand why. From the very first pages, the reader is assaulted with terms for peoples (Mon, Wa, etc.) which remain totally unexplained. Of course, someone who has spent his life dealing with the history of Thailand feels that such terms are self-explanatory, but they are NOT.

Add to this particular opacity, what? The plodding style of the author, who is apparently incapable of generating reader interest or suspense no matter how compelling the tale. And then add in the fact that Wyatt took TWENTY YEARS to revise the first edition, and produce a second, slightly better edition, and you are forced to the conclusion that Wyatt finds writing in English to be an extremely difficult job.

And, if you are writing history for anyone but specialists, that very nearly disqualifies you.

Nevertheless, this book is probably the ONLY available general history of Thailand. How sad!

I bought this book a few months before a planned trip to Thailand hoping to learn more about their origins. I did not get anything from this book. I thought that it was terribly unreadable. I have two major complaints:
1. It reads as though it is a grocery list. Sentence after sentence is bogged down with unpronouncable names that don't add anything to the major concepts. (I would love to give a quote as an example, but I seem to have lost the book; apparently I thought so little of it that I didn't even deem it worthy enough for the bookshelf)
2. There are not nearly enough maps, especially in the beginning chapters. Wyatt is constantly refering to cities and places in their geographical relationships, but he doesn't provide any pictures of what he is trying to convey. So you just end up with a jumble of names that are somewhere in Asia. And with the constantly changing political boundaries in the early history, a few maps would seem obligatory, but there aren't any.

Overall, I was very, very disappointed with this book. I couldn't even finish it because it was so dull and hard to read. (Mr. Wyatt, not every history book needs to be like this.) Don't waste your time or money. Instead, go with a general south Asian history book; you'll pick up the important things and leave behind the excruciating details.

I don't usually review products that I use, but I was so impressed with this map, that I felt it worthy of returning to Amazon to leave a comment. There are two smaller maps that show a larger part of Bangkok and the area around Bangkok, a small map of the skytrain, and the main part of the map focuses on the east side of the Choa Praya River. We spent 3 days in Bangkok and took 2 maps and 3 guidebooks. We ended up leaving everything in the hotel except this map. We were able find all the Wats and markets we were interested in visiting, follow two walking tours (from the Lonely Planet Bangok guide; this map was better than the one in the book), watch our taxi ride from the airport and back, navigate the skytrain to MBK and Siam Square, and take the ferry, all with this map. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the major tourist attractions and hopping markets east of the Choa Praya River.

I'm a resident of bangkok and like to pick up different maps to see which I like best. I was shocked at what a poor job this one does- and the small area it covers (doesn't even go to my house, and I live in the heart of the city!)
While I do use lonely planet's bangkok book, as well as the "thailand" guide, this is not worth the postage to get it to you.
As an alternative,and of a same size and weight, is my preferred map- the "groovy map" which is full of helpful hints and has hotels, restaurants, attractions labeled and reviewed. The insight flexi-map is also an OK choice. If you don't mind carrying around more than one map, the nancy chandler series is a good secondary resource, especially in all things shopping!

If you are hoping to get a superficial look at the layout of Bangkok--this map is for you. If you hope to navigate by it--don't bother. Only the major streets are labeled, it doesn't extend beyond the center of the city, and because of the lamination (which I thought would be a plus) it doesn't fold well. I read another review which complained about the lack of detail but I went ahead and bought this thinking they couldn't possibly print a map without including adequate detail--I was very wrong. Buy a different map!

My only criticism of this map is that it doesn't extend north enough to include the airport. I'm trying to gauge how far central Bangkok is from the airport and can't do it with this map. Other than that, it's nice....and since I'll be walking a lot, the water-proof factor is key.

This map is a cruel $9 joke by Lonely Planet: central area only, major streets only, selected hotels only. Maps in their guidebook are superior, or simply use Google Earth.

Anna Leonowens is a controversial figure even now. Her name may not even have really been Leonowen (but the more common Welsh Owens), her husband not dead from heatstroke in a tiger hunt, but from drink, and not a British army officer at all. Nevertheless, her account of her time in Siam as the royal governess is ever popular and fascinating reading.

Anna wrote several books, The Romance of the Harem being another. Both this and the Romance were novelized by Margaret Landon into the more familiar Anna and the King of Siam.

Part of the controversy stems from the fact that any criticism of Thai royalty is not tolerated in that country. The king is held in a religious esteem and is the heart and soul of the country. So Anna's casual remarks on the king's temper and habits are practically heresy to the Thai, hence, she and her writing are targets for criticism. And what's worse, her pupil Chulalongkorn or Rama V, is Thailand's MOST revered king--kind of a Thai saint. His portrait is found in nearly all Thai homes and businesses.

Having that as a background, it's still fun to read Anna's account of her time in Thailand. Though many people feel that Anna distorted or hid the truth about herself in many ways, the book gives a fascinating look into a magical land. Anna's writing is typically Victorian; the prose is a bit ornate and not as direct as the writing of Landon.

Your decision to purchase this book depends mainly on what it is you seek. If you expect an interesting and easy-flowing narrative, such as portrayed in movies and musicals claiming to be based on the book, you will be sorely disappointed (as I was). If, however, you hope to find a long and intricately-detailed account of all things Siamese, -- her history, court protocols, geography, literature, art, culinary offerings, imports, exports, manner of travel, religion as it relates to Roman Catholicism, architecture, precious metals, customs, superstitions, foreign relations, clothing and hair styles, manner of war craft, flora and fauna, "etc.", -- sprinkled with minimal anecdotal vignettes of Mrs. Leonowens' experience in the many-faceted country and not at all mentioning cats, you, my friend, are in for a very special treat.

While this book was extremely helpful in my research on Anna Leonowens I believe the reader does not get a true picture of her life because there are many gaps in the story. She fails to go into depth on the matter of her popularity with slaves when she often paid for their freedom. I recommend this book for people trying to get a sense of the history of Siam and some stories of her life, however, it may be that she never taught the king's children at all and never met the king. I would recommend Anna and the King of Siam for extensive research.

I am thai, and I feel that it is my obligation to make a comment about this book. In all fairness, I think it is a 'fun' book to read, providing that the reader is aware that it is mostly fictionalized. Anna wrote a much distorted story of her time as an English tutor in the royal court of Siam, mostly glorifying herself without concerns for any real accuracy. When I was younger I was fascinated because this book was/is banned in Thailand, and so I wanted to find out more and did an extensive research. I learned that Anna's account is mostly ego-centric, euro-centric, and sensationalized. She created many fictional details of her own life to make herself sounding glamorous (for example, she said she was a daughter of a high-ranking British army officer and a genteel lady,when in fact she was a ... child of a petty soldier and an indian prostitute. Her husband was a drunk, etc.) If anyone would bother to do more research, he/she would also find that King Mongkut (Rama iV) was a wise, gentle, highly educated monach with a supreme, long-ranged vision to lay the foundation to modernize Thailand and prevent the country from being colonized by European Imperialism. He was a priest and a scholar,who rather chose/preferred to live within religious confinement for many many years before he had to finally ascend to the throne as an old man after his brother passed away. FYI, With fine, white hair, he was a very thin and fragile-looking man---not at all what all the musicals and movies have portrayed him to be. Because of him Thailand is the only country in Asia that has never been colonized. And King Monkut would have done it with or without Anna being around! Mongkut's son, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) indeed carried on his father's legacy. Wise, modern, and highly educated(a result of his father's effort), King Chulalongkorn abolished slavery, created the first public university/public elementary and secondary school system and railroad and telecommunication system, reorganized the government and army infrastructure, etc---that is why he became one of the most beloved king in the Thai history. But all of this could not have happened without King Mongkut's vision in the first place. Anna's portrayal of King Monkut as a temperamental, insensitive tyrant/barbarian/womanizer is therefore downright offensive and insulting to the thais, NOT because we can't stand any criticism of our royal family, but simply because we know that most of her account is not true! About the violence/punishments/the concubine 'harem' of the royal court, please remember that this was a very different time. Such practices were common in many cultures and countries and not just in Thailand.

I recently listened to an unabridged version of this book on CD. There was surprisingly little time spent on actual personal happenings between Anna, the king and the court. She really does get into the history, culture, art, customs etc. of Siam in the 1860s. Three quarters of the book is taken up with this very kind of detailed and endless information. Nadia May, with incrediable skill and a voice that is as prim and English as Anna's, adds to the diminsion of this narrative. Her amazing ability at pronounciation helps capture a real sense of time and place. If one is looking for the glamous story from broadway or the movies--be ready for a disappointment. For a person fascinated by the culture and history of this country as well as interested in the English view, then, get your walking shoes on and have a nice listen to Anna's story.