Thailand Books

I read this book for a class I took in college on Western influence in non-Western countries. I chose Thailand because it is the only nation in east Asia that has never been conquered by a European nation. I chose this book to read about Thailand because it gives a concise but comprehensive look at Thailand's history starting from aboriginal times to the modern day; post Cold War. The book also addresses the role Buddhism has played in this country's history. This book is easy to read, and worth reading. I learned many things from it, including the fact that the percentage of Thai women engaged in prostitution is less than most of its neighbors. It just happens that it is legal in Thailand, hence the international reknown.

La tipica "Traveller's Wildlife Guide": interessant per la seva descripció de les espècies més comunes, però amb poc contingut descriptiu dels espais naturals i els millors llocs on trobar-les. No més que un punt de partida per organitzar un viatge naturalista

A special `niche' guide to Thailand

Thailand will satisfy even the most jaded traveler's hunger for the exotic, erotic, beautiful and unusual. Ben Davis knows this and has provided a `niche' travel guide for Thomas Cook. `Niche' because this is not a travel guide in the normal sense.

I have reviewed five guides this year on Thailand, and truth be known, I struggled with how to write a review on this guide; it just doesn't fit the normal `travel guide' fare.

Traditionally, travel guides answer the basic questions: where, when, what, how and how much. They are indispensable for those who are independent minded, and normally not a member of a packaged tour group. Traditional travel guides are written for those who want practical information that will help them navigate and richly experience the country.

Traditional guides have scores of restaurant and hotel recommendations with the estimated price breakdowns. This guide does not. Traditional guides have good maps of the country regions and cities; along with travel information that makes exploring Thailand enjoyable. This guide does not. Traditional guides will add cultural and experiential insights to their standard fare. Right: this guide does not.

What this guide does is give you hundreds of excellent color photo that explode Thailand before your eyes. Ben Davis tight and terse writing complements the photos and he does recommend what to see before you leave Thailand. His walking maps (and recommendations) for Bangkok and Chiang Mai are very good. At the end of the book is a good, but basic general information section.

So where is the `niche'. This guide is recommended for those who are with a packaged tour group, and want a quick, vivid, photo sketch of this fantastic country. So if you do not need to know where to stay or eat, and don't want to read pages of history but want only a brief summary of what's what, this is your guide; all others should consider Lonely Planet or Rough Guide, both highly recommended (see my reviews).

I ordered this book to help on my trip to Bangkok. It was a good guide. But the reviews in the book where 2 yrs old. The book is full of information, but not maps. If you have access to the internet where you can get maps and updated info. I would suggest that before you order this book. Plus, I also suggest a Nancy Chandler's map for just general info and shopping.

There are better vegetarian thai books out there (I also bought the one put out by the vegetarian table - liked it better). The recipes in this book just aren't that inspiring. I've recently turned vegetarian and was looking to replace old favorite cookbooks that use meats. The recipes in here seem to have just taken the old meat recipes and deleted the line that calls for meat. Well I could have done that! Other cookbooks get a bit more interesting by putting in new things like vegetables instead of the meat. This is an ok book but I'd use it more as one to augment others rather than a stand alone. One recipe that is interesting is the yellow curry with carrot. I liked that one a lot.

What a wasted research opportunity.

Academic funding (and I presume a decent supervisor), an extended period for study in the Kingdom and... what interested me the most... a woman's perspective on a subject usually "sensationalised" by parachute journalists or men that have arguably lived in Bangkok too long. It could have been so good.

This is definitely not ground breaking social anthropology of the Paul Harrison calibre. Rather it comes across as reminisces from an extended vacation cum study trip.

If you are looking for an in depth analysis of the Pong, or the intricacies and the drivers behind the sex industry, you are not going to get it here. Leave it on the book shop shelf next to the trash novels written by men attempting to gain closure on their experiences of the Thai bar scene.

"Pat Pong Sisters." Tosh. It's more like "My Girlie Mates I Met In Pat Pong. And a Fair Bit About the Local Bloke I Fancied."

I have lived in SE Asia, and in Bangkok in particular for eight years on and off, and I can tell you this ladies perspectives are not only naive, they are racist in shades of the old orientalism approach to viewing Asia from a Westerner's perspective. She has not the first clue about the culture she assumes has been corrupted by the sex trade... But what stood out most to me was that she honestly believed that Thailand is a sex paradise for western women too... She's a fool, western women are really outsiders there and always will be. Wake up, ladies!!

First the things that royally erked me in this book:
A. she had 'relations' with a pimp who was married and who had a previous child .Perhaps she thought she would be treated different by Thai custom in which a Thai man can have more than one wife or 'minor wife'.The relations with the pimp is extremely pathetic.
B.she never followed up as much on some of the subjects, and really become more involved.She was trying to remain neutral, but I think when you have relations with a Thai pimp you should forget about that, as that is hardly detached-even if she was trying to see what if felt like to be used by a Thai love like her farang counterparts.She also seemed very superficial, and at times even condescending of the prostitutes.
C.She seemed to not glean anything from her experiences as she had a relation with a river raft guide in the last chapter and the last paragraph of the book states "Thailand was a paradise for Western women too." Merely because she gets laid by a river guide in some isolated village like the men who were with her does not make that o.k. to condone.As perversion is perversion, and the circumstance the man she had relations with does not compare to what the women have to go through.

The good things of this book is I am deeply entrenched in the issues of sexual slavery, and this made a good introduction to the Thai problem.Some of the things she saw were well documented, and she got a personal view by meeting some of the women up close, and experienced some of Thai culture-albeit without being immersed in it and truly becoming connected deeply with the issue.She seemed to experience as deep as a tourist seeing Thai life through a ride. Good intro.

An interesting read, mostly one which arises from its moral ambiguity (with text and context, subject and object).

It seems that many of the reviews here are expecting this to be her doctoral dissertation; the reader should be reminded that this book isn't a dissertation or a thesis - it's a *narrative account* of the time Odzer spent in Bangkok studying her subject. The dissertation itself unfortunately, isn't available [...], but would probably have made equally interesting reading.

It's definitely true that this book lacks academic rigor as supposed research for a doctoral dissertation. But Odzer's stories of life in Thailand are often entertaining and informative. For example, when she travels to rural Issan to visit the family of Hoi, one of the Thai prostitutes she was interviewing. Instead of being a social outcast Hoi is treated as a sort of visiting celebrity, bringing back much appreciated money and gifts from Bangkok to her local village.

In fact, Odzer offers a perspective on prostitution that very much defies conventional wisdom. She doesn't view the women merely as helpless victims. But instead suggests that working in the "world's oldest profession" offers them an opportunity for financial independence and social freedom far beyond the oppressive norms that keep most Thai women sexually repressed and financially dependent. Of course, these prostitutes are no saints and Odzer often shows them to be lying and manipulative in their pursuit of the almighty "farang" dollar. But the bottom line is that the women are being pragmatic and taking advantage of the best financial opportunity available to them - like most professionals.

Where this book really loses its focus is with Odzer's increasing obsession over a Thai pimp boyfriend named Jek. They have a very self-destructive relationship that is doomed to failure. Odzer herself comes across more as a spoiled teen-ager with a "crush" than as an intelligent, mature woman conducting serious academic research. The book would have been much better if Odzer's romantic misadventures and hypersensitive ego had been left out altogether. But still her stories of Thailand and her unique perspective on prostitution make this a worthwhile read for those interested.

Mr. Merry shows the Thai sex industry as being the best economic option for some Thai women to earn money to educate their children and care for their aging parents. We in the west have our negative moral judgements about women who work in the sex industry. In my opinion, the author's study of Rinzai Zen allowed him to see the lives of the women working in the sex industry with clarity instead of projecting misplaced morality. By living in the slums of Bangkok, the author practices true participatory journalism rather than armchair academics.

Behold, proof that anyone can get published in these days of vanity publishing. What a mess. The book looks like it was written and designed in one day; full of typos, mixed tenses, while void of any meaning or direction. And while the author should be applauded for his candor, he still comes off as a cheap farang utterly lacking a soul. Also, for a guy who claims to be a photojournalist, he shows absolutely no talent for either writing or photography. But the most laughable part is the bio on the back cover, where he claims to have studied Rinzai Zen for ten years. Give me a break. If someone can pursue enlightenment for that long and still willingly support the Thai sex industry, then I humbly suggest the lessons didn't take.

Despite the cover and author's claims otherwise, this is NOT a piece of photojournalism. It is merely a sick attempt to explain away and justify the selfish abuse and misuse of a Thai woman. It's people like O'Merry that allow prostitution to thrive and aid in the slow development of rights and opportunities for Thai women.

The book is revealing of a lifestyle in Thailand very different than those found in the western world. I think it is realistic portrayal. The book is dated and therefore not very current. It does not go far beyond the surface and therefore leaves the reader with many questions about the author and about the people who's lives he covers. Since we tend to conceptualize things in order to understand them the book does reveal interesting relationship principles foreign to the west. In the East security often comes before love. It is your wallet that gets committed and than the heart. The book portrays this very clearly. If you have never been in Asia the book will bring to light lives, and cultural nuances that are new to many people in the western world. This book is very light reading. I would say it only scratches the surface and leaves the reader with only a rough sketch of this type of life. It certainly does not represent the average Thai woman. Thailand is a basically two class culture. Most Thai women do not choose a lifestyle of the type revealed in this book.

This book portrays mostly just one aspect of life in Bangkok, the sex industry. Some may agree with part of the title of this book "A Romantic Guide to the City", others may not. Rory (the author) calls his significant other his "wife", but also pays money to other women for sex. Although it is a fairly accurate portrayal of the nightlife & sex industry in Bangkok, it does not go too far beyond that. It does however touch on some of the cultural differences between Thai society & the western world such as more emphasis on certain values in a relationship with a Thai woman.

The book is 184 pages but could be read in one day, it is quick reading. The author is NOT an extraordinary writer. This book is somewhat written in a diary style. Parts of the book flow together while other parts seem like just quick excerpts from one day that start on something but leads nowhere. Putting these faults aside, I still enjoyed reading this book & found it pretty interesting. I also found myself reminiscing about certain parts of my holiday to Bangkok in 1998 while reading it. I do recommend this book to anyone who has been or is planning on going to Thailand & enjoys the nightlife.

Enjoy this book, and the plays, movies, etc. But please, please, please, don't think for a minute that it is "almost true." Anna Leonowens was a liar who dropped out of school at the age of 14 to be the mistress of a British clergyman. She got the job in Siam by falsifying her credentials. The real story of His Majesty Rama IV, and his son, Rama V, is much more interesting than any of these thin romances.

I enjoyed the book. It wasn't the best book I've read, but not the worst either. I didn't like the way the characters just had names. Nothing about anyone was in depth. It was like oh there she is and that was all. I would ony recomend it to a younger audience.

Kids shouild have fun reading this and later on they can read the older version. Anna in later life di make up a false background buyt only because she could not succeed with the one sha had. She was poor but well educated as her writing shows. She was fluent in 13 languages, and is recorded by people to have been thanked by Chulalkongkorn for teaching him about the evils of slavery which he ended. Even her greatest detractor gives her credit. She was known in BAngkok as the White Angel as her grandchild did write. Her life after Siam is just as spectacular. The book may not tell the full truth (Anna needed to sell her books so exaggerated but she records she and the king as actually being good friends) but tellls an amazing tale.

Probably one of the strangest things about my reading of The English Governess at the Siamese Court, was the location in which I found the book. I was rummaging through the books at the Asia Book Store on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, looking for mindless mysteries to pass the time between tailor fittings. I was astonished to find a copy in Bangkok, knowing the Thai feelings toward Anna Leonowens. All I can say about the book is, now I have a complete understanding of why they would feel that way about her. Mrs. Leonowens view is so ethnocentric as to be bordering blatant racism. She takes no time to understand the culture around her, and fills her writings with the basest stereotypes of Asian culture found so prevalently in Victorian Imperial culture. Even when she does give credit to the Thai people for the beauty of their culture, it is done with an air of surprise, that these "primitives" could develop something of beauty.

BUT, this should not stop anyone from reading the book (thus my rating of four stars). The book should be read if only to gauge the growth that has been achieved in the last one hundred and thirty years. The book is an interesting look back at the accepted viewpoint of the nineteenth century. Mrs. Leonowens is a perfect mirror of the superior attitude of the Anglo-Saxon in his drive to finally control 3/4 of the earth. All in all, this book is a very interesting trip into the past.

Leonowens will never realize how she has condemned an entire nation with her lies. True, Thais do revere their kings and do not see them as being human. However, in the case of King Mongkut you have a truly remarkable man, do your homework before making judgements, and keep in mind that Leonowens was exposed to common Thai people most of the time but instead chose to write about the royalty to make $$$. I am truly saddened that King Mongkut a highly tolerant and far sighted ruler must stand in the shadow of lies. I challenge you to research western sources regarding this man. I agree that Thailand should not ban these films or books because they reveal how the West (whom they have always admired) regards them in the 19th century and even today. The fact that no modern scholar has come forth to introduce King Mongkut to the world has burdened Thais to rightfully defend themselves and in doing so make Leonowen's account seem hilariously "unbiased".

This is one of a few books which are written by Anna Leonowens herself as a English teacher in Siam. For those of you who wants to know more about Anna herself and her dairy, should read this book. It describes the Siamese court from a historical point of view, bring you back to 19th century.

It is unfortunate that this book should be subtitled "Lao/Thai Recipes," implying that there is a general commonality between Lao and Thai (Central Thai/Siamese) cuisine, which there is not. To be sure, there are certain individual dishes that can be characterized as Lao/Siamese because they are featured in both cuisines and their origins are obscure--they probably date back many centuries if not millennia. The Siamese Tom Yum Kung for example is none other than a substitution of shrimp for chicken (or catfish) in Lao chicken (or catfish) soup (a recipe appears in Taste of Laos, p. 45), while the Siamese Ho Mok is simply Lao Mok (a recipe on p. 90) with the addition of coconut milk and curry powder.

As for examples of common desserts, both the Lao and Siamese eat mango with sweetened sticky rice (p. 119), custard in a pumpkin (p. 118), and rice and banana steamed in banana leaves (Khao Tom, p. 121). The Siamese, however, eat prepared sweets in greater frequency and quantity than the Lao, who generally prefer fresh fruit. Partly for this reason, the Siamese dessert repertory exceeds that of the Lao in terms of its variety and development.

The greater Siamese affinity for sweets is one difference in eating preferences between them and the Lao. There are quite a few. The Siamese have a predilection for heavy spices (namely curries) and herbs (particularly "Thai" basil) and rich dishes--many based on coconut milk/cream, with the result that Siamese dishes are often very fragrant, oily, and liquid. This is incompatible with the Lao palate. In general, the Lao eschew the use of coconut in savory dishes, and the curries so popular in Siam never made an impression on Lao cuisine, despite more than a century (late 18th--late19th century) of Siamese political domination. Which is also one reason why traditional French food, with its heavy dishes and creamy sauces, based on flour, cream and butter (not to mention it's complex batterie de cuisine), never took hold, despite half a century of French rule.

The Lao palate is accustomed to grilled or steamed foods--with relatively simple flavorings, and fresh, uncooked vegetables. Lao cuisine, which is very healthful, uses a relatively small variety of herbs and spices, with a particular and distinctive emphasis on garlic and galanga (not ginger, as has been asserted elsewhere).

Hence the author's suggestions that the Lao eat curries is nonsense.

Having said that the Lao like their food simple and light, lean and green, besides differences in taste, there is a more practical reason that the Lao do not eat Siamese food, despite living next door to the homeland of one of the most popular Asian cuisines in North America.

Daovone mentions the Lao preference for sticky rice--which admittedly is an issue of taste, and by now everyone should know (of course they don't) that the Lao are the one people in the entire world who eat sticky rice as a staple. All traditional Lao foods then were developed by people who knew that the dish would be accompanied by sticky rice, which is eaten out of a woven basket, with fingers. Hence to keep the fingers clean and rice out of the various dishes, the dishes could not be wet or oily.

Siamese food, because of the ubiquitous coconut milk and oily curries, is too soupy for sticky rice. Though if you're using a spoon, it is perfect for regular white rice, which absorbs the broth and picks up the flavor.

Most of the rural Lao population, which is most of the country's population, still eat sticky rice exclusively. The urban population eats both sticky rice and white rice, depending on the dishes they are to accompany. Lao dishes would call for sticky rice, while foreign dishes, such as Chinese-style stir fries (which are popular), or Thai curry dishes (which are not popular) would be accompanied by regular white rice.

While the Lao use their fingers to eat sticky rice (the consistency of the rice makes it impossible to do it any other way), they would never use their fingers, as the Siamese and Indians traditionally do, to eat white rice. Neither, however, do they use chopsticks as their Chinese and Vietnamese neighbors (some) do. Chopsticks are reserved for noodles. For white rice, the Lao use spoons.

At times, it seems the author can't decide whether she's writing a Lao cookbook or a Siamese one. Why is Tam Mak Hung (Green Papaya Salad) called Som Tum in the Siamese manner? While this offense is one in name only, the author gives a recipe for Phad Thai, but describes it as "Koa Mee[Khua My] or Pad Thai," as though they were one and the same thing. In truth, they are quite different--the most obvious differences being that Khua My generally calls for beef (rather than the shrimp or chicken typically found in Pad Thai), dark soy sauce (rather than fish sauce) and caramelized sugar (rather than sugar added directly to the noodles).

Taste of Laos is written by a cook--and proprietor of a Lao/Thai restaurant, not a gastronome or sociologist, and hence everything said about Lao cuisine or culture must be taken with plenty of salt, or padaek, for which unfortunately there is no recipe or discussion, except by food guru and one-time ambassador to Laos Alan Davidson in the book's preface.

Neither is there a discussion of Lao cooking methods or equipment. The author's instructions for steaming sticky rice are not likely to lead to good results, because they are very vague and steaming sticky rice requires a little more effort than making white rice. To make the process easier, the Lao invented a special steaming basket and pot, but there is no mention of this apparatus in the cookbook. Nor is there a mention of the deep Lao-style mortar and pestle that is required for a proper Green Papaya Salad (Tam Mak Hung in Lao/ Som Tum in Siamese). The Lao mortar and pestle is indispensable in the Lao kitchen, and can be had for $10 at most Lao, Thai or Vietnamese grocery stores.

Throughout the book, Daovone tries to suggest that Lao and Siamese eat the same food, which is not true. I have already mentioned how much Siamese food the Lao eat. How much Lao food the Siamese eat is another question. Let it suffice to say that there are a lot more Isan (Lao) restaurants in Bangkok than there are Siamese restaurants in Isan (the ethnic Lao region of Thailand), and that "Som Tum" and "Larb" have become standards on Thai menus everywhere

The author's assertion that the Lao have ever been vegetarian ("In the past, most Lao became vegetarians purely for religious reasons.") is ridiculous. Buddhism has rarely exerted a didactic influence on the Lao, and certainly never in this regard. Historical records show that monks themselves in particular consumed all kinds of meats, sweets and delicacies with gusto.

Taste of Laos should have more accurately been subtitled, "Lao and Thai Recipes," because it contains both Lao and Thai recipes from the proprietor of the popular Dara Restaurant in Berkeley, which as a disclaimer I have to say that I have never been to. As one of only three cookbooks in the English language devoted to Lao cuisine, it is obviously of great worth. It is, however, far from comprehensive and not representative of what most Lao people eat. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that in Laos, the cuisine of Vietnam is twenty times as popular as that of Siam/Central Thailand. Light and fresh Southern Vietnamese cuisine, which presumably descended from the people known as Cham, is much more in tune with the Lao palate.

Daovone would have done better justice by including those Vietnamese and Vietnamese-inspired dishes that are so popular in Laos. Though since Dara is a Lao/Thai restaurant, I can understand why Vietnamese recipes have been excluded. Nevertheless, I was disappointed to not find even one Khao Poun dish, and even more disappointed that there is no recipe for Lao Sausage (Sai Oua).

That Daovone is from Xieng Khouang (famous for its Plain of Jars) contributes to the book's value. Lao cuisine often has many regional variations, and Taste of Laos has recorded permanently the Xieng Khouang variations of certain dishes. Also, though Daovone neglects many classic Lao dishes, she introduces a number of new dishes and new sauces, many of which are her own creation. The Vientiane Mango Fool (p.123), for example, is nothing I have ever even heard of, and the Catfish Salad ("Laap Pa Duk," p. 57) is nothing like your typical Goy/Laap.

This book is a keeper. Don't be put off by its ugly cover or the unorthodox Romanization of Lao dish names; get a copy of this cookbook. Who knows when you might find yourself far from a Lao grocery store and having to make your own Sour Pork Sausages (Som Mou, p.30)?

Taste of Laos: Lao/Thai Recipes from Dara Restaurant by Daovone Xayavong ($15.95) is publish

As an voracious eater of Asian food who has also travelled extensively not only in Thailand but also in Laos, I found "Taste of Laos" a delight. The 8 pages of glossary alone are worth the price of the book. The author's vingettes are very engaging and the recipes authenic Lao. I don't know of any Thai cookbooks that include traditional Lao dishes such as ant egg soup or 'Nam Lao, fresh ingredients rolled in translucent rice paper wrapers. Alan Davidson's foreword as well as the Author's "A Word About Lao Food" were very informative. All in all I would say that "Taste of Laos" is a much appreciated addition on my book shelf. I rather doubt the reader from Greenwich Village could have written this book sitting in his (or her) NY kitchen.

As an avid fan of far eastern food and having travelled extensively in Thailand I was keen to get an early copy of this new book. Sadly, I wasted my time and money. A rehash of well known favourites with few new ideas this book could have been written in a library or my kitchen rather than the Dara restaurant. If you are a devotee of eastern food then stay well away, there are far better texts!