Thailand (Lonely Planet Thailand) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I have been wanting to go to Thailand and Vietnam for a long time, so when these Lonely Planet books, Thailand and Vietnam became available I had to get them. Lonely Planet really gets into a country in their guides. The don't fill their pages with glossy color photos, though a few would be nice, instead their pages are full of information.

They have maps to everywhere you'd want to go in a country. They do the cities justice as well as the countryside. They do the markets and the beaches, the churches and the museums, the bike trails and the footpaths.

I believe a trip to Thailand should include a side tour to Vietnam, at least mine is going to, so both books are a necessity to me. The book on Thailand is over 800 pages and its writers write as if they've lived there, as if they really know the country. A different group of writers have written the Vietnam book and that surprised me, because I though some of them would have worked on both books. Nevertheless, though it's 250 pages shorter than the Thailand book, the book on Vietnam is equally as well written.

I should say that the print in these books is on the smallish side, but I suppose to make it any larger they'd have to have so many pagers that the books would be unwieldy, especially the Thailand book.

I've always looked at Lonely Planet as catering to a different kind of clientele than Frommor's or Fodor's. Those two companies seem to cater more toward the traveler who has more to spend, who will more than likely stay in the more expensive hotels. Sure you'll find the expensive hotels in Lonely Planet as well, but you'll find a myriad of less expensive alternatives. I believe you get more information about a country from Lonely Planet and I'm looking forward to going to Thailand and Vietnam and having Lonely Planet show me the way.

THAILAND, which is a guidebook in the LONELY PLANET series, is by China Williams, Mark Beales, and Tim Bewer. This 815-page book contains a large multi-colored fold-out map showing central Bangkok (the colors are blue, green, yellow, red, beige, white, and black). Bangkok resembles New Orleans (a.k.a. The Crescent City) because of its prominent crescent shape that is outlined by a river passing through Bangok. As indicated by red printing, the prominent spots include AMULET MARKET, WAT PHRA KAEW PALACE, GOLDEN MOUNT, WAT PHO, SUAN PHAKKAD PALACE MUSEUM, ROYAL ELEPHANT MUSEUM, ERAWAN SHRINE, and ABNISEK DUSIT THRONE HALL. The book is divided into an introductory section, and nine color-coded sections. These nine sections are: BANGKOK (pages 54-155); CENTRAL THAILAND (p. 156-190); KO CHANG & eastern seabord (p. 191-231); CHIANG MAI province (p. 232-293); NORTHERN THAILAND (p. 406-502); HUA HIN and southern gulf (p. 503-534); KO SAMUI and lower gulf (p. 535-601); and PUKET and ANDAMAN COAST (p. 602-693).

The book is printed on dull white paper. The photographs are just of a token nature. There are not many photos. Therefore, it can be concluded that this guidebook is for tourists who already know what they want to see, and where they need to go, where the goal of the book is to fill in details, or to provide supplementary inspiration. Thirty-four photos are in the introductory pages, and eight of these are generic photos (beaches, street scenes) which could be from almost anywhere. The best photos show AYUTHA (famed ancient temples), SUKHOTHAI historical park (an 800 year old city with temples and Buddha statues), a photo of an ornate bridge but its name and location are not given, a photo of pointed-roof temples but their name and location are not given, a photo of some off-shore islands off the coast of PUKET, WAT PHRA KAEW (a dazzling Buddhist temple), WAT PHRA THAT DOI SUTHEP (another amazing temple), and WAT SI SAWAI (an astonishing stone shrine). Later on in the book, we find 14 color photos of festivals (pages 713-720), and we see photos of a tatooed man with organized rows of needles inserted into his skin, where the needles have red tassels hanging from them, a photo of girls costumed in beaded hats, and men jabbing knitting needles right through their cheeks.

Regarding the text, the book warns visitors not to pose in front of Buddha statues for photographs, never to climb on a Buddha statue, that women must never sit next to a monk on a bus, and that women must never hand anything directly to a monk. We learn that most Thai people swim fully clothed. Towards the end of the book (pages 746-748) is a section on "ladies of the night" and other naughty activities that are common in Thailand.

BANGKOK. In the BANGKOK chapter, we learn that this city has an AMULET MARKET, for those in need of an elegant good luck charm (page 63). We read of the NATIONAL MUSEUM, bult in 1782, which houses the oldest record of Thai writing (Ramakamhaeng's stone pillars) (page 64). We read that the Brahman religion predated Buddhism, and that the WAT SUTHAT is the headquarters for Brahman priests. We read that many ceremonies occur in the WAT SUTHAT, but the book fails to state if tourists are allowed to watch (page 73). We read about QUEEN SAOVABHA MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, which is actually a snake farm where tourists can watch snakes being "milked" for their venom (page 79). Also intriguing, but not at all dangerous-sounding, is the ANCIENT CLOTH MUSEUM (page 89). Pages 96-98 has a list of cooking schools, but the book fails to state if the student needs to understant the Thai language. Pages 105-118 disclose many hotels in Bangok, with one or two sentences about each one, with a telephone number.

CHIANG MAI. Chiang Mai (pages 232-293) is a province to the far north. A history of the city of Chiang Mail (pages 234-235) reveals that the city was founded in 1296 by KING PHAYA MENGRAI, and we learn that Burma captured and controlled the area from the years 1556 to shortly after 1767 (about 200 years). Chiang Mai was actually part of the LANNA KINGDOM until 1892, when Bangok designated Chiang Mai as part of Thailand. Regarding touristm, we learn that the highlights include:

(1) SONGKRAM FESTIVAL (Thai New Year celebrated in April, which is celebrated by people throwing water at each other);

(2) WAT PHRA SINGH (includes a temple containing LANNA art, and a temple that is octagonal);

(3) SCORPION-TAILED RIVER CRUISE (90 minute boat ride in a boat with a scorpion tail, where the ride is on the MAE PING RIVER);

(4) DOI SUTHEP-PUI NATIONAL PARK (contains many waterfalls, e.g., NAM TOK MONTHATHON waterfall, and contains a temple built in 1383 called WAT PHRA THAT DOI SUTHEP, and also contains HMONG villages, where these villages sell Hmong arts and crafts to tourists).

KO SAMUI. Another chapter, KO SAMUI (pages 535-601), discloses a province to the far south of Thailand. This area includes several islands, e.g., KO TAO; KO PHA NGAN; KO SAMUI, which can be accessed by boats leaving from the town of SURAT THANI (page 588). These island are near a huge marine sanctuary, ANG THONG MARINE NATIONAL PARK (page 586), which can be viewed with the assistance of one of many tour guides, where viewing requires use of a snorkle or scuba equipment. The island of KO TAO has several diving schools, and we learn that these are Ban's Diving School, Big Blue Diving school, Buddha View diving school, Crystal Dive diving school, New Heaven diving school, and Scuba Junction diving school (pages 572-573). A recurring theme throughout this whole guidebook is scuba diving, while other recurring themes are displays of elephants, massage parlors, prostitution, and lady-boy shows. Pages 552-553 provide an interview with an actual lady-boy. At the end of the chapter on KO SAMUI, we read a 2-page section that warns against violence. This violence, created by Moslem separatists, includes road bombs and daily killings.

CONCLUSION. This book represents a massive, almost scholarly effort, on the part of the authors. If I was an avid scuba diver, and if I had the time and money, I might put Thailand at the top of my "must-do" list. As a suggestion, this book could be much improved by including more photographs, instead of the handful of token photos. Also, the reader would likely appreciate photos on glossy paper (not on dull white paper, as is the present case). (Please note that I had to change one of the names of places for this review, because Amazon.com's security device refused to allow me to post the correct name of this place in Thailand. For this reason, I was forced to devise an alternate spelling of this place.)

Ah, Thailand. It still draws the tourists, and for many good reasons. And Lonely Planet Thailand is still the standard by which other guides are measured. It's very good, maybe the best overall country guide -- and yet, a country guide may not be the best choice for YOUR trip. In this review, I'll talk about how this version is different from the previous version, and how this book differs from other guides by Lonely Planet and other publishers, to help you choose the one best for you.

THE NEW FORMAT

Lonely Planet Thailand (LPT in this review) in this new 2012 edition is getting the same facelift that others in the series have been getting recently. A new printing process allows the inclusion of color pictures - though not on glossy paper, so not as nice as in the LP Discover Thailand (see below) or the few glossy pages they had in earlier editions of LPT. The organization has been updated, sometimes improved, though sometimes it will take getting used to. But overall, it still has a wealth of information about the country as a whole suited to a serious wanderer who will be going off the beaten path and needs to bring a serious reference.

One thing I am not crazy about is that the table of contents has gone missing, mostly.

Suppose you want to find the section on hotels for Khao San Road (the famous backpacker area of Bankgok). You'll page through all the highlights pages, which are worthwhile for getting started, but not for the task at hand, until you get to page 52, which handily tells you that Bangkok starts on page 52, and not much else. Keep going, and on page 62 you'll find a table of contents for a section of Bangkok which is not Khao San Road, but does have a heading for "Sleeping". Keep turning pages, then figure out - they have gotten rid of a proper table of contents with the sections of Bangkok, so they must want me to use the Index!

So you go to the Index, find Bangkok, look for Sleeping - nothing there. Oh, in the index it's under Accommodation (no consistency with the table of contents). And that leads you to the pages you want. Lesson: get used to using the index instead! I liked the approach of the previous version better, but the change is only a half star off the rating.

WHY LPT IS POPULAR

If there is one thing every first-time traveler to Thailand (especially Bangkok) must read, it is the list of scams on page 144. It is a spot-on list, and I have experienced every one of them multiple times. Read it, or prepared to get taken-taken by a tuk-tuk (you're better off in a meter taxi). Actually, Thailand isn't that dangerous, aside from scams, but scams can take the glow off of an otherwise great trip.

And while this is an important topic, it is only one page within 814 of a book on advice on health, weather, getting around, eating, accommodations, history, cooking classes, all kinds of fun, temples, how to avoid being rude (which you can do without knowing it), and all of the essential information, all manner of practicalities.

Aside from such generalities, it has info on the oft-visited places - Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, the beaches and islands, the national parks - but it is also a great reference for the lesser-known places all over the country for a serious, extended wander, whether the ancient Khmer temples near the disputed border of Northeastern Thailand (Isaan) and Cambodia, the heavily Lao-influenced places of northern Isaan, the southern peninsula with its spicy seafood curries, or the golden triangle area in the north which is also an up-and-coming area for oolong plantations run by the Chinese - this guide has all of this and a lot more, allowing you to make it up as you go along, and still make a lodging reservation in advance if that's your thing. Whether you're traveling the beaten tourist path or want to be the first farang people have seen in awhile, you'll get help on finding it here.

Basically, this one book has essentially everything you need to know for getting around Thailand, written and organized well by a team that has been doing this, and improving on it, for years. This edition also includes a color pull-out map of Bangkok.

I'm not saying that LPT is necessarily better than, say, Rough Guide or DK Guides - LP is the brand I am most familiar with, and it has never let me down, so it's often, but not always the one I prefer. A lot of information, in text form, which could be daunting to some. Therefore it may NOT be the one I would recommend to YOU, depending on your needs, because there might be a better one for your particular trip. Unless you plan to wander all over the entire country, this big book might be a bit overwhelming in terms of picking where to go.

To understand LPT better, it's worth comparing it to other members of the family.

Lonely Planet Discover Thailand (Full Color Country Travel Guide)

LPDT is on glossier paper, is thinner, has fewer pages, more white space, a lot less text and a lot more pictures of higher quality, and a lot less information on fewer places. So why would you want it? Because it is perfect for a first-time visitor to Thailand. The pictures are very helpful for picking out the kinds of places that YOU will enjoy visiting.

There aren't as many locations listed. For example, the less-visited provinces of Northeast Thailand collectively known as Issan (or Isaan or Isarn etc) aren't covered as much because they are less popular with first-timers. And there aren't as many pages for locations that ARE covered. But sometimes less information can make it easier to find what you're looking for, and LPDT may be perfect for that. Or you might use LPDT to figure out where you want to go, then decide to bring LPT with you to have all the information, and the flexibility to change your mind once you're there.

Note: There is a new edition for May 2012 which I have yet seen: Lonely Planet Discover Thailand (Country Guide)

Lonely Planet Bangkok (City Travel Guide)

If you're in Bangkok on business, or have a limited time in Thailand because you are hopping cities in the region, this book actually has more information about Bangkok than LPT - a LOT more. And it is a smaller book that is easier to carry around than the much larger LPT as well. It also has day trips that are reasonable around Bangkok, in case you want to get outside the city just a bit without a lot of travel.

By the way, there is also an even shorter guide to Bangkok here: Lonely Planet Bangkok Encounter

Lonely Planet Thailand's Islands and Beaches (Regional Guide)

I have not actually read this one much, not being a beach guy, but like the Bangkok City Guide, it focuses on the beaches and islands, thus has more info on those, and yet is a smaller book than LPT to carry around if this is the focus of your vacation.

EXAMPLES TO COMPARE THE GUIDES

For Bankgok and day trips around:
* LP Thailand 2012 (this book) has 100 pages
* Lonely Planet Bangkok (City Travel Guide) has 296 pages
* Lonely Planet Discover Thailand 2010 has 46 pages

Another example - Phitsanulok is not a primary place to visit, but one I enjoyed visiting. It is covered in both the Country Guide and Discover Thailand, and makes a good comparison. LPDT 2010 has fewer than 4 pages, part of which are used for pictures; it has 1 paragraph for 1 temple and a brief mention of a few other sights, lists 5 hotels and 6 places to eat, discusses only the city, and has no city map. LPT has 7 pages, no photos, a city overview map, presents 3 temples, tells you where to get a massage, lists 6 hotels and 9 places to eat or drink, and includes a discussion of places outside the city in the province.

The Phitsanulok example is typical of the difference of coverage all over the book - there are more listings in the Country Guide, and many more places are covered, especially in Isaan.

BOTTOM LINE

The LP Thailand Country Guide is best for someone going on an extended visit, or who is unsure of where they are going. It is popular with backpackers who make up their itinerary as they go along. It can be used for a first-time guide, though it might be a bit overwhelming in terms of the amount of information, including a lot of information about places you won't be visiting, and paper you'll carry around with that information.

The other guides contain the essentials you need and are worth considering, and sometimes more if they focus on a smaller area; still, you can never go wrong with this guide. Though I have focused on Lonely Planet in this review, the Rough Guide and DK guides are also good, and other brands I have not read are bound to have their merits as well.

The best option is to look at them all - at a book store, or at your local library - and make up your mind.

NOTE: I am an Amazon Vine reviewer. I have no affiliation with Lonely Planet and have never met any of its authors. In reviewing, I call them like I see them; I don't always like LP guides. I have been to Thailand more than a dozen times and been to many places in all parts. I know the country reasonably well, speak some Thai, and I have read most travel books about this country.