Lonely Planet Bangkok (City Guide) [Paperback]

Joe Cummings (Author), China Williams (Author)

Book Description

Series: City Guide | Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Want more bang for your baht? This city won’t disappoint. Forget the tourist-brochure Bangkok of sedate floating markets and sterile shopping malls – you’re in for a wild ride. Bangkok is bursting at the seams with cosmopolitan cool and cultural prosperity: think uber-hip bars, scrumptious Thai cuisine, international fashion houses and stunning wats. This insider’s guide is your ticket to the best that Bangkok has to offer.

Let The Experts Do The Word, with tips on the best shopping deals, hotels and guesthouses and city tours.

Be Tempted by the world’s tastiest food; we show you Bangkok’s finest eating, from streetside stalls to top-class restaurants.

Beat Your Own Path using our detailed maps and walking tours.

Get Out Of Town and explore nearby beaches, a Unesco World Heritage site and glorious national parks.

Speak Up using our handy language guide, packed with useful phrases.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Best for curious and independent-minded travelers' --Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 7 edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 174059858X
• ISBN-13: 978-1740598583
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,077,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Travel > Asia > Thailand > Bangkok

More About the Author

Joe Cummings was born in New Orleans, and raised in California, France and Washington DC. In high school he developed a taste for rock guitar and subversive politics, playing in a succession of garage bands while publishing an underground newspaper. After he graduated from college, the Peace Corps granted his request to be posted to Thailand, where he served as an English lecturer at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology in Bang Mot, Thonburi. He later earned a master's degree in South Asian Civilization from the University of California at Berkeley, and was a scholar in residence at the East-West Center in Hawaii. His Thailand guide for Lonely Planet was the first guidebook to that country written in English since 1928. An instant success, it remains one of the bestselling guidebook ever published. He has authored over 35 other books, including coffeetable books, phrasebooks and travelogues. Joe has twice been honoured with the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold Award and is also a recipient of Mexico's Pluma de Plata (Silver Quill) for outstanding foreign journalism on Mexico. He never gave up the guitar, and continues to jam regularly at clubs in Thailand, where he makes his home.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Your Going, Get It, January 24, 2002

By 

K. Johnson (US/Asia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Bangkok (Paperback)

This book will save you time, money, frustration, and give enjoyment and satisfaction. Bangkok is a huge city with many attractions and lots of traffic. This guide will tell you where you can go and what you can do based on *your* personal preferences. You can fit your accomadation, lifestyle, budget, culinary likes, night life play-time, and temples, into this guide, and most importantly, get there quickly and affordabley. All of the river taxi and Sky Train routes and stops are listed. Information on the arriving Metro is included as well. The maps are accurate. Plenty of cultural, visa, legal, medical and food information. Very pleasant areas outside of, but near Bangkok are noted. If you spend time in Bangkok, and only use the LP South East Asia or LP Thailand, you will miss many things that you may want to experience in Bangkok. The Bangkok city guide is worth picking up for those who have the country LP.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but second best, March 17, 2005

By 

J. Douglas (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Bangkok (Paperback)

I was fortunate enough to spend a month in Bangkok and bought both the Lonely Planet and the Moon Guides. I generally read both books before I went anywhere, so I can fairly compare them.

The Lonely Planet guide was always worth reading -- it often added something I didn't find in the Moon guide. The highly detailed map in the back of the book was also quite worthwhile. However, if I had to have just one book, it would have been the Moon guide by Carl Parkes.

Carl's explanations always seemed a little bit richer, and a little bit more in touch. His introduction to the Thai language left me much better equipped to try my hand, and his culture and language sections also stood out. The overall impression, true or not, is that Carl has a deeper understanding and familiarlity with the Thais and Bangkok than Joe. But to be fair, I was happy with both books, and happier still that I had brought both with me.

Its too bad that the Moon guide is harder to find than Lonely Planet's .... but I definitely recommend it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living In Bangkok, June 23, 2003

By 

Richard Poulin III "Richard E. Poulin III" (Bangkok, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Bangkok (Paperback)

Making my move to Bangkok, this book has well equipped me for the transition, and has made me more excited and prepared. This book gives an endless supply of information on Bangkok, but doesn't stop there. It goes on to talk about culture, history, and other parts of Thailand, but keeping it relevant. This book is a must have if you are planning on learning, visiting or living in Bangkok! I only wished that this book had more pictures, but the author made up for it in his fun to read writing style.