Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Thailand

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

UPDATE:
The book turned out to be decent background reading, but nothing one would take as a first choice everywhere. Many restaurant recommendations were good, some not so. But to be fair, the opinions were honest. And I am not sure what else I would take for a trip to Thailand. Its not a very difficult country to navigate with English spoken well and everywhere. Warning though on the prices, they were most inaccurate.

ORIGINAL:
We've been to Thailand before and covered a fair amount of the country. So purchasing the updated edition we were expecting to see a lot of the highlights of our previous visit, covered extensively. In this regard, Lonely Planet was a mixed bag. Some of the highlights from our visit to southern Thailand including details in and around Krabi were just not there. Also, visitors tend to use guidebooks and lean upon them for detailed recommendations of hotels. This book sets up brief and basic introductions, hoping instead that you use the internet instead to follow up on more details. Same for restaurants. If this was the true intention, websites and internet links would have been most helpful.

Its obvious that the book is not a complete overhaul from the pervious editions. A lot of the material is identical, word for word. Details of new hotels, ferry schedules, or the new low cost airlines flying internally in Thailand or within S.E. Asia are just not mentioned.

Still, its a reasonably exhaustive first step towards getting to know Thailand. And helping you plan your itinerary. Be warned though that you'll still want to use the internet a lot, to complement the information here.

Finally, I was contempleting getting the Lonely Planet Thailand's Beaches (including Bangkok) but that's not been updated at all in a long time (I intend to primarily spend time in the southern coast) and this book would be fine for most people especially if you are not anticipating the northern areas like Chiang Mai. Because this full LP version is rather heavy... and you are likely to not carry it with you everywhere you go. Still, overall-- a 4 star effort.

We are off to Thailand in August 2006. Stay tuned for updates to this review, the following month...

Last year I took the Rough Guide to Thailand and this year I am taking the latest edition of Lonely Planet. Already I can see a significant difference in the level of detail regarding smaller towns and islands. I especially like the attention to email access, as it's difficult to stay in touch without it. No guide is perfect, but the supplemental information about the status of recovery from the Dec. 2004 tsunami and policy changes under the current government help compensate for the frequent sales pitches for companion books from the large Lonely Planet library.

If it's possible to update this review after I get back, I will!

I just returned from a month in Thailand and found the Lonely Planet Guide to be very impressive. Several things to remember is that:

a) if the publishing date is 2005 the content is probably several months to a year older.
b) if you have local friends and/or family the guide will still be useful but not nearly so compared to a traveler who is on their own. You might keep thinking why the guide doesn't cover something that your in country friend gives you great info or insight into. Relax, the LP guide, despite its heft can only provide so much info.

Comments on LPs logistics and highlights...

1) Logistics.
Negative. There wasn't a lot of coverage given on the new low fare airlines that are now available but this might be because these airlines did not exist in force when the research was done.

Positive. I traveled on local bus, long distance bus, train, taxi, moto-taxi, sky train, subway, regional airplane and even tuk-tuk. The guild had very precise information on how to get around locally and through out the country. This was probably the most helpful part of the book with information I was not able to find easily elsewhere. (Always keep in mind that prices and times will change though.)

Highlights.
Negatives. I could tell that the writers have a particular perspective on what is a highlight and what is not. They love the Wats or temples. I admit that many are incredible and worth the journey. But there are many, many, many of them. After seeing a few Wats, Wat fatigue set. The point is to keep your own interests in mind and not let the guide pick too much of what you decide to do.

Positives. I enjoyed many of the suggestions in the book including the cooking school in Kanchanaburi, walking the alleys of Chinatown in Bangkok, a particularly spectacular guest house in Koa Tao, etc.. My highlights were definitely not the guide's highlights but were found in the guide.

Thailand has a lot to see and the LP guide does an admirable job within the limits of the print format. Now get out there!

If you have never owned a copy of this book, then buy it. It has a lot of practical info on where to stay, where to eat and what places to visit. I can't say the reviews are all unbiased, but like other Lonely Planet titles, it's a bible for the independent traveller. Generally, following their advice won't get you into serious trouble.

However, even though the cover has changed, not much of the content has been updated for this edition. I have not checked every single entry, but there are huge chunks of repetitions and I'm sure at least some of the info is already outdated by now.

Like most Lonely Planet titles, this book stays well on the beaten track. It is not very useful for the hardcore trekkers or explorers inerested in "going native". Many of the great treks well-known to the locals and some Western explorers are not even mentioned.

Wondering into Thai culture, or, Thai whys, and otherwise Land of Smiles]]

Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye: True stories from the case files of Warren Olson

My fiancee is originally from Thailand and I recently visited there and stayed with her family and friends. As I was taken around by native people, I got a different perspective than many who travel there. This guide could have benefitted greatly from a lot more Thai involvement in this production. It seems to rely much on the poorly worded English translations at many of the sites. Worse, it is sometimes rather snobby in its comments, such as by describing the amazing life and works of the Princess Mother (and the incredible palace she lived in at Doi Tung that was just stunning) as "On the theory that local hill tribes would be so honored by a royal prescence that they would stop cultivating opium, the late Princess mother built the Doi Tung Royal Villa." In actuality, the Princess Mother led an amazing life by any accounts. As another example, it misses some of the temples that can easily be seen when crossing over into Myanmar, and instead unhelpfully states that there is little to see. These comments can cause travelers to miss some of the most beautiful and interesting places.

However, I did find it useful in terms of helping me to identify places as sometimes my Thai friends had difficulty completely explaining in English. Using the Lonely Planet allowed me to take some notes so that I could later research the full history of a place, which was definitely helpful. I just wish this guide would itself contain the information.

However, it is the best out there as I found other guides to simply not be as comprehensive.

Normally, I look at tour books for the following things:

1. If mentions restaurants then its touristized and Americanized food.
2. They steer you to expensive hotels and over prices places.
3. They are rarely updated.

Not this guide! This was really really helpful. I read most of the background and history. It was nice that they had Thai people on writing staff giving a local perspective. The recommendations were dead on for most part.

I liked the fact that they covered all of the regions of Thailand - its a huge, beautiful country.

Their helpful tips to avoid problems were dead on. I confirmed it with the locals while there. Khup un khap (Thanks in Thai)

I have read this booking and really love it, I am Thai citizen, but some part which Joe has written in the book is reflect the real thing, something which I never look down and realize (I think insider might see different from outsider). That's really true.

I travel a lot and, as a consequence, i do purchase a lot of the guides by Lonely planet. That Thailand guide is an excellent guide that gives you info you are looking for, historical highlights, maps and short stories, and, is not 'dry' as other guides.

If you never had it and you are going to Thailand - get it - it is a must.

This was a decent guide for general information about Thailand. You'll probably need to do extra online research in order to get more detailed information. It was great in identifying certain places in the country, although the maps could have been better.

I've used a lot of lonely planet guides in my travels, but I found this one a bit less useful than other LP country guides. It just seemed like the detail was missing, especially in regards to beaches and water activities. It almost seems like you need to buy this guide for 'most of Thailand' and then the seperate guide for beaches which is just asking too much. Could have more detail on major attractions like the Grand palace (how about a map?) and more detail on things like snorkelling / diving / surf spots on maps like they do for the Hawaii guide