Customer Reviews

Travelers' Tales: Thailand (Travelers' Tales Guides)

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I am a great fan of the Travelers' Tales series, which has added immeasurably to the pleasure of my travel, and to the recollection of those travels. But this is my first review of one of their books; reviewing collections of short pieces is tough, because you must limit yourself to overall impressions, there isn't space to describe every piece.

So here's the bottom line: This is still the best of the many Travelers' Tales books I've read, and I have read quite a few others, including a few of their "best of" compilations.

Some of the reason for this excellence seems to be that Thailand itself inspires great writing by westerners. In any general collection of travelers' tales, SE Asia is often the setting of many of the finer pieces. Thailand being the most visited of the SE Asian nations, it has produced an extraordinary outpouring of excellent literature.

The reasons for this are fairly obvious on reflection: it is well visited, yet it remains utterly exotic to western eyes, the people are warm, the cultures are fascinating, and the food, the landscape, the cities, the wildlife, the spiritual traditions -- all provide so much to write about.

This book is beautifully transporting. Many of the excellent pieces bring back to the reader the experience of a visit: the sensory overload, the favorite activities, the languid sway of palm trees on Thailand's beaches, the smell of basil brewing in coconut milk, the insane chaos of Bangkok's congested streets.

The first piece in the collection is an excellent overview: It covers the sensuous (note, that's "sensuous," not "sexual") stimulations of Bangkok: the humid heat that seems to tightly grip you by the arm, the honking of cars, the gazillion spices all clamoring for attention within a Thai broth, the shimmering golden roofs of the Grand Palace.

Other pieces deal straightforwardly and honestly with the hedonistic temptations that westerners find there (I remain innocent of these, yet I found these pieces fascinating reading). A very insightful piece entitled "Fooling yourself for fun" meditates on the peculiar Thai way of enticing the temptable without the land sacrificing its own soul and self-respect.

I also loved the pieces that reminded me of things I had done there. "In the Andaman Sea" recollects a kayak trip that I took with Sea Canoe, a company that (at least when I was there) was just as marvelous as described in this book. Another piece describes the joy of receiving a traditional Thai massage, lying on the floor of an open-air pavillion, at Wat Po, Bangkok's traditional school for such instruction.

Also wonderful are the pieces that remind the visitor of the warm hospitality and accepting philosophy of the people you meet there, the "mai pen rai" ("never mind") that you often hear, reassuring that everything is all right.

If you love Thailand, or if you think you would, this book is recommended without reservation.

This book was filled with great tales of people who have been to Thailand. It was much better than any other travel book, I learned a lot about the history and places to go from other traveler's. I could not put this book down, it made me want to hop on a plane and go there to experience it all! This is a great supplement to any regular travel guide such as lonely planet or Frommer's etc...

I've been in Thailand for about a month now, and nothing could have fully prepared me for this country. Travel books tell you a few demographics, how to exchange money, and some places to go. They also offer tips on where to eat and which guest house to choose. Travel writing, however, let's you know, at least in part, what you will experience when you arrive.

I definitely had a few favorite articles in this collection. I really enjoyed Alan Rabinowitz, who wrote primarily about experiencing the Great Outdoors of Thailand. Tim Ward's pieces on the Buddhism of Thailand were especially insightful. But my favorites were the articles describing food. One tells of a traveller's experience in a Bangkok cooking school. The descriptions of Thai food were spot on!

The articles in this book are short, and it offers merely a glimpse of "Amazing Thailand," but this collection of well-researched travel writing got me more than excited to come here.

I read this book after my first trip across Thailand and found it to capture the essence of the country better than anything else I've read. By looking at this fascinating place from so many angles and points of view, you can really get a rounded view. A great read to gain insight before you go, or to understand what you've seen and experienced after being there. Everyone will like some stories more than others, but that's part of the charm--you're bound to find more than a few stories that really carry you away, make you laugh, or make you see the people, places, and religion in a new way.

Tim Leffel, author, The World's Cheapest Destinations

Travel is not about the destination but about experiencing new worlds. Few of us travel to see more museums, churches, temples (wats) or sights; but rather we travel to experience the zing & zang that life has to offer. Few countries are as exotic as Thailand and to make sense of this intriguing travel destination every suitcase heading for this country should have a copy of this book.

Thailand can beguile even the most seasoned traveler. The stories that O'Reilly has selected here capture the ethos of Thailand, and help you to understand the inner essence of the Thai culture: whether the story is about one of the estimated ½ million prostitutes (Love in a Duty-Free Zone), or the mind behind the neon orange garb of a Theravada Buddhist monk (A Mediator's Initiation), or the Thai food, that vacillates from the sweetness of coconut milk to the incendiary heat of the chilies (A Cooking School in Bangkok), all of this and more is covered in this text.

Regardless, where or why you visit Thailand you should have this book to read on the interminable flight to Bangkok. Add a great guide (Lonely Planet or Rough Guide) and the electrifying, mystery/thriller "Bangkok 8" by John Burdett (see my reviews) and you will be set. Highly recommended

Travelling to Thailand has been a dream for many years. This book transports you to Thailand and leads you by the hand through the beautiful, the delectible, and the heartbreaking, one vignette at a time. I can't imagine another format that can so faithfully portray a country. I often refer to this as the best travel book I've ever read.

This book was absolutely marvelous. Although most of it pertains to situations that you will probably not come across, it was very enjoyable to read. From it, I got a better handle on the major attitude of Thai people. It did a good job of relating how the people of Thailand see us (Americans) as visitors and Westerners. Of the books I read before going to Thailand, this was the most useful.

I have read other Travelers' Tales (France, Spain) and have enjoyed all of them. The personal experiences of real travelers is more valuable than just guidebook-suggestions of places to see and things to do. I like the addition of 15 Things not to Miss at the end of the book. Well done!

Reading this book feeds my homesickness for Thailand. The book contains dozens of non-fiction stories about Thailand written by all types of people: foreign and Thai, tourists, backpackers, religious seekers, scientists, officials, etc. This book is a must-read for anyone planning a visit to Thailand, or for those of us who have spent time there and miss it

Leaving for Bangkok on October 28th. This book is not like a professional tourism book. The articles have personality, feelings, and the requisite facts but are presented to the reader in a manner which suggests one-on-one conversations. The range of topics is universal meaning that you will find an article in the book on almost anything concern visit to Thailand. Phuket or Samoi, Bangkok or Pattaya, or discourses on life in a Wat or life in Patpong are all here. Chang Mai and the highlands or the peninsula southern regions are all on view. A most enjoyable book. When I return in mid November, please contact me if you have any questions from a returning visitor.