Thailand Travel Books

Bangkok Noir — Edited by Christopher G. Moore

Bangkok Noir — Edited by Christopher G. Moore

In the first ever noir anthology of Bangkok, twelve seasoned and internationally known-Thai and Western-writers, including Pico Iyer, have come together to make a powerful collection of crime fiction short stories that portray the dark side of the Asian metropolis where the lives of most citizens seem as far away from heaven as its Thai name Krungthep is distant from its meaning-City of Angels.

In Bangkok Noir, the twelve short stories of various shades of black involve gangsters and hit men, love and betrayal, the supernatural, the possessed and the dispossessed, and the far distant future. Titles in this collection include: John Burdett's Gone East, Stephen Leather's Inspector Zhang and the Dead Thai Gangster, Tew Bunnag's The Mistress Wants Her Freedom, Colin Cotterill's Halfhead, Pico Iyer's Thousand and One Nights, and Christopher G. Moore's Dolphin Inc.

The Beach — by Alex Garland

The Beach by Alex Garland

The Beach by Alex Garland. A popular book for younger readers made into a movie recounting a backpacker's journey to "the beach." Influenced by such literary works as Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies, it describes the adventures of a young Englishman in search of a legendary, idyllic beach untouched by tourism, and his time there in its small, international community of backpackers.

The Beach is a look at a generation in their twenties, who, burdened with the legacy of the preceding generation and saturated by popular culture, long for an undeveloped landscape, but find it difficult to experience the world firsthand.

In 2000, it was adapted into a film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet, Tilda Swinton and Robert Carlyle. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

Bangkok: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Thailand — by Leela Punyaratabandhu

Bangkok: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Thailand - by Leela Punyaratabandhu

From one of the most respected authorities on Thai cooking comes this beautiful and deeply personal ode to Bangkok, the top-ranked travel destination in the world. WINNER OF THE ART OF EATING PRIZE Every year, more than 16 million visitors flock to Thailand’s capital city, and leave transfixed by the vibrant culture and unforgettable food they encounter along the way. Thai cuisine is more popular today than ever, yet there is no book that chronicles the real food that Thai people eat every day—until now. In Bangkok, award-winning author Leela Punyaratabandhu offers 120 recipes that capture the true spirit of the city—from heirloom family dishes to restaurant classics to everyday street eats to modern cosmopolitan fare. Beautiful food and location photography will make this a must-have keepsake for any reader who has fallen under Bangkok’s spell.

Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Tattoo — by John Burdett

Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Tattoo — by John Burdett

A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s most exotic cities. Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a charismatic Marine sergeant is murdered under a Bangkok bridge inside a bolted-shut Mercedes Benz. Among the witnesses are the only two cops in the city not on the take, but within moments one is murdered and his partner, Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist and the son of a Thai bar girl and a long-gone Vietnam War G.I.—is hell-bent on wreaking revenge.

On a vigilante mission to capture his partner’s murderer, Sonchai is begrudgingly paired with a beautiful FBI agent named Jones and captures her heart in the process. In a city fueled by illicit drugs and infinite corruption, prostitution and priceless art, Sonchai’s quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.

Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation — by Thongchai Winichakul

Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation — by Thongchai Winichakul

This unusual and intriguing study of nationhood explores the 19th-century confrontation of ideas that transformed the kingdom of Siam into the modern conception of a nation. Siam Mapped challenges much that has been written on Thai history because it demonstrates convincingly that the physical and political definition of Thailand on which other works are based is anachronistic.

Thongchai Winichakul has done a remarkable job in guiding the reader through Thai history primarily with maps. Especially useful are insights from the Sukhotahi through the late Chakri period of the relationship of self, state, and the geographic conceptualizations. Siam Mapped brings useful insights on the paradigm difference between the Western colonizers, especially France, and Thailand at the time. The very understanding of the nature of geography, including the need to completely redefine words, concepts, and relationships is a fascinating process to see evolve and Winichakul has done a remarkable job in doing that.

White Lotus Press Books

White Lotus Press Books

For true bibliophiles, a longtime independent publisher of countless rare and historic books to look into is Thailand-based White Lotus Press. Titles include The 1904 Traveler's Guide to Bangkok and Siam, Bangkok in 1892, Siam and the Siamese—Travels in Thailand and Burma in 1904 and Among the Tribes of Southern Vietnam and Laos written in 1893.

White Lotus Books
www.whitelotusbooks.com/

In Bangkok, you'll find White Lotus Books at the popular Asia Books, located around town [VIEW MAP]. Asia books is a splendid book store that can keep you captivated for hours, with gorgeous Thai-themed coffee table books and walls of volumes on varied subjects about regional destinations.

Spirit House — Christopher G. Moore

Spirit House by Christopher G. Moore

In the nearly twenty years he has lived in Bangkok, Christopher G. Moore has written nine novels starring Vincent Calvino, a disbarred American lawyer working as a PI in the dark and steamy Thai capital. Internationally acclaimed, the prizewinning novels have been translated into ten languages. Now Spirit House, the first novel in the series, is finally available in North America. A farang is dead and the Bangkok police have a confession the next morning from a young paint-thinner addict. He claims he killed Ben Hoadly, an expat Brit, but Calvino has his doubts when he sees heavy bruises on the kid’s face. In no time Calvino is working both sides, out to find the killer for Hoadly’s wealthy father, and eager to clear the addict’s name for a beautiful friend who runs a charity in the slums. With the help of his best friend, Pratt, a Shakespeare quoting Thai police colonel, and his loyal assistant, Ratana, Calvino plunges into the dangerous world of addicts, dealers, fortune tellers, inexpensive hit men, oversexed foreigners, and professional bar girls. Spirit House is a thrilling introduction to Vincent Calvino and Christopher G. Moore’s Bangkok..

Four Reigns — by Kukrit Pramoj

Four Reigns — by Kukrit Pramoj

This English version of the classic Thai novel Si Phaendin tells the rich and entertaining story of one woman's life both inside and outside the royal palace in Bangkok. Spanning a period of four reigns, from King Chulalongkorn to the reign of his grandson King Ananda, this popular modern classic gives insight into the social and political issues facing Thailand from the 1890s through the turbulent years of World War II..

The Thai historical novel was first serialized in the Siam Rath newspaper from 1951 to 1952 and published in book form in 1953, the novel follows the life of Phloi (พลอย), a girl from a noble family who is brought to live in the royal court. As she grows up and lives her life through the reigns of kings Rama V to Rama VIII (1868–1946), she witnesses the social and political changes in the country leading to and following the abolishment of absolute monarchy in 1932. It is one of the most influential Thai novels, widely regarded as a classic and described by the Encyclopaedia Britannica as "probably the best-selling Thai novel of all time." Four Reigns offers a nostalgic view on the monarchy and aristocracy, contrasting what it paints as former glory days to the struggles Phloi faces following the political upheaval.

Sightseeing — by Rattawut Lapcharoensap

Sightseeing — by Rattawut Lapcharoensap

Sightseeing is a masterful new work of fiction, a collection of stories set in contemporary Thailand and written with a grace and sophistication that belie the age of its young author. These are generous, tender tales of family bonds, youthful romance, generational conflicts, and cultural shiftings beneath the glossy surface of a warm, Edenic setting. Rattawut Lapcharoensap offers a diverse, humorous, and deeply affectionate view of life in a small Southeast Asian country that is inevitably absorbing the waves of encroaching Westernization.

In the prizewinning opening story, "Farangs," the young son of a modest beachside motel owner commits the cardinal sin of falling for a pretty tourist, and the confrontation that ensues between the native boy and the girl's pompous American boyfriend culminates wondrously amid flying mangoes and Clint Eastwood—a pet pig—swimming out to sea. In "Sightseeing," the much-anticipated holiday of a young man about to leave for college and his loving and fiercely independent mother becomes a different kind of pilgrimage altogether when they are forced to confront the mother's impending blindness. The concluding novella, "Cockfighter," is a triumph of storytelling in which a young girl witnesses her proud father's valiant but foolhardy and drawn-out battle against the local delinquent and violent hoodlum whose family's vicious stranglehold on the villagers has passed down unchecked through generations.

The Windup Girl— by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Windup Girl— by Paolo Bacigalupi

This highly acclaimed and debut biopunk science fiction novel by American writer Paolo Bacigalupi is set in a future Thailand and covers a number of contemporary issues such as global warming and biotechnology. Named as the ninth best fiction book of 2009 by Time magazine, the novel is set in 23rd-century Thailand tells the story about one of the New People, Emiko, who is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok.

Global warming has raised the levels of world's oceans, carbon fuel sources have become depleted, and manually wound springs are used as energy storage devices. Biotechnology is dominant and megacorporations (called calorie companies) like AgriGen, PurCal and RedStar control food production through "genehacked" seeds, and use bioterrorism, private armies and economic hitmen to create markets for their products. Frequent catastrophes, such as deadly and widespread plagues and illness, caused by genetically modified crops and mutant pests, ravage entire populations. The natural genetic seed stock of the world's plants has been almost completely supplanted by those that are genetically engineered to be sterile, forcing farmers to buy new seeds from the calorie companies every season.

What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution?

Thailand: A Short History — by David K. Wyatt

Thailand: A Short History — by David K. Wyatt

This highly acclaimed book, the standard history of Thailand for almost twenty years, has now been completely revised by the author. David K. Wyatt has also added new sections examining the social and economic changes that have transformed the country in the past two decades.

Densely packed information on the full history of Thailand and provides a good introduction to Thai history for everyone who wants to know more than just what is found in Lonely Planet.

About the Author: David K. Wyatt was the John Stambaugh Professor Emeritus of History at Cornell University for many years until his retirement. He was considered one of the foremost authorities on Thai history and was highly respected for his understanding, use, collection, and translation of early Thai texts. He died in 2006.

Eyewitness Travel THAILAND

DK Eyewitness Guide Thailand

This brilliantly illustrated book with superb photography (over 800) is more souvenir than simply a practical guidebook. Highly visual, featuring fascinating three-dimensional and aerial diagrams and building cutaways, floor plans, and reconstructions of historic sights, any crisp street-by-street maps. The recently updated guide brings Japan to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with vivid photographs, detailed breakdowns of sights, visuals on practically every page, and hand-drawn illustrations which place you inside the country's iconic buildings and neighborhoods.

Includes coverage of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, The Golden Triangle, Khao Sok, Koh Phangan, and Ayutthaya. The guide that will long remain a reference to Thailand after your return home.

A Kid's Guide to Thailand — by Jack L. Roberts

A Kid's Guide to Thailand — by Jack L. Roberts

Imagine a country where everybody smiles all the time. The young explorers in your family don’t have to just imagine it. They can read all about it in A Kid’s Guide to Thailand – an easy-to-read book jam-packed with colorful photographs, fun facts, charts and maps, and captivating information about the people and the culture of this delightful country once known as Siam. A Kid’s Guide to Thailand is just one in a series of books from Curious Kids Press that introduce young readers to countries and cultures around the world. Other countries in the series include Ancient Egypt, Australia, China, Costa Rica, England, Kenya, and France.

Plan My Thailand Travel

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