Thailand (Lonely Planet Country Guide)

I found the 'Let's Go' guides to SE Asia way superior to the 'Lonely Planet'. The trouble with the 'LP' is that it tends to keep you on the well trodden trail and advises you to be cautious at every step.

The whole idea of travelling or backpacking is, I feel, to experience something new. You need to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. I think the opinions and tips in the 'LP' advise too much on what not to do and what nasties may happen if you do.

If you like to stay with the herd following the beaten track then this is the book for you. However, if it's a bit of adventure you're after then I'd look elsewhere.

Okay if you want to be like everyone else (16/24 people found this helpful)

Do you want to wear ankle bracelets, baggy farmer pants, Singha beer singlets, eat European food, watch DVD movies, stay in the same hostels as everyone other traveller, and follow the well-beaten path of everyone else while clutching your guide like a security blanket? Then this is the guide for you.

The guide itself is okay though unremarkable compared to others. The maps are rubbish and a lot of the information is out-of-date or appears based on hearsay. But everyone has one and its ubiquity means all the sheep who carry it wander around doing the same things and staying in the same places.

Thailand is so over-touristed now there is no need for a guide. Everywhere is over-run with tour guides, hostels and internet booths where you can read millions of blogs from people doing then same thing, making a guide irrelevant. Yet people with this guide seem unable to think or act without first consulting the guide.

The guide is useful in one respect - if you want to avoid jaded Thai hosts, hostels full of hippie-wanabees with their bracelets from Ko Phi Phi and menus full of spaghetti and pizza, just don't stay at the places highly recommended here.

The Rough Guide does a similar job but is better set out with infinitely better maps, nicer fonts, better design etc. It is also written with more of a critical and analytical edge. The other bonus is that few other people seem to carry it around.

Footprint and Moon guides are also good if you can find them. I found a 1993 Moon guide in Khao Sok and it was brilliantly informative and had far more character than the Lonely Planet guide even though its was 13 years old (though the design was appalling I will admit). It was also years ahead of the Lonely Planet in terms of places to avoid even in 1993.

Thailand in a nut shell (5/6 people found this helpful)

This book provided all information you could need from the moment you land in Thailand. The information regarding prices was nearly all upto date and offers information on accomodation for 3 price ranges: Budget, Mid-Range and Top-End providing lots of details no matter what type of holiday you are after.

It is particularly helpfull with warning tourists about local tourist traps and things to watch out for. It also supplies information about all the different towns, local transport, hospitals, maps of the different areas with key places marked out. It provides a basic thai dictonary but does not show how to pronoucuate the words.

Overal a very good book which I found to be an invaluable travel guide! Would reccommend it to any first time vistors to Thailand.

EXPERIENCE THE "REAL" THAILAND with this helpful guide! (34/49 people found this helpful)

If you want to get the most out of your trip to Thailand, this guide will be invaluable to you. You will avoid the usual, crowded tourist traps and see a back country Thailand that will amaze you.

This guide will take you to places where you can get to know the fascinating Thai people and their intriguing culture as though you had always been best of friends.

Joe Cummings, Rebecca Blond, Morgan Konn, Matt Warren, China Williams

Reader Reviews:

The Safe Option (3/4 people found this helpful)

Okay if you want to be like everyone else (16/24 people found this helpful)

Thailand in a nut shell (5/6 people found this helpful)

EXPERIENCE THE "REAL" THAILAND with this helpful guide! (34/49 people found this helpful)

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