Lonely Planet Thailand
by Becca Blond, China Williams, Joe Cummings, Matt Warren, Morgan Konn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Becca Blond, China Williams, Joe Cummings, Matt Warren, Morgan KonnEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09
ISBN: 1740596978
Number of pages: 808
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Book Reviews of Lonely Planet Thailand
Book Review: awful
Summary: 1 Stars
I have given away two previous editions of this book. Let me give two reasons why. LP's Bangkok section as well as its mobile wing heap great praise on the Atlanta Hotel, Soi 2, Sukhumvit Road. They spend about a page telling us of its former glory during the 1950s and that some dude with a history of sorts in colonial India set it up and that it was the first to do this, that and the other, all in in 1950s, 60s and 70s. This hotel builds up its founder like he was some Jim Morrison type icon, not the end note in history of colonial India that he was. LP has simply swallowed this pretentious back packer hotel's propaganda and devoted an undeserved page or more to it. It fails to tell us that the restaurant staff there are decidely odd and that the hotel is trading on its past and on its Fawlty Towers aura. When they add tax to your bill, the end result is an odd amount, say like 457 baht for a night. The hotel and even the menu are festooned with signs and notes telling you they do not want undesirables and what the physical consequences for you will be if you object to being refused service. If you think the rooms are over priced, signs and notes tell you that the hotel's founder, before he went senile, used to tell people who objected to the price to f- off. The point here is not the price but the Basil Fawlty nature of this unfurbished hotel and the fact that the LP heaps valuable space and resulting custom on them.
Out in the sticks, they write about "the last time we visited town X, we stayed in Hotel Y". But if they stay in one trick towns, why do they change hotels so often? My answer is that they nick a lot of their stuff from Thailand's very capable tourist offices. So should you if you want detailed information. A trip to a tourist office and some basic on line searches will see you better ficed than buying this Cole's Notes of Thai Tourist Office Information.
Friends recommend other travel guides instead such as the Rough Guide. LP is simply too big. Even their orginal South East Asia on a Shoetring is a waste of money imho. If you go the back packer route, you will pick up a ton of information along the way from fellow travellers and you will most likely find abandoned LPs in those places, the Atlanta included. Leave home without it and use your baggage allowance for something more practical.
Summary of Lonely Planet Thailand
the legendary best-selling, longest-running guide to Southeast Asia's most popular destination the only guide to Thailand written for travelers on any budget suggested itineraries include classic routes, tailored trips, off-road excursions and travel with children opinionated and up-to-the-minute coverage of Bangkok's hottest bars, restaurants and shops written by a Bangkok expert Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation to have never been colonised Thaksin Shinawatra became the first Thai Prime Minister to be re-elected when his Thai Rak Thai party was victorious in February 2005. Before taking up politics, he was a police officer, and later a billionaire telecommunications tycoon a Rocket Festival is held in May in the country's north-east, using a volatile mixture of bamboo and gunpowder to convince the sky to send rain for the new rice seasonThailand Books
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