Lonely Planet Thailand (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) Paperback – January 1, 2007

I grew up in Bkk from 1973-1983 and have been back to visit numerous times. This upcoming trip will be the "tourist" trip as I will be taking my new in-laws and fiance on a trip, so I thought I should at least know more about Thailand. The book has been a very good read from the start and I have learned more about the cultures from the book than what my own family tells me. I am reading this book daily and there's a lot to be taken in, great job on the material. Well written, good content, thorough and insightful. I am traveling in a week and will be reading this on the plane as well. I strongly recommend the book to anyone thinking of going to Thailand or planning a visit.

Without a doubt, Kindle owners traveling to Thailand should buy Lonely Planet Thailand Kindle Edition. Despite notable drawbacks (e.g., maps are difficult to read), the search function, bookmarks, hyperlinks to other sections, and most of all portability make it indispensable whether you are temple spotting, questing for the perfect curry, or relaxing on the beach.Remember how heavy your daypack always ends up by the time you get everything you may need during the day? The portability of the Kindle and Lonely Planet combination eliminates at least a few pounds compared with even the smallest country-wide guidebooks. This is a blessing you will count every evening on the trip.The primary flaw with this book on the Kindle is the difficulty with depicting the maps on the screen. Due to limitations of screen size on the Kindle 2 (or 1), the well-known and useful Lonely Planet maps are broken into smaller sections, typically quadrants. Finding a restaurant, for example, requires navigating to the fourth page to view the legend, then to the page containing that portion of the map. Although frustrating at first, you will quickly become used to it; and, free maps abound in Thailand.As anyone familiar with Lonely Planet guidebooks can tell you, this book has everything you need to know about Thailand. Worried about whether or not there is a departure tax to leave Thailand? Need a hostel in Koh Samui? How about a five star hotel? Wonder if you should begin a malaria regimen before your jungle trek? It is all in there.Before buying, I noticed a number of complaints about this book containing a large amount of politics. Fortunately, it is a guidebook, and you need only read interests you. Thailand has something for everyone; so does this book.I appreciated having this book with me, especially without the weight of the paperback, and enjoyed the frank opinions on sleeping, eating, and experiences in Thailand. Buy it and carry it along as you create your own paradise in Thailand.

I loved this guide book of Thailand, accurate and informative.

This is the first Lonely Planet guide I have purchased in 20 years and I am not disappointed - these guys really deliver! The travel guide is somewhat geared to lower end travellers such as backpackers and the like, but contains a wealth of useful information for travellers in any price range, including things to do, places to visit, ways to get from A to B, rough price guides and so on. I highly recommend this travel guide for anyone planning a trip to the Land of Smiles, especially those visiting Thailand for the first time.

Lonely Planet guidebooks are excellent for their descriptive city maps, local transportation knowledge, outer regional information and local tips. The city maps are fantastic and provide on-the-ground guidance and safety. Train, bus and local transportation options are all noted and mapped. The guidebook has excellent day-trip suggestions and how to get to them all. The history section makes handy reading for long bus or train rides. Things always change, but having an LP guidebook with you will be a huge stress-reducer. Wouldn't leave home without it!

I found the Lonely Planet books to be good and interesting guides to the countries they cover. Lots of down to earth info, although with the constant changes in some industries (PB Air, for example, shut down a month or so after this edition was published) it's hard to stay current. Additional on-line research is recommended to back up some of the information, and of course Lonely Planet has an excellent on-line presence as well. Good reference, something you can carry around with you - believe it or not, there are still lots of places where you can't reliably get to the 'net!

I was in Thailand for a month and this book was fantastic. North, Bangkok and south... although I never use printed guides for booking hotels anymore...they just can not keep up with all the changes in industrialized nations.

I was excited to have an e-version on my iPhone for travelling but I found myself wishing I had a hard copy once I was in Thailand. While all of the useful Lonely Planet info is in there - it is so hard to find in the Kindle Edition.There is a linked table of contents but overall I found navigating very difficult.The maps were especially painful. Maybe it was too much to expect an integrated google map but the way the maps are sliced and diced makes it especially hard to follow or find anything.Conclusion: I'll stick to the hard copies for now.