Books worth reading include those outlined below.

Guide Books

‘Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand’ by Lonely Planet Publications.

‘Rough Guide to Thailand’ by Rough Guide Publications.

General

‘Gentlemen of the Parlour’ (Vintage) by Somerset Maugham – An interesting account of the author’s travels by foot and elephant-back through eastern and central Thailand, and parts of Cambodia and Laos. Gives you an idea of how much the Thailand and Indochina area has changed over the past century.

‘Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind’(Asia Books), by Carol Hollinger – A delightful read by an American woman who made Thailand her home and worked as a frustrated English teacher at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

‘Travels in Siam, Cambodia, Laos and Annam’, by Henri Mouhot (White Lotus) – Written in 1860, this is an intriguing account of travels through Indochina and Thailand by the Frenchman who rediscovered Angkor in Cambodia. Lots of interesting information on Thailand of yesteryear.

‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ by Pierre Boulle.

Letters from Thailand (Botan), translated by Susan Fulop Kepner.

History

‘Thailand: A Short History’(Trasvin Publications), by Joseph Wright Jr. Readable guide to the history of the ‘land of smiles’.