Thailand Handbook

We have been to Thailand twice this year (Feb 06 and Dec 06) and I used the guidebook to explore Bangkok in depth the first visit and nearby attractions on the second visit. The recommendations on attractions and hotels are great. The restaurant guide is adequate, but I think Bangkok is simply too hard a city to have a restaurant guide that is either current or comprehensive. On the flip side, at least one of the maps was very misleading at best or incorrect at worst. On the way to Hua Hin, the map states the highway (No. 4) goes through town, but it fact, it is a limited access expressway some 10 kilometers west of town and there is only one exit to get to Hua Hin. This caused us to take a 20+km extra trip to reach town. Overall, the guide is a compact and surprisingly effective. Footprint guides are of a high quality as also evidenced by the other guides (South India and Cambodia) I travelled with.

When I left for Thailand, I was uncertain that this book would provide the information I needed to navigate Thailand. I quickly discovered this book had a wealth of information. The book led me to many relatively undiscovered towns, hotels, and restaurants, all of which provided a truly rich traveling experience. As for its practicality, the book is lightwieght, durable, using small fonts to pack data in. When in the company of those carrying Lonely Planet, I found others consistently closing their books in favor of the recommendations in my Footprint guide.

Forget Insight, Travel Bug and even Lonely Planet. They are all too heavy to carry on your destination. Leave them behind next to the armchair. Real travellers will want any book from this series: They are small, written on thin tissue paper, and print tightly spaced. The Thail book, which I am updating every two years has so much practical information, from hotels and fax numbers, to suggested itineraries, and maps. Indispensible to the travelling traveller.

In the style of the Footprint Series the Thailand Handbook is an exhaustive source for even the most ambitious of travellers. It is the best source for practical information on hotels, transportation etc. It is not, however, as easy to use or as visually pleasing as many others. For those who want to have all the information with them on their trip, this will be the book that makes it into the luggage. Not for those who have trouble with fine print.