Product Description

The Rough Guide to Thailand is the most comprehensive and informative guide available to this spectacular country. YouÂ’ll find detailed information on everything from the most stylish bars in Bangkok to diving in Ko Tao. Whether you want to trek in the hills near Chang Mai, explore the temples and waterways of Bangkok, or just relax on an idyllic beach on one of the countryÂ’s numerous islands, this guide will lead you to the best attractions in Thailand. The Rough Guide to Thailand features up-to-date reviews of all the hottest new places to stay from hotels in Thailand to community minded accommodations and tour companies, including Thai homestays. Find the best restaurants, shops, bars and clubs in Thailand across every price range giving you balanced reviews and honest, first-hand opinions. You'll find improved coverage of the countryÂ’s expanding opportunities for adventure travel as well as Thai cooking courses in Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi and Krabi. Explore all corners of Thailand with authoritative background on everything from Thailand's local cuisine to Thailand's beautiful temples relying on comprehensive maps and practical language tips. Make the most of your holiday with The Rough Guide to Thailand

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2040 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 980 pages

Excerpted from Thailand: the Rough Guide by Paul Gray, Lucy Ridout. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
When to go The climate of most of Thailand is governed by three seasons: rainy (roughly June to October), caused by the southwest monsoon dumping moisture gathered from the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand; cool (November to February); and hot (March to May). The rainy season is the least predictable of the three, varying in length and intensity from year to year, but usually it gathers force between June and August, coming to a peak in September and October, when unpaved roads are reduced to mud troughs and whole districts of Bangkok are flooded. The cool season is the pleasantest time to visit, although temperatures can still reach a broiling 30C in the middle of the day. In the hot season, when temperatures rise to 40C, the best thing to do is to hit the beach. Within this scheme, slight variations are found from region to region. The less humid north experiences the greatest range of temperatures: at night in the cool season the thermometer occasionally approaches zero on the higher slopes, and this region is often hotter than the central plains between March and May. It's the northeast which gets the very worst of the hot season, with clouds of dust gathering above the parched fields, and humid air too. In southern Thailand, temperatures are more consistent throughout the year, with less variation the closer you get to the equator. The rainy season hits the Andaman coast of the southern peninsula harder than anywhere else in the country - heavy rainfall usually starts in May and persists at the same level until October. One area of the country, the Gulf coast of the southern peninsula, lies outside this general pattern - because it faces east, this coast and its offshore islands feel the effects of the northeast monsoon, which brings rain between October and January. This area also suffers less from the southwest monsoon, getting a relatively small amount of rain between June and September. Overall, the cool season is generally the best time to come to Thailand: as well as having more manageable temperatures and less rain, it offers waterfalls in full spate and the best of the upland flowers in bloom. Bear in mind, however, that it's also the busiest season, so forward planning is essential.

Customer Reviews

Everything you need except your passport
Rough Guide Thailand is one of the best in the range, and it strikes just the right balance, although the book still weighs in on the heavier end in a backpack, its pretty much all useful. especially for the traveller who is exploring thailand, which is after all a very big country.

The books coverage strikes a good balance, and the design is very user friendly, the features of the (not so) new design which are particuliarly useful are the end of chapter transport connections overview with approx times, and the 40 things not to miss photos at the front is a great selection, and can serve as an inspiring hit list.

The book is very well suited to the independant traveller, and the accomodation on the whole was more accurately on target than in many other guides, to agree with 50% or more of the reccomendations is a very good sign, although thailand moves quickly, not least in accomodation, so it is very difficult to keep coverage up to date.

On the whole the food selections were ok, generally this is the weakest point in the rough guide series, Bangkok is least well served in this respect, but when pushed and feeling lazy outside the capital it will deliver somewhere to eat pretty quickly. (not that finding somewhere to eat is a problem in thaialnd).
there is a small but quite useful language section which could be expanded to double its length and be even more useful, and the history section isnt too overwhelming, but i guess more thai phrase books are sold separately than history books and hence the obvious imbalance here.
The Rough guide to Thailand is nicely pitched, accurate and informative.

Although, I couldn't go to everywhere in the book this left me thirsty for more!
Although I travelled just before a new edition of this book was published, I thought this book was excellent in helping me plan my holiday in advance. We knew we wanted to go to Thailand but weren't quite sure where - this book helped us decide based on not only things to see & do but weather condtions etc, which I found were excellent compared to many internet sites and travel brochures (which portray Thailand as one climate area, when in fact it has many different weather systems). The book was excellent and still felt 'up to date'; for example it helped us find the most fab little boutique hotel "Buddy Lodge" in Bankok which was exactly what we were looking for and never would have found otherwise. Also it had fantastic and accurate info on the Grand Palace, such as tours times and prices, not to mention a complete guide to the whole complex, building by building!

These books make such a fantastic read in terms of filling you in on culture and traditions - because I had read this before we travelled I spotted lots of things I would have missed otherwise. It seemed a shame that we only went on a two week tourist holiday - the book made me want to go back packing around the whole country!

Don't bother with the 'Lonely Planet ' guides
This is about the tenth Rough Guide I've used, and as usual it has been an excellent source of most importantly accurate information. All Rough Guides have evidently been well researched and give step-by-step procedures of what to do on arrival, finding accommodation and local transport etc. I've never understood why so many travellers use 'Lonely Planet' guides. The title may very well sound ethereal and full of the romatic allusion (illusion?) of travelling, but I have found them at best very mediochre. I can think their popularity lies more in the fact of their reputation. If you're a 'serious' traveller you only ever get the Lonely Planet. Well don't bother, get a Rough Guide which you will almost certainly find more useful.