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Rating: 
Summary: A strong introduction to Thailand
Review: David Wyatt has written a well-researched and extremely detailed history of Thailand. Due to the complexity of the topic and the vast span of years he covers, this book can occasionally be a bit confusing. The chapters covering the last two centuries however are quite good and go a long way toward explaining Thailand's exceptional status in its region. I strongly recommend this book to all people interested in the country.
Rating:
Summary: A strong introduction to Thailand
Review: David Wyatt has written a well-researched and extremely detailed history of Thailand. Due to the complexity of the topic and the vast span of years he covers, this book can occasionally be a bit confusing. The chapters covering the last two centuries however are quite good and go a long way toward explaining Thailand's exceptional status in its region. I strongly recommend this book to all people interested in the country.
Rating:
Summary: Good overview of Thailand history
Review: I am a very frequent traveller to Thailand, where I have business and many good friends. Over the years I got some knowledge of its history, piecewise. This book provided me with an excellent overview of Thailand's history. Too bad it is a little short in maps and pictures. Missing is the comparison of Sukottai's, Chng Mai's and Ayudahaya's world view, which is expressed in the way the cities were built, art and architecture.
Rating: 
Summary: Until a Better History Comes Along--This Is It
Review: I bought this book in preparation for my first trip to Thailand. I was hoping for a readable overview of Thailand's history to enhance my stay. Unfortunately, I came away less than satisfied with Wyatt's book. It was long and tedious. His writing style is pedantic and dull. The author clearly knows his subject well, but his treatment of Thai history was long on details, presented chronologically, but short on interpretation. Surprisingly, there was little in the book about how Buddhism affected the course of historical events. After finishing the book as the plane touched down in Bangkok, I had assimilated a number of important facts about Thailand, but I didn't feel that the book gave me the chance to understand the sweep of Thai history. Yet, my research did not find any other book in English which covers the subject. Until one comes along, hopefully a better one, I guess this is it.
Rating: 
Summary: Too detailed for a "short history"
Review: I brought this book, because, as said before, it is the only history of Thailand available. Unfortunately, the author's detail covers a detailed history, and ties in things that do not have to do with the history of Thailand.The book starts with a prehistory of what is today Thailand, covering the aboriginal Tai peoples who lived in what is today Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and even southern China. Wyatt goes over how Tai people were treated in early Southeastern Asian states - Nan Zhao, Vietnam, China, Laos, Angkorean Cambodia, and also the Mekong Yonok area, as well as the Burmese kingdoms. He then states how the early Tai created states, such as Syam (Siam) and Sukotai, which formed a civilization based on Therevada Buddhism. Wyatt then covers the Ayutthaya civilization, which formed the first dynasty, with a clearly defined capital at Ayutthaya. We then find how Siam had to deal with the Burmese invaders from Burma and the Mongols, which climaxed in 1767, when Burma finally conquered Siam. We then hear how Thailand avoided colonization by one by one putting off the European powers, first the UK, then France, then Holland, etc. Finally, the modern period is covered, with the move of the capital to Bangkok in 1782 and the beginning of the Chakri dynasty. We hear the cultural achievements and Siamese empire of the Bangkok period, and how, Siam enters World War I and the modern world, and finally avoiding Japanese occupation during World War II, and how Siam becomes Thailand, following the removal of the Absolute monarchy. A very complete book, but very detailed and hard to understand.
Rating: 
Summary: Why is a history book on fascinating Thailand so boring?
Review: The author has a writing style which is best suited for college or graduate school dissertation perhaps. But as a history book for the rest of us, it's tediously boring! Reading this 307-page book felt like reading a 1000 pages of statistics.
Rating:
Summary: Aptly titled
Review: The title says it all, "A short history." Overall not a bad read, though one walks away feeling somewhat less than satisfied. Particularly interesting is the history of palace intrigues during the 18th and 19th centuries. One wishes the author had devoted as much effort to the chapters concerning 20th century Thailand as he did to these era, particularly World War II era Thailand, and Thailand struggles with democracy (and the many coups) in the latter half of the century. Still, this is one of the better books of a limited number devoted to the fascinating history of the realm.
Rating:
Summary: Too dry, but not many alternatives
Review: This book gave me a seemingly thorough overview of the history of Thailand. From the early centuries AD up through 1982, we see how the various countries of southeast Asia interacted with one another in defining their boundaries today. The author gives a good look at how the royalty and wars of the area shaped the peninsula as it currently stands. There are shortcomings to the book, though, that seriously detracted from it. My biggest complaint is the fact that there aren't enough maps. For example, there is a map that illustrates the area in the mid 1500s, but there isn't another one until the mid 1700s. Boundaries have changed, new cities are referred to, but the reader has no idea exactly what things look like. In addition, there are areas and cities referred to in the text that I couldn't find on any of the maps. My other complaint is the fact that the author uses some notations and terms that are never explained to the reader. I found some of these things confusing and they were never really cleared up to my satisfaction. If you are looking for a general overview of the history of this area of the world with a focus on Thailand, then this is a very decent book with which to start. If you're looking for something that goes into a lot of detail, this book may let you down.
Rating: 
Summary: A superb treatment of a unique country
Review: This book is great for college level studies and came in very handy for a paper I wrote on Ayudhya. David Wyatt used many primary sources in creating an easy to read overview of this fascinating countries history. Most westerners will be surprised to find that South east Asia had a thriving system of commerce that untill the nineteenth century and the coming of the industrial revolution the Europeans had a difficult time competing with. The book is particularly effective in explaining how Thailand managed to be the only Southeast Asian country to avoid colonisation.The emphasis on military conflicts may prove tedious to some readers, but I found it interesting and it is important to learn about the pendulum of domination that swung between both Burma and Thailand. The book is essential for anyone who wants to know what makes the Thai people and culture unique and why I think the future should be even brighter
Rating:
Summary: Too dry, but not many alternatives
Review: Unfortunately, there aren't many (any?) other books on the market that cover the history of Thailand. This one is unquestionably complete, but in its completeness lies its greatest weakness. Wyatt seems to sacrifice ease of reading in favor of completeness. For example, the majority of the book up to the age of King Mongkut (about half the book) reads like a list of kings of various city-states in the region, with minimal text between the names. The history of the area has been rife with war and intra-region political conflict and intrigue, and yet somehow this is one of the most boring books I have ever read. If you're looking for early (up to the nineteenth century) history of the region encompassing and surrounding present-day Thailand, this book is pretty much your only option. But if you're looking for something more modern, you could learn as much by watching "Anna and the King" and then reading through Lonely Planet Thailand and a modern-day rundown of Thai politics (there are several of these), as you could from reading the treatment of this recent period in Wyatt's book.
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