Rating: 
Summary: We Don't Need More Pattaya Info.
Review: This is in response to readers who complained about only 12 pages being devoted to Pattaya, and wanted more. We don't need more information on Pattaya. I've been to Pattaya several times and love the place. It is a small, yet significant part of Thailand. Pattaya is a tourist area that has plenty of info. on the Web, and in its many "cheezy tourist brochures." Many establishments change management and names frequently there as well. Pattaya is a no-brainer. It is typically for the shallow, culturally repugnant people who need "luxury" hotels and horrible western food. Most of the Thai food there was fake and overpriced, like everything else in the tourist vicinity. LP is for those who want to learn, yes learn, something about the culture, people, and nation in which they are traveling. Don't get me wrong I love Pattaya, but we didn't need more info. on in it in this edition of Lonely Planet. Great Book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best LP Guides Ever
Review: I've used a number of Lonely Planet guides, but this one is clearly the best. Joe Cummings has a deep understanding of Thailand, not only the good parts, but the ugly sides as well. For travelers going to south-east Asia for the first time, the chapters covering Thai culture, etiquette, and customs are vital. This guide is also an excellent source of very accurate information on finding accomodations and getting from place to place. This kind of info is extremely valuable especially for travelers in Thailand, where it is not always easy obtainable from local sources. Too many locals try to make a living overcharging and ripping off tourists and are too often the wrong people to talk to. All this makes Joe Cummings' guide indispensible for getting by and getting the most out of your trip.
Rating: 
Summary: poorly designed
Review: I was really disappointed with the newest Thailand edition to the Lonely Planet series. This is a huge volume and is more a history lesson then a guidebook. Learning the history of your destination is great but that information is not necessary when carrying around a guide to find food or a place to eat. Many of the authors' recommendations are already outdated. The price ranges for places to eat or sleep are not accurate or sometimes not given at all. My main problem is the way this guide links the map to the text. In order to find out where a place is located, you must refer to several different pages when reading the map. Why can't the description of a restaurant also tell the map page and grid point without having to look on a separate index? Poorly designed and not easy to use when on the go. Keep this one on your bookshelf and take a smaller guidebook when traveling. I recommend the Time Out series as my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: The cream of Thailand guides
Review: I live and work in Bangkok, and when travelling to other parts of Thailand on holiday I always take along the Lonely Planet guide. I've tried Rough, Footprint and a few other lesser known publications, but LP tends to more informative, and considerably more accurate, in fact more so than all the others combined. Another thing, I've been buying each new edition of the LP guide since the early 90s, and can't understand the amazon user reviews dated 1999 or 2002, etc, that identify this guide as the work of Joe Cummings alone. Since the late 90s it has been a team project (with Steven Martin initially, currently with a total of four authors), as any look at the title page or About the Authors page will reveal. So if you don't like the tone, blame the whole team (or more importantly the LP editors, who no doubt play a large role in determining how this book reads), not Cummings! One thing I did notice about the 2003 edition is that it is considerably shorter than the last couple of editions. Gone are some of the more interesting out-of-the-way destinations in the various regions. I suppose LP felt it had to cut down on the size and weight but I would personally rather see them return to a more comprehensive scope.
Rating:
Summary: a guide for ALL of Thailand
Review: This guide--like previous Lonely Planet guides to Thailand--offers the full range of Thailand to the potential tourist. Indeed the famous R&R resort city of Pattaya receives only 12 pages, but the fact that one-third of visitors to Thailand go there anyway means that the glitzy notoriety of Pattaya's "entertainments" are probably already well-known enough abroad. Cummings' book is directed to a different audience. For those who do not wish to read about the political or social problems involved with certain kinds of (shall I say "predatory"?) tourism, there are other guides to Thailand. But for those who have traveled to Thailand and elsewhere before with Lonely Planet guide in hand and have appreciated the careful attention these book pay to parts of the country and aspects of the culture that might otherwise be missed, we can rejoice that Cummings has spent many, many pages turning our eyes toward the beautiful yet neglected or underappreciated parts of Thailand, all the while reminding us of the potential for abuse that is may be latent in even the gentlest of tourists. Cummings book is simply not designed for the tourist who deplanes in Bangkok already drooling after the "delights" available in some neon-illuminated corners of this othewise beautiful, hospitable country filled with many, many thoughtful, kind, and decent people. Those tourists who would dismiss Cummings' commentary generally don't need a guidebook anyway. For them, everything they want out of Thailand will be offered in all its sleazy glory as soon as the touts see the glint in their eyes and their tongues hanging out. The third copy I have purchased of Cummings' thoughtful book will be in my hand this January when I get to Thailand. Previous editions have guided me and my family on the most memorable (and inexpensive) trips we have ever taken. This book makes it possible to enjoy Thailand with a fullness and richness that other guides can't match.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Couldn't have been better. I use Lonely Planet books as a loose guide to give me background information as a base for myself to build upon. I don't follow it like a bible, because then one is not being as spontaneous, curious, or as individualistic as they perhaps should be when traveling abroad. This Lonely Planet edition for Thailand had accurate information on accomadation, pricing, culture, food, language, religion, and historical background. Great "atmosphere" descriptions. The maps of the cities and towns were very helpful. I think the author Joe Cummings, did an excellent job as well as those who assisted. (Avoid tourist-trap, phony areas that are fake, and want your Baht.) It took me six years to return to Thailand, my favorite country in the world. How could I have taken so long? I will not make this mistake again. Best people, food, and culture in the world in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: With Love from Thailand
Review: I have just returned from a trip to Thailand, where this Lonely Planet has served me extremely well in creating a fascinating trip. Unlike other Lonely Planet guides, this one seems to go above the level of catering backpackers alone. The information provided will help all travellers, from those who seek to taste each and every experience the hard way, to those who look for a remote control like excursion. Helpful information on places to stay and places to eat proved to be extremely accurate, which is quite a surprise for any guide book (I'm used to paying more and receiving less than the guide says). The book has its down sides, though. By trying to be thorough and guide the reader through all the important sites, it fails to give the necessery weight to places of less importance but more charm. If we take Bangkok, for example, it seemed to me too much space was dedicated to the temples, with which I soon grew bored, while other charming venues were neglected. However, the book's attractiveness comes mainly from the fact it is quite obvious the author is in love with the items he writes about. This love gives the reader a personal angle when reading the book, and it is this love that makes this book your best guide to Thailand.
Rating: 
Summary: same old, same old
Review: I enjoy writing, but this crummy book isn't even worth the effort. I noticed that amazon.com removed the 9th edition book, and all the reviews that went with it, possibly to try to help Lonely Planet, which is truly a faint and sad shadow of it's former, ancient (1980's) self.
This book just repeats the same old info and "who cares?" attitude of the 9th edition.
What the heck ever happened to LP I don't know, but they have changed from an inspired company to a cynical company that appears to not care about anything much anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Book - Skimpy Details
Review: I was disappointed with this Lonely Planet book. I bought this guidebook because it was the most up-to-date. In general, I found the descriptions of hostels and hotels and restaurants to be so skimpy as to be completely unhelpful to the reader. The descriptions of the sights was less skimpy but still unsatisfying. I also brought along a Rough Guides guidebook. While it was a few years older than Lonely Planet, its descriptions were far superior. Buy the Rough Guides instead of the Lonely Planet.
Rating:
Summary: Quantity but no quality
Review: What a vast book. But what lack of discernment. We were directed to a whorehouse insetad of a nightclub, a number of cockroach and mould infested dives instead of 'clean' (a ubiquitous adjective in this book) budget hotels. We also fell victimn to Joe Cummings's apparent hidden commercial agenda - he seems to want to appeal to all tourist tastes, dishing out very dubious information on the Thai sex industry, assuring us that it is no worse than the U.S or India whilst directing us to traditional massage places in Bangkok offering far more than massages. He also tries to make out that Pattaya is not merely a sex resort. Worst of all is the tone. Much of the information is communicated in a pompous style that says as much about the author's high opinion of himself as it does about Thailand. After a number of disappointments we have now switched to more considered guide book series from Cadogan or Footprint.
|
