The Rough Guide to Thailand - 5th Edition (Paperback)

A Rough Guide Map Thailand by Rough Guides 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)

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Product Description
The Rough Guide to Thailand is the most discerning and accessible handbook to this intriguing country. A 24-page full colour section introduces the country, its climate, regions and culture and full colour spreads highlight the best of the activities, events and sights. There is evocative coverage of all the sights in opinionated write-ups, including the best beaches and islands, and critical reviews of places to stay, eat and drink. The authors give expert advice on activities ranging from trekking to spa treatments, and from scuba-diving to cookery courses. For every region and town, there are detailed maps, pin-pointing the accommodation and restaurant listings. Finally, in the Contexts section, there is an in-depth discussion of Thailand's history, religion, wildlife, music and cinema.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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8 Reviews 5 star:  (4) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   26 of 28 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need except your passport, 4 Mar 2004 By  simon gurney - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Thailand: The Rough Guide (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback) 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. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Although, I couldn't go to everywhere in the book this left me thirsty for more!, 29 Dec 2007 By  C. Frost "Charlie Frost" (Sheffield, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    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! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   13 of 16 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother with the 'Lonely Planet ' guides, 19 Sep 2006 By  Mr. James A. Newton (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    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. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 8 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars VERY GOOD INFO I went to Thailand for the first time a week ago. I couldn't use the book to its full due to the Tsunami. Read more Published on 14 Jan 2005 by R. Farrelly 4.0 out of 5 stars Buy the Rough Guide too... Lonely Planet guides tend not to be quite as in depth as the Rough Guide equivalents, and this is no exception. Read more Published on 27 Aug 2003 by edwardashby 5.0 out of 5 stars a must for all visitors to thailand we found this book a great help as neither myself or my wife have visited thailand before.All the help you could wish for the trip of a lifetime. Read more Published on 12 Jan 2002 by jerrybugden@aol.com 3.0 out of 5 stars Buy a different guide I took the Rough Guide to Thailand on a trip to Bangkok, Phuket and Koh Samui (Jan 2001). It was OK for some of the nitty gritty - seasonal weather and other generic stuff. Read more Published on 27 Feb 2001 by adow@dowmedia.com 4.0 out of 5 stars A very useful travel tool We used this book in Aug 99' whilst travelling in Bangkok, Chang Mai and Phuket and found it very useful both in finding restaurants and explaining some of the sights worth and... Read more Published on 8 Sep 1999 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 8 customer reviews...

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