I’ve read a number of very good books on Thailand and still have a fair amount that I’d like to read, but overall I’m surprised at a relative lack of things to read here, considering how big and popular a country it is. A good chunk of what I want to read is out of print and hard to find. Maybe India (where I’ve spent most of the past decade) has spoiled me in the book department. I feel that after a few more visits to Thailand I’ll have exhausted my supply of books that interest me and will be left with academic history articles and trashy fiction about bar dancers. One of those isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’ll leave you to wonder which.
While I may be at risk of running out of good Thailand books to read in the next half decade, you probably aren’t, so none of that really matters. I’ve got a lot of good recommendations for you in every category and will continue to update this on future trips. I also hope that the Thai translation scene picks up a little more. I love browsing Thai bookstores with my Google Translator app open and looking at the local books. How good any of it is, I don’t know, but I see a lot of Thai books, both fiction and non-fiction, that look interesting and cover material that I never see in the stuff that comes out in English (I want someone to translate Wisit Sasanatieng’s Ayutthaya swordsman novel). Thai book covers are really awesome, too. Browsing the local book stores is a recommended activity when you’re in Thailand.
I try to buy books before I come to Thailand. Though Thai books in Thailand are very cheap, English books tend to be pretty expensive, more than they’d cost if getting them from Amazon in the U.S. or in India (where I usually come from). Still, there are books I’ve found at local bookstores on each trip that I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise and are probably pretty hard to find abroad, and I’m happy to support the local book stores when I can.
Bangkok has some nice giant book stores like Kinokuniya and Asia Books (Kinokuniya stores are nicer and grander but I’m really happy with some of my discoveries at Asia Books too), and Bangkok and Chiang Mai have some nice mostly English language independent stores (clustered in touristy/expat areas, and I’d expect a few other expat heavy places like Phuket to have them as well), usually with a small Thailand section.
In most of the country you won’t find a lot of English books, but you can still use Shopee, which is the closest thing they have to Amazon and where the books are usually cheaper than in the stores. I find their website annoying, though, and their search feature sucks. Usually googling “shopee” and the name of the book I want works better, though it’s still inconsistent. Sometimes I only find the books I want in the related books section on Shopee. The most value I’ve gotten out of Shopee, though, is in browsing Thai books and translating the descriptions. That’s been fun. My wife really likes Shopee for things I don’t understand like clothes, jewelry, cutesy stickers, slick looking but cheap Chinese-made blenders that break after a month, etc.
For further resources, I don’t know of anyone who writes about Thailand books regularly, but I found one great list from 2007, obviously out of date but still useful, on the Fodors message board. It’s the second comment by someone named glorialf. I want to track them down and get an updated list.
As for interesting local publishers, River Books and Silkworm are two that I’ve taken note of. They both have a mix of everything, a bit of fiction, non-fiction on obscure subjects, etc.
Moving onto my recommendations, I’ve broken this up into four sections:
Non-Fiction
Translated Thai-Language Fiction
Thai Folk Stories, Myths, Legends, Epic Poems, Etc
English Language Fiction Set in Thailand
Any recommendations in any categories are appreciated.
Also, this isn’t reading material, but since I have no better place to write about this, I also want to give a special mention here to the Bangkok Podcast (website here, I just listen in the podcast app on my iPhone). I don’t spend much time listening to podcasts but every time I’m in Thailand I listen to a number of episodes and always enjoy them. The hosts are smart guys, knowledgeable about Thailand, and are entertaining speakers. Whenever I’m back in Thailand, I’m always happy to get back to the podcast.
A lot of episodes are very lightweight, with the hosts mainly just shooting the breeze about the city/country, and I always enjoy this even if it’s not high level stuff. I like listening to them talk about different neighborhoods and shopping at 7/11 and whatever else. They also have many episodes where they go deeper into specific topics, often with guests. Not all of the topics interest me, but there were some I loved, especially the history episodes, which have been a great introduction and review for me. Notable guests have included Chris Baker, and there was an interesting series of episodes with historian duo Paul and Yuangrat Wedel who talk about the Sakdina system, a sort of caste system in Thailand that I hadn’t previously heard of. Some history episodes I’ve really liked without guests have been one on Phibunsongkhram and another on the Blue Diamond Affair. The episodes on Thai politics are enjoyable and accessible. There are some fun food episodes with the writer of the Hot Thai Kitchen newsletter. Some topics they’ve covered that I haven’t listened to but that others may find interesting are Buddhism and linguistics. Whatever you’re interested in, you’ll probably find something of value in the podcast, so just search through the archives!
Non-Fiction
I surprisingly don’t come across a ton of popular/commercial/mainstream non-fiction books on Thailand. Most of the good looking books out there are academic, which is unfortunate because they’re expensive and hard to find. Also… they’re boring. That’s okay for some of us, though, and there are still a few really good non-academic Thailand books to read.
For starters, though, I want to highlight a wonderful blog called Siam Rat, which has excellent history articles on Thailand and its neighbors. I highly recommend browsing through it, and if you’re taking a trip to Thailand and want to learn about its history and culture, I’d recommend reading an article or two a day rather than reading a history book. The articles give a great look into the country’s history, often by honing in on something specific, providing a lot of context while also being full of smaller stories that bring the history and often specific places to life.
Some highlights are The Remarkable History of the Portuguese in Thailand, a film history article, an article on the teak industry (especially relevant if you visit northern Thailand) and relatedly on Thailand’s “gingerbread houses.” Some interesting sounding ones I’ve yet to read are on astronomy in Thailand and the name change from Siam to Thailand. I find the blog especially useful as a repeat long stay visitor in Bangkok as there are a number of great posts that delve into “minor” sites that the average tourist doesn’t need to see but are still really interesting nonetheless. Some great Bangkok articles, which are worthwhile even if you don’t have time to visit all of the mentioned sites, include one on Bangkok’s Italian architects,