Let's Go: Thailand

I generally take at least two guides when going on a trip to a place I don't know anything about. For Southeast Asia, Lonely Planet is a necessity. However, I like Let's Go too - and it's nice to have a different perspective on things and places. And they sometimes fill in each others' gaps in information.

Normally, I would have bought Lonely Planet, but their Thailand book was almost 3 years old, so I went with the more recently published Let's Go. I have never been a fan of Let's Go, but was surprised by how useful this book turned out. It's coverage of the country is less inclusive than Lonely Planet, so it is only really useful for short-term touring of the country. My trip was only 2 weeks long, which was fine for this book. It is printed on very lightweight paper, so the book itself is probably half the weight of the LP guidebook. While Lonely Planet remains the best source for encyclopedic information such as population sizes for cities, it rarely provides very much opinion. This Let's Go book filled in that gap, providing frank, fair critiques of the various places to travel in Thailand. This helped me figure out if a particular place was worth going to. It was particularily good at steering me away from places that were overly developed or catered too much to the package Luxury tour crowd. Even if you end up getting Lonely Planet, I still think the Let's Go Thailand book is cheap enough (and lightweight enough) that it is worth taking along as a second opinion.

I had an all-too-short vacation in Thailand this year, spending a week in Chiang Mai during the Thai new year. This book was my companion and a crutch for someone who speaks very little Thai, and knew little of the country. No book can take the place of courageously adventuring through a new land, but this one helps negotiate your adventures, helps you understand the people you are visiting, and find your way through a culture with fewer mis-steps, and perhaps helps the traveler avoid offending his temporary hosts.