Bangkok

View other editions of Bangkok.
View books by Joe Cummings, China Williams.

Could be much better - Rated
Whilst LP guides are generally of a high standard compared to most guide books I think it is fair to say that the quality of information varies considerably between different LP guides. It is a real shame as Bangkok is such a fascinating city but in my view the LP Bangkok guide falls towards the lower end of the scale. Essentially the book seems to consist of taking the Bangkok section and the general info parts of the LP Thailand Guide book, making the maps more colourful and then wrapping them in a 'Bangkok guide' cover - it really doesn't seem to add anything more than the country guide would give you. Compare this for example with the LP guide to London which is much more detailed than the London section of the LP Britain guide. It is a very comprehensive guide to London rather than something suitable if you're just stay for a few days - surely this is what the Bangkok guide should be like? There are a couple of other areas where the BKK guide lets itself down. Firstly inaccuracies are not uncommon (after 3 days of using it I could point out many of them - Lumphini Park metro station is not where the LP map says it is, the Hilton Hotel is no longer there, etc. and this is for a newly published edition - one wonders why LP can't do the checking properly). The second is the new format that LP seem to have opted for on their newly published guidebooks (admittedly a point that applies beyond the BKK guide) which seems to try to move the guides more towards the mid-range market by adopting a style more like the excellent Time Out City Guides. The problems is the BKK guide doesn't do this as well as the Time Out BKK guide and at the same time loses a lot of its user-friendliness and order that the previous edition had. Finally LP in general could do to improve their restaurant expertise if they are aiming to more up-market.

This is all a shame because Joe Cummings is definately a real Thai guru and knows more about the place than I will surely ever know - with Joe's knowledge and Bangkok's amazing intensity and variety this book could be so much better.

LP could and should make this guide more detailed, more accurate and revert to their old style. Until then I would recommend getting the Thailand country guide and then, if you are staying in BKK for more than a week, getting the Time Out Guide to Bangkok to give more in depth city info.

Lonely Planet is still the best; Joe is one of their top 3. - Rated
Any travel guide is out of date before it's printed, L.P. is no exception. L.P. Bangkok is still compact, very current, and speaking as a resident in the Pacific Rim, quite useful. The City Guides blend a "coffee table" book feel with useful info for backpackers, ex-pats, and "silk sheet set" tourists.

Any Thai guide must address the flesh trade without sounding a dinner bell for sex tourists, and Joe seems to walk this line nicely. (L.P. always seems to discourage travel for sex & drugs, though rock and roll seems to always merit it's own section.)

RE: Other L.P. Thai guides The On A Shoestring guides are always the most bang-for-your buck, and always a damned good idea for border excursions. If you've got the bucks, I don't think that all 4 formats (City Guide, Travel Survival Kit, On A Shoestring, and Phrase Book) are excessive. My only regret is that the Tokyo City Guide is now in a "standard" format, not the "shirt-pocket" size of the previous editions, nor the "mini" of the phrasebooks. I hope that the other guides retain their current size.