GREAT READS

 

FICTION SET IN THAILAND

 

 Christopher G Moore, prolific Canadian-born Bangkok-resident author.

Land of Smiles Trilogy, a "behind the smiles" study of Bangkok expats and the bar scene.
  • A Killing Smile (1991)
  • A Bewitching Smile (1992)
  • A Haunting Smile (1993)
Vincent Calvino PI Series, a private detective in Bangkok
  • Paying Jack Back
  • Asia Hand
  • Spirit House
  • The Big Weird
  • Cut Out
  • Comfort Zone
  • Cold Hit
  • Minor Wife
  • Pattaya 24/7
  • The Corruptionist
  • The Risk of Infidelity Index
  • 9 Gold Bullets
Other works by Christopher G. Moore:
  • God of Darkness, about an expat working in the telecommunications industry, his Thai girlfriend and her hi-so family
  • Gambling on Magic, a thriller set in Bangkok where an expat is caught up in a web of deception and betrayal
  • Chairs, a collection of 16 short stories

John Burdett's series of thrillers, starring mystical Thai police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep

  • Bangkok 8
  • Bangkok Tattoo
  • Bangkok Haunts
  • The Godfather of Kathmandu

Stephen Leather, bestselling English author

  • Private Dancer, a compelling story of an English travel writer's relationship with a Bangkok bargirl
  • Bangkok Bob & The Missing Mormon

Colin Piprell

  • Kicking Dogs

Dean Barrett, numerous works including

  • Kingdom of Make-believe: A Novel of Thailand
  • Skytrain to Murder   
  • Memoirs of a Bangkok Warrior

Jake Needham

  • The Big Mango
  • Killing Plato
  • Laundry Man (aka Tea Money)
  • The Ambassador's Wife

David Thompson

  • Farang

Andrew Hicks

  • Thai Girl, the story of an unrequited love affair between a young English backpacker and a massage girl on Koh Samet

J.F. Gump

Tropical Heat Trilogy, about American expats and their Thai relationships in the Pattaya bar scene

  • Even Thai Girls Cry (aka Siam Nights)
  • The Farang Affair (aka Cold Rain)
  • One High Season (aka Tears for the Thai Girl)

David Young

  • Fast Eddie's Lucky 7 A Go Go, set in Chiang Mai

Sudassa Onkom

  • Fruit of Karma English translation of a classic work of Thai Buddhist literature, a novelization of the life and teachings of Luang Por Jaran

Timothy Hallinan

Poke Rafferty thrillers
  • The Queen of Patpong
  • A Nail Through the Heart
  • Breathing Water
  • Fourth Watcher

Colin Cotterill

  • Killed at the Whim of a Hat, start of a new series starring Jimm Juree, a former crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail who ends up in Maprao in southern Thailand. (Cotterill is a cult favourite with his Dr. Siri mysteries set in Laos in the 1970s.)

S.P. Somtow, Thai-American classical musical composer and award-winning author

  • Jasmine Nights, an unconventional coming-of-age story set in Bangkok in the 1960s
  • The Other City of Angels

Jerry Hopkins

  • Bangkok Babylon In the colorful tradition of Orwell and Hemingway, Maugham and Theroux, Jerry Hopkins recalls his first decade as a Bangkok expatriate by profiling twenty-five of the city's most unforgettable characters.

R.D. Lawrence

  • Pole Dancer Just like thousands of other impoverished country girls in the Land of Smiles, Joy eked out a living in the world of Bangkok nightlife. But then, out of the blue, she found her prayers were being answered.

Rattawut Lapcharoensap

  • Sightseeing, a beautifully-written, award-winning collection of short stories of Thai family bonds, youthful romance, generational conflicts and cultural shiftings. Young author was born in Chicago, raised in Bangkok, and now lives in New York.


 

NON-FICTION ABOUT THAILAND

 

Lawrence Osborne

  • Bangkok Days

Warren Fellow

  • Twelve Years of Hell in a Bangkok prison

Sandra Gregory

  • Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton

David McMillan

  • Escape

Jon Cole

  • Bangkok Hard Time The surreal true story of how a Western teenager came of age in 1960s Bangkok, turned international drug smuggler and walked the prison yards of Thailand’s notorious “Bangkok Hilton”

Bua Boonmee

  • Miss Bangkok, a vivid, powerful and moving memoir of a life spent in prostitution in Thailand.
Robert Cooper & Nathapa Cooper
  • Culture Shock Thailand: A Survival Guide to Custom and Etiquette. If you don’t wish to feel like a stranger in a strange, strange land, this book will prepare you for tips on how to avoid making any mistakes of customs or etiquette.

Chris Baker & Pasuk Phongpaichit

  • A History of Thailand covers the last several centuries of Thailand's colorful history, including its colonial era struggles, the role it played in the Cold War and its transformation into a modern industrial nation.

 James O'Reilly

  • Travellers Tales Thailand What are the best times to go, where are the best sites and how can you make the trip better? True travellers tales to help you plan your trip!

Jerry Hopkins

  • Thailand Confidential. A humorous, yet still helpful guide to either living in or visiting Thailand, Jerry does his witty best to dismantle the sometimes unfathomable secrets behind life in the "Land of Smiles." 

 Panurat Poladitmontr

  • Beautiful Cookbook  by Panurat Poladitmontr's  helps explore the range of dishes that vary from the different regions of Thailand.