Hello, i'm reading a book called the western mystique just now. I'm not finished so not sure whether to recommend it or not. It's basically about the history of east west relationships.
Can anyone recommend any good books about Thailand? I dont mean tourist guides, I mean books about it's seedier side for want of a better word.
There's a book called the Patpong Sisters but from the reviews other people have left on amazon it doesn't appear very good. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...094270-8594308
Any recommendations along thse lines?
Go to Bookazine (any branch)--they have a section with these types of books. I can't recommend any one in particular because I don't think a fat boring idiot's account of his failed marriage to a 3rd grade educated bar girl to be very interesting, or relevant.
Ever see a common thread throughout these books foreigners write about the seedier side of Thailand? It's as if they checked their brains in at Don Muang.
banging the gong...
Yeah thats the concern I have, it's hard to find an impartial account.
Thats why I'm hoping this book the Asian Mystique will prove a bit better, it certsainly seems better written so far. Here's a link for those interested. Doesn't apear to be a synopsis but i'm sure you could find one.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...094270-8594308
One book I enjoyed and found very informative was The Thai and I - Successful living in Thailand.
The author(s) seem to be Roger Welty and Community Services Bangkok.
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people seem to be digging "private dancer", a look at foreign-bargirl relationships.
meant to be pretty good, don't think i'll bother tho.
"...ever wonder why they kill the weak ones, baby?"
private dancer is a free download as well which is good.
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I enjoyed "Sukhumvit Road" by David Young. Funny stuff.
none of them so far - they've all been a bit samey - Bangkok books and the like - one was ok, about Thailand in the '50s, 'Freedom Highway,' forget who wrote it.
the answer to the secret of the universe is the secret itself
and the secret is.........................................it isn't there
grasshopper 2008
This is a GREAT book for Western guys who may get romantically involved with Thai women: http://thailandfever.com/
I have a mate who thought it was wonderful. Browsed through his copy... bone-headed, predictable, breathtakingly tedious and moronically self-congratulatory. Utter, utter shite. If I wrote a book asserting that if you put your hand on a hot stove it will hurt, would people acclaim me as a genius?people seem to be digging "private dancer", a look at foreign-bargirl relationships.
Ever see a common thread throughout these books foreigners write about the seedier side of Thailand? It's as if they checked their brains in at Don Muang.
Or would you like to swing on a star?
The original (and in my opinion still the best) novel on the relationship between an innocent farang and a Thai lady is "Woman of Bangkok", by Jack Reynolds.
"Letters from Thailand" , by Botan, covers the marriage of convenience between the indigenous Thais and the Chinese immigrants.
I am at present reading "Sightseeing" , by Rattawut Lapcharoensap. This is a series of short stories, set mostly on a fictitious island on the south of Thailand.
The book gives a very good indication of the mindset of a young, educated Thai; and also shows how some farang are perceived by Thai people.
This author, writing in English - his second language - makes the current farang 'bards of Sukhumwit' seem like fifth-graders.
The blurb tells me that Rattawut was born in 1979, and educated at Triam Udom Pattanakarn, Cornell University and the University of Michigan.
If anyone reading this was teaching at Triam Udom when Rattawut was a student there, they can feel justly proud. It's having just one student like this that makes one's lifetime as a teacher worthwhile; an admirable counterweight to the accountants, lawyers and business-people who populate our ESL classrooms.
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