When his girlfriend takes a job in Thailand, Mischa Berlinski goes along for the ride, planning to enjoy himself and work as little as possible. But one evening a fellow expatriate tips him off to a story: a charismatic American anthropologist, Martiya van der Leun, has been found dead--a suicide--in the Thai prison where she was serving a life sentence for murder. Curious at first, Mischa is soon immersed in the details of her story. This brilliant, haunting novel expands into a mystery set among the Thai hill tribes, whose way of life became a battleground for the missionaries and the scientists living among them.
Anna Leonowens, a proper Englishwoman, was an unlikley candidate to change the course of Siamese (Thai) history. A young widow and mother, her services were engaged in the 1860's by King Mongkut of Siam to help him communicate with foreign governments and be the tutor to his children and favored concubines. Stepping off the steamer from London, Anna found herself in an exotic land she could have only dreamed of lush landscape of mystic faiths and curious people, and king's palace bustling with royal pageantry, ancient custom, and harems. One of her pupils, the young prince Chulalongkorn, was particularly influenced by Leonowens and her Western ideals. He learned about Abraham Lincoln and the tenets of democracy from her, and years later he would become Siam's most progressive king. He guided the country's transformation from a feudal state to a modern society, abolshing slavery and making many other radical reforms.
Weaving meticulously researched facts with beautifully imagined scenes, Margret Landon recreates an unforgettable portrait of life in a forgotten extotic land. Written more than fifty years ago, and translated into dozens of languages, Anna and the King of Siam (the inspiration for the magical play and film The King and I)continues to delight and enchant readers around the world.
Author: Margaret Landon
Paperback:
416 pages
Company: Harper Paperbacks
(1999-12-01)
(1999-11-03)
ISBN: 0060954884 List Price: $14.95 Amazon Price: $6.00 Used Price: $0.01
Bangkok--a city of heady contradictions--inspires Lara McClintoch's sense of adventure and her impressive sleuthing skills when a fellow antiques dealer disappears without a trace.
Author: Lyn Hamilton
Paperback:
288 pages
Company: Berkley
(2004-03-02)
(2004-03-02)
ISBN: 0425194876 List Price: $7.99 Amazon Price: $2.49 Used Price: $0.01
In his new work, Michel Houellebecq combines erotic provocation with a terrifying vision of a world teetering between satiety and fanaticism, to create one of the most shocking, hypnotic, and intelligent novels in years.
In his early forties, Michel Renault skims through his days with as little human contact as possible. But following his father’s death he takes a group holiday to Thailand where he meets a travel agent—the shyly compelling Valérie—who begins to bring this half-dead man to life with sex of escalating intensity and audacity. Arcing with dreamlike swiftness from Paris to Pattaya Beach and from sex clubs to a terrorist massacre, Platform is a brilliant, apocalyptic masterpiece by a man who is widely regarded as one of the world’s most original and daring writers.
Author: Michel Houellebecq, Frank Wynne
Paperback:
272 pages
Company: Vintage
(2004-07-13)
(2004-07-13)
ISBN: 1400030269 List Price: $14.00 Amazon Price: $8.02 Used Price: $2.38
Author: Dean Barrett
Paperback:
245 pages
Company: Village East Books
(2004-08)
ISBN: 0966189981 List Price: $11.95 Amazon Price: $7.20 Used Price: $5.89
From the author of Moist and Delicious comes a raucous comic thriller where anything goes. Turk Henry, an overweight, unemployed rock star married to a supermodel, has discovered that Thailand is probably the last place a recovering sex addict should go on vacation, yet here he is, surrounded by topless groupies and haunted by the stares of hundreds of luscious bar girls. Turk’s struggles with monogamy, however, pale beside a greater challenge when his wife is abducted by a group of renegade, shipless Thai pirates. As Turk, his life skills limited to playing bass and partying, navigates the back alleys of Bangkok and the deadly jungles of Southeast Asia to save his wife, Salty heats up and sweats bullets. Featuring skinflint American tourists, topless beaches, a hypochondriac U.S. government agent, suitcases loaded with cash, an overeager full-service personal assistant, a horny Australian commando, inventive prostitutes, and an urbane pirate with a fetish for alabaster skin, this is a hilariously entertaining, thoroughly debauched caper novel — with a happy finish.
Author: Mark Haskell Smith
Paperback:
320 pages
Company: Grove Press, Black Cat
(2007-06-10)
ISBN: 080217034X List Price: $14.00 Amazon Price: $3.84 Used Price: $3.66
From the author of the best seller Bangkok 8, a head-spinning new novel that puts us back in the company of the inimitable Royal Thai Police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep.
We return to District 8—the underbelly of Bangkok’s underworld—where a dramatically mutilated dead body is found. It’s bad: he was CIA. It gets worse: the murderer appears to be Chanya—a tough, sweet working girl who’s the highest earner at The Old Man’s Club, jointly owned by Sonchai’s mother and his boss, Police Colonel Vikorn.
Alerted by Sonchai, Vikorn quickly concocts a cover-up that involves Al Qaeda and Thailand’s porous southern border where, since 9/11, the CIA has been an obviously covert presence. But the truth will be harder to come by, and it will require Sonchai to find an ever-more-delicate balance between his ambition and his Buddhism, while running the gamut of Bangkok’s drug dealers, prostitutes, bad cops, worse military, and the pitfalls of his own melting heart (Chanya!)—most of which he can handle. But even Sonchai is not prepared for what he discovers at the end of his investigation.
Piercingly smart and funny, densely atmospheric, and—as we already know to expect from John Burdett—packing a surprise at every turn, Bangkok Tattoo is sensational.
Author: John Burdett
Hardcover:
320 pages
Company: Knopf
(2005-05-10)
(2005-05-10)
ISBN: 1400040450 List Price: $24.00 Amazon Price: $8.44 Used Price: $0.03
One of the most widely reviewed debuts of the year, Sightseeing is a masterful story collection by an award-winning young author. Set in contemporary Thailand, these are generous, radiant tales of family bonds, youthful romance, generational conflicts and cultural shiftings beneath the glossy surface of a warm, Edenic setting. Written with exceptional acuity, grace and sophistication, the stories present a nation far removed from its exoticized stereotypes. In the prize-winning opening story "Farangs," the son of a beachside motel owner commits the cardinal sin of falling for a pretty American tourist. In the novella, "Cockfighter," a young girl witnesses her proud father's valiant but foolhardy battle against a local delinquent whose family has a vicious stranglehold on the villagers. Through his vivid assemblage of parents and children, natives and transients, ardent lovers and sworn enemies, Lapcharoensap dares us to look with new eyes at the circumstances that shape our views and the prejudices that form our blind spots. Gorgeous and lush, painful and candid, Sightseeing is an extraordinary reading experience, one that powerfully reveals that when it comes to how we respond to pain, anger, hurt, and love, no place is too far from home.
Author: Rattawut Lapcharoensap
Paperback:
272 pages
Company: Grove Press
(2005-12-12)
ISBN: 0802142346 List Price: $12.00 Amazon Price: $3.84 Used Price: $2.06
When a U.S. Marine is killed in Bangkok, the task of finding the murderer falls to Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, seemingly the only member of the Royal Thai Police Force whose idea of justice precludes his fellow officers' customary system of bribery. This assignment's especially important to the devout detective for during the investigation of the murder scene, the methamphetamine-stoked snakes that bit the marine also kill Sonchai's police partner, best friend, and Buddhist soul-mate Pichai. Sonchai's pursuit of revenge will team him with a sexually frustrated FBI agent and leave them at the mercy of yaa-baa-fueled motorcycle-taxi drivers as they hurtle through neon-lit Bangkok and into the labyrinthine and deadly machinations of the international jade and drug trades in search of the killer.
As Sonchai himself notes at one point, "This isn't a whodunit, is it?" And, no, it isn't, but author John Burdett (A Personal History of Thirst, The Last Six Million Seconds) infuses the plot with enough suspense, detail, and dry Asian insight to keep readers rapt as the story careens about the bars and brothels of Thailand's flesh trade, through its cut-rate plastic surgery parlors, and ends in a climax with a fittingly Buddhist twist. Bangkok 8 is highly recommended for readers in the mood for Thai. --Benjamin Reese
Author: John Burdett
Hardcover:
336 pages
Company: Knopf
(2003-06-03)
(2003-06-03)
ISBN: 1400040442 List Price: $24.00 Amazon Price: $4.61 Used Price: $0.62
Author: Dean Barrett
Paperback:
272 pages
Company: Village East Books
(1999-07-15)
ISBN: 0966189906 List Price: $11.95 Amazon Price: $6.92 Used Price: $0.50
Anna Leonownes' memoir of her six year as a governess in the Royal Palace of Bangkok was the inspiration for the beloved Broadway musical The king and I, as well as two award-winning films. First published in 1870, Leonowens' memoir is the true story of a proper English governess who is hired by the King of Siam to tutor his many children. A delightful portrait of an unlikely friendship between two headstrong personalities, it is also a revealing peak at two very different cultures.
Author: Anna Leonowens
Mass Market Paperback:
320 pages
Company: Tor Books
(1999-11-15)
ISBN: 0812570626 List Price: $4.99 Amazon Price: $4.43 Used Price: $0.01
Hmong culture has had an oral tradition for millennia, but the language itself did not even exist in written form until the 1950s. Compiled by famed author and storyteller Norma Livo and coauthor, Dia Cha, this is the first collection of authentic Hmong tales to be published commercially in the English language. Beginning with a description of Hmong history, culture, and folklore, the book includes 16 pages of full-color photographs of Hmong dress and needlework and 27 captivating tales divided into three sections: beginnings; how/why stories; and stories of love, magic, and fun. Appropriate for high school and adult readers, with selected stories appropriate for younger children, this collection is an important addition to multicultural units.
Author: Norma J. Livo, Dia Cha
Hardcover:
135 pages
Company: Libraries Unlimited
(1991-09-15)
ISBN: 0872878546 List Price: $40.00 Amazon Price: $35.95 Used Price: $9.35
The parched yellow fields outside the village where seventeen-year-old Jinda lives are her family's only source of income. How can the rain-starved crop produce enough rice to feed them, much less pay the rent? Perhaps the recently arrived young strangers from the city are right about the need for centuries-old traditions to change. At least when she listens to their talk, she feels the stirrings of hope...
Hesitantly, Jinga grows to trust the outsiders. There is Sri, who brings with her life-saving medicines and knowledge of how to use them. And there is Ned, who talks of taking charge of one's own destiny, and fighting those who would stand in the way. It is almost too late when Jinda realizes that her trust is misplaced -- that to Sri and Ned their cause is more important than the lives it would affect. Against a vividly evoked backdrop of rural and urban Thailand, Jinda heroically faces the challenges of holding on to who she is as the world around her revolves in what seems to be never-ending change.
Hardcover:
256 pages
Company: HarperCollins
(1990-05-28)
(1990-05-28)
ISBN: 0688063551 List Price: $17.99 Amazon Price: $4.50 Used Price: $0.70
Author: Anna Harriette Leonowens
Paperback:
285 pages
Company: University Press of Virginia
(1991-08-01)
ISBN: 0813913284 List Price: $18.50 Amazon Price: $13.00 Used Price: $3.94
Robert Charles Wilson is an accomplished and acclaimed writer with an impressive body of work. The Chronoliths is his best novel yet, an intelligent, fascinating, and frightening account of a unique incarnation of time travel.
American software developer Scott Warden is living a careless expatriate life on the beaches of 21st century Thailand when a monolithic pillar, sheathed in ice and composed of an unknown, indestructible material, appears in the jungle. The artifact is a chronolith, a memorial commemorating the conquest of Thailand--20 years in the future. As Warden follows his estranged wife and badly injured daughter back to the U.S., more chronoliths celebrating future victories appear, to devastating effect. Bangkok and Jerusalem are destroyed, and societies worldwide dissolve in chaos or teeter on the brink of collapse. As the chronoliths close in on America, Scott joins with biker and undercover agent Hitch Paley and experimental physicist Sue Chopra in a literal race against time to find a way to change the future--which has already happened. --Cynthia Ward
Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Hardcover:
256 pages
Import
Company: Tor Books
(2001)
ISBN: 0312873840 List Price: Amazon Price: $45.00 Used Price: $1.90
What do Chris, the narrator, and his two travel buddies, Seb and Leo, have in common with Cuba, Israel, Turkey, and Bulgaria, the main countries they encounter in Bottled Water? They all are in the midst of a profound transition. Right after graduating university the three guys set off for Thailand, where their outlooks on the world and life will, unknown to them, change forever. Soon after the inspirational trip to Asia, Chris finds himself mired in the drudgery of a broken relationship and the relentless nightmare of his career in the financial world. When Chris and his friends figure out how to break away from their jobs and travel again, they are granted another chance to seek out the truth about love, job fulfillment, and the common threads woven through human lives everywhere. The turmoil they witness first-hand in these intense countries and the resulting adventures end up being their ultimate teacher. Bottled Water is replete with wonderment, passion, comedy, and challenges to the human heart of some of the world's most difficult conflicts.
Author: Alexander Holloway
Paperback:
348 pages
Company: Jaunt Publishing
(2006-09-05)
ISBN: 0978777336 List Price: $15.50 Amazon Price: $13.85 Used Price: $13.85
Autumn Seclusion is a serious narrative told through the eyes of a thirty year old woman as she reflects on her life. Many women appear perfect in the eyes of the world, but have underlying fears that remain hidden behind a multitude of closed doors. This is true of the main character in Autumn Seclusion. Spanning a lifetime, the novel details the main character's challenges at home , as well as, the desire for acceptance and unconditional love from those she encounters later in life. Her voyages take you from the tidewater regions of North Carolina to the hidden quest for self-identity in Thailand.
The novel allows the reader to intimately connect with Anna, the main character. Rejection from home and a series of draining, abusive realtionships lead the character to costly decisions and a loss of self-awareness. The rejection begins when the character's family family fails to accept a relationship between their daughter and a Native American from Upstate, New York. Even though the relationship is based on mutual love and respect, the ties at home are severed. Lamenting the loss of her family, the character travels down lonely and winding paths, which eventually forces her to flee the United States to restructure her life.
Autumn Seclusion is a novel that urges the reader to re-evaluate how they view themselves and those they love. Focusing on the evolution of a person's life and the meaning of forgiveness, it will leave you seaching for new colors in each season of your own life. Complimentary of the landscapes of North Carolina and of Thailand, it paints a lasting image in your own mind.
Author: Andrea Ferrell
Paperback:
172 pages
Company: Trafford Publishing
(2007-04-10)
ISBN: 1412040442 List Price: $20.00 Amazon Price: $13.95 Used Price: $13.10
Margaret Read MacDonald, renowned author of more than 15 books on folklore and storytelling, teams up with librarian Supaporn Vathanaprida to present this fascinating folktale collection and introduction to Thai thought. Drawing on memories of her childhood in Northern Thailand, Supaporn shares her tales and comments to help both adults and children understand the surprising world of Thai folklore and culture. The 28 engaging stories show many aspects of the Buddhist worldview in action. Humorous stories, animal tales, teaching tales of Buddhist monks, and tales of amazing magical events that entertain the Thai imagination are included in the collection.
When the original Thai version of Letters from Thailand appeared in Bangkok in 1969, it was promptly awarded the SEATO Prize for Thai Literature. This new English translation reveals it as one of Thailandís most entertaining and enduring modern novels, and one of the few portrayals of the immigrant Chinese experience in urban Thailand.
Letters from Thailand is the story of Tan Suang U, a young man who leaves China to make his fortune in Thailand at the close of World War II, and ends up marrying, raising a family, and operating a successful business. The novel unfolds through his letters to his beloved mother in China.
Author: Botan
Paperback:
350 pages
Company: Silkworm Books
(2002-11)
ISBN: 9747551675 List Price: $17.50 Amazon Price: $12.83 Used Price: $7.99
Author: Dean Barrett
Paperback:
280 pages
Company: Village East Books
(1999-09)
ISBN: 0966189922 List Price: $11.95 Amazon Price: $9.59 Used Price: $6.94
Author: Kamala Tiyavanich
Paperback:
432 pages
Company: University of Hawaii Press
(1997-03)
ISBN: 0824817818 List Price: $30.00 Amazon Price: $21.00 Used Price: $19.95
Running low on funds, ex-CIA agent Scott Sterling moves into an apartment over a Bangkok bar. He teaches scuba diving and does occasional investigative work usually involving missing bargirls or wayward spouses.
But he is soon involved in tracking a murderer through Bangkok's little known world of upper-class gentlemen's clubs, houses of domination and kinky expatriate orgies. Meanwhile, with the help of his muay-Thai trained girlfriend, he attempts to rescue a young girl from thugs in a slum. All the while knowing that his girlfriend might in fact be the murderer.
Author: Dean Barrett
Paperback:
284 pages
Company: Village East Books
(2003-10)
ISBN: 0966189965 List Price: $11.95 Amazon Price: $8.16 Used Price: $7.97
Travel writer Poke Rafferty was good at looking for trouble—so good that he made a little money writing a few offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored. But that was before Bangkok stole his heart. Now the expat American is happily playing family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and with Miaow, the wary street child he wants to adopt. Yet just when everything is beginning to work out, trouble comes looking for Poke in the guise of good intentions. First he takes in Miaow's friend, a troubled and terrifying street urchin named Superman. Then he agrees to find a distraught Aussie woman's missing uncle—and accept an old woman's generous payment to find a blackmailing theif. Soon, these three seemingly disparate events begin to overlap, pulling Poke deeper into dark, unfamiliar terrain. Gradually he realizes that he's been gliding across the surface of a culture he really doesn't understand—and that what he doesn't know is about to hurt him and everyone he loves.
Beautifully crafted, relentlessly paced, A Nail Through the Heart is an exciting and enticing read that will leave readers hungry for more from the gifted Timothy Hallinan.
Author: Timothy Hallinan
Hardcover:
336 pages
Company: William Morrow
(2007-07-01)
(2007-06-26)
ISBN: 0061255807 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $3.95 Used Price: $1.40
In the Place of Origins tells the tale of modernity in Northern Thailand, discerning its oblique signs in the performances of contemporary spirit mediums. In a world driven by the twin fantasies of pastness and newness, Rosalind C. Morris reveals that spirit mediumship is not simply a theater of atavistic tendency but an arena in which it is possible to read the relationships between new forms of representation and subjectivity, as well as new modes of magic and political power. Through her careful examination of the transformations of spirit mediumship wrought by the mass media, Morris takes readers into the world of the northern Thai past to discover the anticipations of future histories. In this process, she finds new objects for anthropological inquiry, including romantic love and epistolary poetry. She then turns her eye toward the relationships between commodification and prosaic form and photography and the discourses of gendered and national identity. Attending to these issues as they manifest themselves in the practices of mediums, Morris describes both the mundane activities of spirit mediums and the grand ambitions to political authority that are embodied in the increasingly spectacular forms of possession that are becoming so popular with both tourists and local culture brokers. In the Place of Origins traverses this ground with accounts of right-wing militarism and ritual revival during the 70s, and of the democracy movement of 1992, when a global mass media was galvanized by images of military repression and the spectacle of traditional ritual power in cursing. Finally, considering the claims that mediums make to magical power in the face of both AIDS and the Asian economic crisis, Morris reveals the potency of extrajudicial forms of power and violence in the late modern era. This provocative study will interest anthropologists, historians, Asianists, and those involved in gender, performance, media, and literary studies.
Author: Rosalind C. Morris, Rosalind C. Morris
Paperback:
380 pages
Company: Duke University Press
(2000-12)
ISBN: 0822325179 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $22.95 Used Price: $12.50
This account of Kosa Panís journal describes in great detail the arrival in Brest in 1686 of the first full Siamese embassy to reach France. This fragment is apparently all that survives of a massive report of the activities of the embassy written for King Narai. It was discovered in Paris in the early 1980s, was published in Thai in 1984, and appears here in English for the first time.
Penn Gwinn and his agency partner, Jim Starret, remained in Thailand after their involvement with the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Viet Nam `non-war'. They opened a saloon for their subsistence, and expected to retire. But the warlord of the Shan State in the Golden Triangle, who is known as the Prince of Darkness, involved them in opium smuggling and in the rivalry between the D.I.A. and the C.I.A. in another of their dirty little inter-agency wars.
When the C.I.A. faces the D.I.A., only the losers win.
Author: Harold R. Miller
Paperback:
185 pages
Company: Taylor-Dth Pub
(2003-01-01)
ISBN: 0971292388 List Price: $8.95 Amazon Price: $8.95
Soldiers become spies, old enemies become friends. This was the politically gray world of Southeast Asia in the sixties. General Al Houer sends a team into harm's way on a mission requiring military and CIA skills, led by Major ETS (Eagle That Soars) and Captain Mark Wilson, both Special Forces veterans of the African Congo uprising of '64, the 1968 Tet offensive and the controversial Phoenix Program. Neither had yet turned 30.
Now as civilians, they are sent to find the Thai war lord, White Horse. The volatile mix of soldiers, politicians, spies, prisoners of war and criminals explodes in the poppy fields. Only the "big spook," Colonel William B. Booth has a chance to extract the team before the Thai government blows up The Third Valley.
Author: Ben Dewitt
Hardcover:
280 pages
Company: Oso Pr
(2000-05-15)
ISBN: 0966538714 List Price: $21.00 Amazon Price: $11.74 Used Price: $6.99
Author: Dean Barrett
Paperback:
179 pages
Company: Village East Books
(2005-04)
ISBN: 096618999X List Price: $11.95 Amazon Price: $7.14 Used Price: $7.00
Years before he became a mythology expert and household name, Joseph Campbell journeyed to India. He was nearly 50, at a career crossroads, and after 10 years studying Indian art and philosophy he was finally going to India seeking the transcendent (Brahman), the mysteries of India. Instead he found the stark realities of baksheesh culture. His journal of those six months is the closest Campbell ever came to an autobiography. It's a diary of his adventures, insights, and ponderings; it's a window into the India of 1954 and the Joseph Campbell of 1954--both are intriguing places to visit.
Author: Joseph Campbell, Stephen Larsen, Robin Larsen, Antony Van Couvering
Hardcover:
314 pages
Company: HarperCollins Publishers
(1995-06)
ISBN: 0060168897 List Price: $25.00 Amazon Price: $4.75 Used Price: $2.52
The Adventure of a Lifetime Becomes an Unimaginable Nightmare. A thrilling new novel from the Every Man series! John Majors and three friends–Mike, Hollis, and Dave–go to Thailand for the eco-adventure of a lifetime rafting on the Pai River. But they find more than they bargained for. From the fleshpot temptations of Bangkok to the beautiful and terrifying environs of Northern Thailand’s vast wilderness areas, they find themselves tested at every turn. When separatist terrorists attempt to kidnap them in the wilderness, the four men are stranded deep in the jungle, pursued by gunmen toting AK-47s, and finally trapped in a cave with nowhere left to turn. If they hope to escape, they must face their deepest fears and put their lives–and their souls–on the line. Their struggle to survive, escape, and experience God’s grace through it all forms a thrilling tale of courage and endurance. Fred Stoeker–one of the men behind the phenomenal Every Man series–and best-selling novelist D. S. Smith join forces to bring you a compelling novel that combines the action and suspense of a thriller with real-life faith and insight for God’s men.
Author: Fred Stoeker, D.W. Smith
Paperback:
352 pages
Company: WaterBrook Press
(2006-04-18)
(2006-04-18)
ISBN: 1400070384 List Price: $13.99 Amazon Price: $0.04 Used Price: $0.01
Here is the real story behind the woman who inspired a bestselling biography, one of the top Broadway musicals of all time, and two classic films--and it's one that will surpirse you. The epic love story between a British governess and the King of Siam once again comes to life with the release of Twentieth Century Fox's Anna and the King starring Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster and international superstar Chow Yun-Fat.
The Story of Anna and the King captures all the nuances of this extraordinary relationship, as well as the extravagant film depicting it, in lush, full-color photographs. Cecelia Holland weaves a beautiful narrative of the true histories behind Anna Leonowens and the Siamese royal family, as well as the political and cultural rises and falls of Siam--present-day Thailand--based on historical information and the published works of Anna Leonowens.
Filmed entirely in Malaysia, Anna and the King features one of the largest motion picture sets ever constructed--the King's Palace, which covers more than eight acres of land. Under the direction of Andy Tennant, an internatonal cast and crew representing more than twenty countries works with a myriad of stunning ornate costumes, thousands of extras, and a menagerie of specially trained animals, The Story of Anna and the Kinginvites you to enter King Mongkut's world.
Author: Cecelia Holland
Paperback:
144 pages
Company: Harper Paperbacks
(2000-01-01)
(1999-12-08)
ISBN: 0061073725 List Price: $23.00 Amazon Price: $4.99 Used Price: $0.14
Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure.
Each "Culture Shock!" title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.
Author: Bea Toews, Robert McGregor
Paperback: Company: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
(2000-10-05)
ISBN: 1558685413 List Price: $13.95 Amazon Price: $11.86 Used Price: $8.00
Mathews, a former CIA agent, delivers the goods in a powerful, atmospheric thriller suggested by the colorful life and mysterious disappearance of Jim Thompson, who served as the first chief of U.S. Intelligence in Bangkok and founded the famed Thai silk company that still bears his name. In the author's telling, Thompson is Jack Broderick, whose grandson Max stakes his claim to the treasure of ancient artifacts and jewels amassed by the Silk King and appropriated by the Thai government after he vanished into the jungle at the height of the Vietnam War. When Max hires Oliver Krane's "risk management" firm to help him secure his legacy, Krane offers the brilliant and beautiful Stefani Fogg an irresistible challenge: prove Max's claim by solving the riddle of who Jack Broderick really was. Cutting back and forth between the past and present, Mathews weaves a fascinating web of intrigue and adventure that encompasses four decades of American involvement in southeast Asia as Krane leads Stefani into a shifting, shadowy world where nothing is ever as it seems, including the truth. The characters are unforgettable, the pacing is impeccable, and the narrative never loses focus despite the complicated plot in a page-turner that richly fulfills the promise of the author's first espionage novel (The Cutout). --Jane Adams
Pridi Banomyong (1900-83) was one of the greatest figures in twentieth-century Thailand. At the age of just twenty-seven, he started the movement which led to the 1932 revolution against Thailand's absolute monarchy. Through the 1930s, he introduced a wide range of reforms in law, local administration, economic policy, and foreign affairs. During the Second World War, he formed the Seri Thai resistance movement against the Japanese occupation. After the war, he served briefly as prime minister and became deeply involved in the politics of the Asian region during decolonization. From 1947 onwards, Pridi was opposed by US-backed militarists who seized power by coup, murdered his associates, overturned many of his liberal reforms, and established dictatorial rule. In 1949 he fled into exile and never returned. Pridi by Pridi contains nineteen selections from Pridi's writings, speeches, and interviews which focus on his personal background and his active political career from 1932 to 1949. They include a new translation of the "outline economic plan" of 1932, which still excites controversy today. They also include first-ever English translations of Pridi's most important writings about the 1932 revolution, the Seri Thai movement, the monarchy, and his contemporaries.
“The moment a Thai lady smiles at you, you know there is a heaven and that it is here in Thailand.” —Kit McCann
This is a true and candid story of Thailand’s sex industry, a story that has never been told from the inside. And here it appears even more outrageous than rumors and myths suggest. It’s the story of the world’s Disneyland of red-light districts, a place where even the moist, warm air feels sexy. Kit McCann, author and confessed sex tourist, charts his own uninhibited rake’s progress through this moonscape of sex and lust, which he knows like the back of his own hand.
Laos Folklore of Northern Siam was originally published in 1899 when the northern and northeastern parts of present-day Thailand were still called Laos. This changed when Prince Damrong created the Thai Nation State as well as a `Thai identity. Hence, the French were only able to lay claim to the territory on the left bank of the Mekong. These folktales were part of the oral cultural tradition, not written down, before the author, a missionary, undertook to preserve this cultural heritage, covering many aspects of rural life in northern Siam.
Author: Katherine Neville Fleeson
Paperback:
153 pages
Company: White Lotus Co Ltd
(2000-09)
ISBN: 9747534312 List Price: $13.50 Amazon Price: $24.97 Used Price: $15.00
The Legend of Queen Cama (Camadevivamsa), an early fifteenth-century Pali chronicle written by Mahathera Bodhiramsi, recounts the story of the founding of the kingdom of Haripunjaya in the Chiang Mai valley of Northern Thailand in the seventh century C.E. Similar to other Theravada Pali chronicles, the legend integrates religious and political stories, namely, Queen Cama's founding of a dynastic lineage and the fortunes of Buddhism within it. The Legend of Queen Cama offers revealing insights into the nature of Buddhism as a living tradition during one of the greatest periods in the history of Thai Buddhism. These insights include the symbolic structure of Buddhist cosmology, the close association of Buddhism and the founding of city states, the interrelationship of popular Buddhist ethical teachings and devotional religion, and the inherently syncretic nature of Buddhism as presented in a text indebted to the folkloric traditions of Northern Thailand.
One of the most striking features of the book is the parallelism between the text's dominant narratives--the Buddha's journey to Northern Thailand and his prediction of the discovery of a Buddha relic by King Adittaraja (eleventh century C.E.), and the founding by Queen Cama of a lineage destined to govern Haripunjaya for five hundred years. The Buddha and Queen Cama are equal partners in this creative, cosmically significant act. Both plant the seeds that mature into a Mon Buddhist politico-cultural center that predates the advent of Thai suzerainty in Northern Thailand by five hundred years.
Author: Bodhiransi, Sommai Premchit, Donald K. Swearer
Paperback:
195 pages
Company: State University of New York Press
(1998-06)
ISBN: 0791437760 List Price: $20.95 Amazon Price: $0.25 Used Price: $0.03
This massive and comprehensive volume is the culminating publishing event of the author's lengthy and meticulous research into Khmer mythology, its messages and meanings. From around 800 to 1300, the Khmer empire stretched across a vast swath of Southeast Asia ; its powerful rulers built magnificent temples to glorify their reigns, and adorned them with carved stone work of immense size, complexity, and artistry. In statuary, myriad pediments and lintels, and many miles of bas-relief walls were portrayed the lives and legends of Hindu gods, adopted and transformed from Indian sources, and Buddhist themes. Professor Roveda has previously published on the motifs and mythology of the Khmer stonework in the Angkor area; this monumental volume incorporates that work as well as his researches on the great Khmer monuments flung across Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos, and is illustrated with over 1800 color images in text and on a supplementary CD.
Author: Vittorio Roveda
Hardcover:
640 pages
Company: Floating World Editions
(2006-07-31)
ISBN: 1891640291 List Price: $90.00 Amazon Price: $82.64 Used Price: $81.10
The mountains of northern Thailand constitute part of northern Thai identity. They inspire fear and awe, respect and love, curiosity and creative imagination. They define both the physical and mental landscape of northern Thailand.
Drawing on the legendary histories of three mountains in the region—Doi Ang Salung Chiang Dao, Doi Suthep, and Doi Kham—coauthor Donald Swearer explores the various ways that mountains in northern Thailand are seen as sacred space, and therefore as an environment to be respected rather than exploited.
The volume presents, in English translation, the stories associated with these sacred sites as recorded in the legendary chronicles, or tamnan, of the story of the Chiang Dao mountain and cave, the account of the enshrining of the Buddha relic on Doi Suthep, and the interwoven legends of the hermit Wasuthep, the demons Pu Sae and Ya Sae, the chief Wilangkha, and the queen Chamathewi.
In preserving the fascinating folklore of these sacred mountains, the authors contribute to the preservation of the mountains themselves.
Author: Donald K. Swearer, Sommai Premchit, Phaithoon Dokbuakaew
Paperback:
104 pages
Company: Silkworm Books
(2005-01-31)
ISBN: 9749575482 List Price: $13.95 Amazon Price: $13.41 Used Price: $13.40
In the nerve-wracking, heart-pounding tradition of John LeCarre comes a shocking suspense novel of sexual corruption and international extortion--a tale that only an intelligence insider could tell.
A Fantasy Plan. . . For eighteen years, Peter Gaines has traveled the globe as one of the CIA's top agents. Suddenly this former golden boy is unceremoniously cut loose from the Company. But the ethically bound Peter refuses to let go. Without authorization, he returns to the site of his last assignment--a CIA-operated Thailand sex shop, the Fantasy Store.
With No Escape. In the erotically charged atmosphere of the Store, unsuspecting Japanese government officials and scientist have their wildest desires gratified, the more hedonistic the better. For all their illicit actions are captured on videotape, and used to coerce them into revealing economic and government secrets. Working in the shadows, Peter learns that the powers behind the Store cater to all of their clients' whims, no matter what the price. And to satisfy the forbidden yearnings of their cleintele, the Store is about to engage an innocent woman from Peter's past to serve as their most alluring instrument of pleasure--and their most expendable.
Author: Peter Gilboy
Hardcover:
290 pages
Company: William Morrow & Co
(1997-07)
ISBN: 0688152465 List Price: $23.00 Amazon Price: $2.19 Used Price: $0.01
Author: King Rama II & the Poets of His Court
Hardcover:
199 pages
Company: Charles E. Tuttle Co
(1973)
ISBN: 0804810028 List Price: $6.00 Amazon Price: Used Price: $4.80
Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out. Poke agrees to take in Superman, Miaow's troubled and terrifying friend from the gutter. Then he agrees to help locate a distraught Aussie woman's missing uncle and accepts a generous payment to find a blackmailing thief. No longer gliding carelessly across the surface of a culture he doesn't really understand, suddenly Poke is plodding through dark and unfamiliar terrain—and everything and everyone he loves is in terrible danger.
Cox, a reporter for the Boston Herald, traveled into the Shan State, the lawless region of northern Myanmar (or Burma) that produces much of the world's opium, to interview Khun Sa, the drug warlord who built himself a jungle empire on drug profits and who styled himself a Shan freedom-fighter. Khun Sa, who has since "retired" and lives in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), is a complex character. This account of bearding the devil in his lair combines thorough research, high adventure, and prose pungent with the odor of poppies blooming on remote mountainsides.
Author: Christopher R. Cox
Paperback:
352 pages
Company: Owl Books
(1997-09-15)
ISBN: 080505507X List Price: $12.95 Amazon Price: Used Price: $1.67
For Mark Rohr, a decorated Desert Storm vet, the last ten years have been filled with shady jobs like his current stint as a bouncer at a nameless whorehouse/bar in Thailand. When the beautiful and naïve Robin Antonucci arrives in Phuket City from the States and hires him to help find her missing brother Shawn, Mark sees the chance to make some easy money.
Author: Charles Benoit
Paperback:
336 pages
Large Print
Company: Poisoned Pen Press
(2007-10-15)
(2007-10-15)
ISBN: 1590584511 List Price: $22.95 Amazon Price: $14.97 Used Price: $14.33
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Thai poets produced epics depicting elaborate myths and legends which intermingled the human, natural, and supernatural worlds. One of the most famous of these classical compositions is the Samuttakhoot kham chan, presented here in English for the first time as The Tale of Prince Samuttakote. The work of three poets, it was begun during the reign of King Naray (1656-1688) and was completed in 1849 by the patriarch-prince Paramanuchit Chinorot (1790-1853). Translated with enchanting poetic imagery, the poem relates the adventures of Prince Samuttakote and his princess as they tour the heavenly realms with a magic sword. The two are separated after the sword is stolen but are reunited after further adventures. Upon ascending the throne, they teach the moral code of precepts and how all life is affected by it. The poem is important for its depiction of the amusements and daily life of seventeenth-century Thailand and for its use of classic Thai poetic devices.
Author: Phra Horathibodi
Paperback:
320 pages
Company: Ohio University Press
(1993-12-01)
ISBN: 0896801748 List Price: $20.00 Amazon Price: $16.40 Used Price: $18.00
Author: Fine Art Publishing
Hardcover:
344 pages
Company: Fine Art Publishing
(2000-10)
ISBN: 9057040417 List Price: $60.00 Amazon Price: $59.00 Used Price: $30.00
Kepner's selection shows the many ways fiction has mirrored the lives of Thai women over the twentieth century. The spectrum is broad, encompassing the young and the old, the rural and the cosmopolitan, the privileged and the poor. Some writers address previously unacceptable themes: female sexuality, spousal abuse, gender oppression. Others display a scintillating sense of humor. They touch on many themes--injustice, the heartlessness of society, loneliness, the difficult choices that life presents. Susan Kepner's lyrical, faithful translations preserve the tenor and resonances of these voices, many of which will be heard for the first time by English-speaking readers.
Author: Susan Fulop Kepner
Paperback:
281 pages
Company: University of California Press
(1996-07-31)
ISBN: 0520089030 List Price: $21.95 Amazon Price: $21.94 Used Price: $4.84
Author: Ken Klein
Paperback:
271 pages
Company: White Lotus Co Ltd
(2006-10-20)
ISBN: 9744801077 List Price: $12.95 Amazon Price: $7.67 Used Price: $8.10
"This is a book about love and marriage in contemporary Thailand," declares the preface of this charming book. The volume is ingeniously built around six short stories called "Tales of the Demon Folk" by Sri Daoruang, one of Thailand's leading fiction writers. With striking creativity, Sri Daoruang has placed the familiar characters of the Ramakian, the Thai epic based on the Indian Ramayana, within the Bangkok of today. By re-envisioning their relationships and adventures, she portrays husband and wife relations in Thai society, cloaked in the comforting garments of myth and laced wit the kind of humor readers appreciate most--ironic, sarcastic, earthy, and compassionate.
Author: Susan Fulop Kepner
Paperback:
131 pages
Company: Silkworm Books
(2005-01-31)
ISBN: 974957558X List Price: $12.95 Amazon Price: $12.95
Author: Louis Braile, American Refugee Committee
Paperback:
330 pages
Company: Syren Book Company
(2005-02)
ISBN: 0929636341 List Price: $18.95 Amazon Price: $13.20 Used Price: $10.50
Modern, original fiction for learners of English. It is the start of a new school year for teenager Hu at an international school in the exciting city of Bangkok. She has a problem with one of the teachers and does not know what to do. Through an adventure in a national park, acting in a musical and the help of friends, Hu finds the courage to tell the truth.
Author: George Kershaw
Paperback:
80 pages
Company: Cambridge University Press
(1999-05-13)
ISBN: 0521656230 List Price: $7.50 Amazon Price: $1.30 Used Price: $1.30
Author: Martin Clutterbuck
Paperback:
128 pages
Company: White Lotus Co Ltd
(1999-02)
ISBN: 9748434516 List Price: $25.50 Amazon Price: Used Price: $183.62
Author: Benedict R. Anderson
Paperback:
303 pages
Company: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications
(1985-06-01)
(1985-06-01)
ISBN: 9742103801 List Price: $12.00 Amazon Price: Used Price: $1.78
The legend of the compassionate monk, Phra Malai, and his visits to heaven and hell is one of the most pervasive themes in Thai Buddhism. While the tale is known throughout Southeast Asia, it has been especially popular in Thailand, where its teachings have for centuries influenced the content of sermons and the practice of different rituals. Although Western scholars sometimes refer to the Phra Malai legend as if it were a standard text, the tale actually exists in numerous versions. In the course of Brereton's research, she collected and examined more than a dozen different versions of the story. Her analysis suggests that the message conveyed through these variant forms of the legend is not always the same. In other words, the meaning of the text derives not only from its content, but also from its function. With this in mind, Brereton explores the Phra Malai theme in light of the relationship between text, context and meaning by comparing three versions of Phra Malai. Her book provides a thorough overview of the Phra Malai tale, and offers an explanation for its longevity and continued significance in Thailand.
Author: Bonnie Pacala Brereton
Paperback:
252 pages
Company: Arizona State University Program for Southeas
(1995-06)
ISBN: 1881044076 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $24.95 Used Price: $17.84
These thirty-seven stories, written by gay men in Thailand about their gay experiences, were translated from major Thai gay magazines. This book also includes an introduction to gay Thailand by the editor of MIDWAY magazine, one of Thailand's top gay publications.
Mass Market Paperback:
172 pages
Company: Bua Luang Pub. Co.
(1993-12-01)
ISBN: 0942777093 List Price: $14.00 Amazon Price: Used Price: $126.20
Oh that Charlie of mine, how I wanted her back. Dan Innes hasn't seen his daughter for two years. Now he's been delivered shattering news from the British Embassy in Bangkok: the light of his life has been arrested as a drug smuggler, languishing in wait of a probable death sentence in a hellish Chiang Mai jail. Angry and terrified, seething with guilt, reprimands, and questions, he leaves London for Thailand, prepared to fight for his estranged daughter's freedom.
But Dan's visit to the jail is inconclusive, and soon he is following the faintest of trails up in the lawless mountain region close to the border with Myanmar, where opium grows abundantly and the dangers of nature are second only to that of man. It's a place where the fearless and the foolish wander -- and disappear forever. To find Charlie, Dan must retrace her steps -- and brave the same traps that swallowed her. Here he will discover his own limits, his own temptations, as he drifts across the strange tides of an even stranger land, on a terrifying mission of self-discovery, blind faith, and salvation.
As ?uidly ecstatic as a drug, pulsating with a vivid, hothouse atmosphere, Smoking Poppy takes readers on a hallucinatory -- sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying -- journey across an enthralling, suspense-charged landscape. Graham Joyce, who brilliantly explored the far reaches of human obsession in his acclaimed thriller Indigo, goes further to prove that such obsession has no boundaries, no taboos, and -- the deeper one gets -- no exit.
Author: Graham Joyce
Hardcover:
271 pages
Company: Atria
(2002-01-01)
ISBN: 0671039393 List Price: $23.00 Amazon Price: $0.01 Used Price: $0.01
Lawrence Chua has long been praised for his astute cultural commentary and experimental prose. In his first novel, Gold by the Inch, he also proves himself as a vibrant and breathtaking writer of literary prose. The narrative follows a young gay man of Asian descent as he returns to Thailand from the United States for an extended visit and to recover from his father's death and a failed love affair. After becoming involved, well, obsessed, with a young male prostitute, the narrator has to confront issues he has long avoided: national identity, the exploitation of other people, and the endless clashes between Asian and Western cultures. Like the novels of Doris Lessing and Nadine Gordimer, Gold by the Inch attempts to wed the personal with the political, the emotional with the cult
Shopping Guide 
Bangkok--a city of heady contradictions--inspires Lara McClintoch's sense of adventure and her impressive sleuthing skills when a fellow antiques dealer disappears without a trace.
In his new work, Michel Houellebecq combines erotic provocation with a terrifying vision of a world teetering between satiety and fanaticism, to create one of the most shocking, hypnotic, and intelligent novels in years.
Author: Dean Barrett
When a U.S. Marine is killed in Bangkok, the task of finding the murderer falls to Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, seemingly the only member of the Royal Thai Police Force whose idea of justice precludes his fellow officers' customary system of bribery. This assignment's especially important to the devout detective for during the investigation of the murder scene, the methamphetamine-stoked snakes that bit the marine also kill Sonchai's police partner, best friend, and Buddhist soul-mate Pichai. Sonchai's pursuit of revenge will team him with a sexually frustrated FBI agent and leave them at the mercy of yaa-baa-fueled motorcycle-taxi drivers as they hurtle through neon-lit Bangkok and into the labyrinthine and deadly machinations of the international jade and drug trades in search of the killer.
Author: Dean Barrett
Author: Tom Glass
Hmong culture has had an oral tradition for millennia, but the language itself did not even exist in written form until the 1950s. Compiled by famed author and storyteller Norma Livo and coauthor, Dia Cha, this is the first collection of authentic Hmong tales to be published commercially in the English language. Beginning with a description of Hmong history, culture, and folklore, the book includes 16 pages of full-color photographs of Hmong dress and needlework and 27 captivating tales divided into three sections: beginnings; how/why stories; and stories of love, magic, and fun. Appropriate for high school and adult readers, with selected stories appropriate for younger children, this collection is an important addition to multicultural units.
Author: Anna Harriette Leonowens
Robert Charles Wilson is an accomplished and acclaimed writer with an impressive body of work. The Chronoliths is his best novel yet, an intelligent, fascinating, and frightening account of a unique incarnation of time travel.
What do Chris, the narrator, and his two travel buddies, Seb and Leo, have in common with Cuba, Israel, Turkey, and Bulgaria, the main countries they encounter in Bottled Water? They all are in the midst of a profound transition. Right after graduating university the three guys set off for Thailand, where their outlooks on the world and life will, unknown to them, change forever. Soon after the inspirational trip to Asia, Chris finds himself mired in the drudgery of a broken relationship and the relentless nightmare of his career in the financial world. When Chris and his friends figure out how to break away from their jobs and travel again, they are granted another chance to seek out the truth about love, job fulfillment, and the common threads woven through human lives everywhere. The turmoil they witness first-hand in these intense countries and the resulting adventures end up being their ultimate teacher. Bottled Water is replete with wonderment, passion, comedy, and challenges to the human heart of some of the world's most difficult conflicts.
Autumn Seclusion is a serious narrative told through the eyes of a thirty year old woman as she reflects on her life. Many women appear perfect in the eyes of the world, but have underlying fears that remain hidden behind a multitude of closed doors. This is true of the main character in Autumn Seclusion. Spanning a lifetime, the novel details the main character's challenges at home , as well as, the desire for acceptance and unconditional love from those she encounters later in life. Her voyages take you from the tidewater regions of North Carolina to the hidden quest for self-identity in Thailand. 
Margaret Read MacDonald, renowned author of more than 15 books on folklore and storytelling, teams up with librarian Supaporn Vathanaprida to present this fascinating folktale collection and introduction to Thai thought. Drawing on memories of her childhood in Northern Thailand, Supaporn shares her tales and comments to help both adults and children understand the surprising world of Thai folklore and culture. The 28 engaging stories show many aspects of the Buddhist worldview in action. Humorous stories, animal tales, teaching tales of Buddhist monks, and tales of amazing magical events that entertain the Thai imagination are included in the collection.
When the original Thai version of Letters from Thailand appeared in Bangkok in 1969, it was promptly awarded the SEATO Prize for Thai Literature. This new English translation reveals it as one of Thailandís most entertaining and enduring modern novels, and one of the few portrayals of the immigrant Chinese experience in urban Thailand. 
Author: Minfong Ho
Author: Dean Barrett
Author: Kamala Tiyavanich
Running low on funds, ex-CIA agent Scott Sterling moves into an apartment over a Bangkok bar. He teaches scuba diving and does occasional investigative work usually involving missing bargirls or wayward spouses. 
In the Place of Origins tells the tale of modernity in Northern Thailand, discerning its oblique signs in the performances of contemporary spirit mediums. In a world driven by the twin fantasies of pastness and newness, Rosalind C. Morris reveals that spirit mediumship is not simply a theater of atavistic tendency but an arena in which it is possible to read the relationships between new forms of representation and subjectivity, as well as new modes of magic and political power.
This account of Kosa Panís journal describes in great detail the arrival in Brest in 1686 of the first full Siamese embassy to reach France. This fragment is apparently all that survives of a massive report of the activities of the embassy written for King Narai. It was discovered in Paris in the early 1980s, was published in Thai in 1984, and appears here in English for the first time. 
Penn Gwinn and his agency partner, Jim Starret, remained in Thailand after their involvement with the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Viet Nam `non-war'. They opened a saloon for their subsistence, and expected to retire. But the warlord of the Shan State in the Golden Triangle, who is known as the Prince of Darkness, involved them in opium smuggling and in the rivalry between the D.I.A. and the C.I.A. in another of their dirty little inter-agency wars. 
Soldiers become spies, old enemies become friends. This was the politically gray world of Southeast Asia in the sixties. General Al Houer sends a team into harm's way on a mission requiring military and CIA skills, led by Major ETS (Eagle That Soars) and Captain Mark Wilson, both Special Forces veterans of the African Congo uprising of '64, the 1968 Tet offensive and the controversial Phoenix Program. Neither had yet turned 30. 
Author: Dean Barrett
The Adventure of a Lifetime
Here is the real story behind the woman who inspired a bestselling biography, one of the top Broadway musicals of all time, and two classic films--and it's one that will surpirse you. The epic love story between a British governess and the King of Siam once again comes to life with the release of Twentieth Century Fox's Anna and the King starring Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster and international superstar Chow Yun-Fat.
Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure.
Mathews, a former CIA agent, delivers the goods in a powerful, atmospheric thriller suggested by the colorful life and mysterious disappearance of Jim Thompson, who served as the first chief of U.S. Intelligence in Bangkok and founded the famed Thai silk company that still bears his name. In the author's telling, Thompson is Jack Broderick, whose grandson Max stakes his claim to the treasure of ancient artifacts and jewels amassed by the Silk King and appropriated by the Thai government after he vanished into the jungle at the height of the Vietnam War. When Max hires Oliver Krane's "risk management" firm to help him secure his legacy, Krane offers the brilliant and beautiful Stefani Fogg an irresistible challenge: prove Max's claim by solving the riddle of who Jack Broderick really was. Cutting back and forth between the past and present, Mathews weaves a fascinating web of intrigue and adventure that encompasses four decades of American involvement in southeast Asia as Krane leads Stefani into a shifting, shadowy world where nothing is ever as it seems, including the truth. The characters are unforgettable, the pacing is impeccable, and the narrative never loses focus despite the complicated plot in a page-turner that richly fulfills the promise of the author's first espionage novel (The Cutout). --Jane Adams
Pridi Banomyong (1900-83) was one of the greatest figures in twentieth-century Thailand. At the age of just twenty-seven, he started the movement which led to the 1932 revolution against Thailand's absolute monarchy. Through the 1930s, he introduced a wide range of reforms in law, local administration, economic policy, and foreign affairs. During the Second World War, he formed the Seri Thai resistance movement against the Japanese occupation. After the war, he served briefly as prime minister and became deeply involved in the politics of the Asian region during decolonization. From 1947 onwards, Pridi was opposed by US-backed militarists who seized power by coup, murdered his associates, overturned many of his liberal reforms, and established dictatorial rule. In 1949 he fled into exile and never returned. Pridi by Pridi contains nineteen selections from Pridi's writings, speeches, and interviews which focus on his personal background and his active political career from 1932 to 1949. They include a new translation of the "outline economic plan" of 1932, which still excites controversy today. They also include first-ever English translations of Pridi's most important writings about the 1932 revolution, the Seri Thai movement, the monarchy, and his contemporaries.
The Legend of Queen Cama (Camadevivamsa), an early fifteenth-century Pali chronicle written by Mahathera Bodhiramsi, recounts the story of the founding of the kingdom of Haripunjaya in the Chiang Mai valley of Northern Thailand in the seventh century C.E. Similar to other Theravada Pali chronicles, the legend integrates religious and political stories, namely, Queen Cama's founding of a dynastic lineage and the fortunes of Buddhism within it. The Legend of Queen Cama offers revealing insights into the nature of Buddhism as a living tradition during one of the greatest periods in the history of Thai Buddhism. These insights include the symbolic structure of Buddhist cosmology, the close association of Buddhism and the founding of city states, the interrelationship of popular Buddhist ethical teachings and devotional religion, and the inherently syncretic nature of Buddhism as presented in a text indebted to the folkloric traditions of Northern Thailand. 
This massive and comprehensive volume is the culminating publishing event of the author's lengthy and meticulous research into Khmer mythology, its messages and meanings. From around 800 to 1300, the Khmer empire stretched across a vast swath of Southeast Asia ; its powerful rulers built magnificent temples to glorify their reigns, and adorned them with carved stone work of immense size, complexity, and artistry. In statuary, myriad pediments and lintels, and many miles of bas-relief walls were portrayed the lives and legends of Hindu gods, adopted and transformed from Indian sources, and Buddhist themes. Professor Roveda has previously published on the motifs and mythology of the Khmer stonework in the Angkor area; this monumental volume incorporates that work as well as his researches on the great Khmer monuments flung across Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos, and is illustrated with over 1800 color images in text and on a supplementary CD.
The mountains of northern Thailand constitute part of northern Thai identity. They inspire fear and awe, respect and love, curiosity and creative imagination. They define both the physical and mental landscape of northern Thailand. 
In the nerve-wracking, heart-pounding tradition of John LeCarre comes a shocking suspense novel of sexual corruption and international extortion--a tale that only an intelligence insider could tell.
Cox, a reporter for the Boston Herald, traveled into the Shan State, the lawless region of northern Myanmar (or Burma) that produces much of the world's opium, to interview Khun Sa, the drug warlord who built himself a jungle empire on drug profits and who styled himself a Shan freedom-fighter. Khun Sa, who has since "retired" and lives in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), is a complex character. This account of bearding the devil in his lair combines thorough research, high adventure, and prose pungent with the odor of poppies blooming on remote mountainsides.
For Mark Rohr, a decorated Desert Storm vet, the last ten years have been filled with shady jobs like his current stint as a bouncer at a nameless whorehouse/bar in Thailand. When the beautiful and naïve Robin Antonucci arrives in Phuket City from the States and hires him to help find her missing brother Shawn, Mark sees the chance to make some easy money.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Thai poets produced epics depicting elaborate myths and legends which intermingled the human, natural, and supernatural worlds. One of the most famous of these classical compositions is the Samuttakhoot kham chan, presented here in English for the first time as The Tale of Prince Samuttakote. The work of three poets, it was begun during the reign of King Naray (1656-1688) and was completed in 1849 by the patriarch-prince Paramanuchit Chinorot (1790-1853). Translated with enchanting poetic imagery, the poem relates the adventures of Prince Samuttakote and his princess as they tour the heavenly realms with a magic sword. The two are separated after the sword is stolen but are reunited after further adventures. Upon ascending the throne, they teach the moral code of precepts and how all life is affected by it. The poem is important for its depiction of the amusements and daily life of seventeenth-century Thailand and for its use of classic Thai poetic devices.
Author: Fine Art Publishing
A fascinating exploration of the complex mythologies and legends of China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
AN Authoratative a-z guide to the mythologies and legends of China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia
Kepner's selection shows the many ways fiction has mirrored the lives of Thai women over the twentieth century. The spectrum is broad, encompassing the young and the old, the rural and the cosmopolitan, the privileged and the poor. Some writers address previously unacceptable themes: female sexuality, spousal abuse, gender oppression. Others display a scintillating sense of humor. They touch on many themes--injustice, the heartlessness of society, loneliness, the difficult choices that life presents. Susan Kepner's lyrical, faithful translations preserve the tenor and resonances of these voices, many of which will be heard for the first time by English-speaking readers.
Author: Richard Calder
"This is a book about love and marriage in contemporary Thailand," declares the preface of this charming book. The volume is ingeniously built around six short stories called "Tales of the Demon Folk" by Sri Daoruang, one of Thailand's leading fiction writers. With striking creativity, Sri Daoruang has placed the familiar characters of the Ramakian, the Thai epic based on the Indian Ramayana, within the Bangkok of today. By re-envisioning their relationships and adventures, she portrays husband and wife relations in Thai society, cloaked in the comforting garments of myth and laced wit the kind of humor readers appreciate most--ironic, sarcastic, earthy, and compassionate.
Author: Louis Braile, American Refugee Committee
Modern, original fiction for learners of English. It is the start of a new school year for teenager Hu at an international school in the exciting city of Bangkok. She has a problem with one of the teachers and does not know what to do. Through an adventure in a national park, acting in a musical and the help of friends, Hu finds the courage to tell the truth.
Author: Benedict R. Anderson
The legend of the compassionate monk, Phra Malai, and his visits to heaven and hell is one of the most pervasive themes in Thai Buddhism. While the tale is known throughout Southeast Asia, it has been especially popular in Thailand, where its teachings have for centuries influenced the content of sermons and the practice of different rituals. Although Western scholars sometimes refer to the Phra Malai legend as if it were a standard text, the tale actually exists in numerous versions. In the course of Brereton's research, she collected and examined more than a dozen different versions of the story. Her analysis suggests that the message conveyed through these variant forms of the legend is not always the same. In other words, the meaning of the text derives not only from its content, but also from its function. With this in mind, Brereton explores the Phra Malai theme in light of the relationship between text, context and meaning by comparing three versions of Phra Malai. Her book provides a thorough overview of the Phra Malai tale, and offers an explanation for its longevity and continued significance in Thailand.
These thirty-seven stories, written by gay men in Thailand about their gay experiences, were translated from major Thai gay magazines. This book also includes an introduction to gay Thailand by the editor of MIDWAY magazine, one of Thailand's top gay publications.
Lawrence Chua has long been praised for his astute cultural commentary and experimental prose. In his first novel, Gold by the Inch, he also proves himself as a vibrant and breathtaking writer of literary prose. The narrative follows a young gay man of Asian descent as he returns to Thailand from the United States for an extended visit and to recover from his father's death and a failed love affair. After becoming involved, well, obsessed, with a young male prostitute, the narrator has to confront issues he has long avoided: national identity, the exploitation of other people, and the endless clashes between Asian and Western cultures. Like the novels of Doris Lessing and Nadine Gordimer, Gold by the Inch attempts to wed the personal with the political, the emotional with the cult