There are lots of excellent guidebooks for Thailand. There is no one "best," choose the one that is best for you. You might go to a travel bookstore and browse several. Fodors has an excellent book, Lonely Planet is very good, I used to love the Insight Guide, but I don't know that it has been updated recently.

fodors is always a good pick....i also like frommers for its broad general approach at a basic level.... insight guides are good too... thailand is such an easy country to travel in any guide would suit your needs quite honestly...

almost any guide will cover basic transportation options....

I bought probably 4 when we went the first time and we found Fodor's to be the most helpful. Just try to get the 2011 or 2010 edition. It will be more useful for hotels and restaurants.

Thanks! I had browsed Barnes & Noble and was leaning towards Fodor's. I thought there might have been something else I was unaware of. (I'll be back for more help as we plant trip....)

Don't forget to get a Nancy Chandler map on arrival. great for getting around Bangkok, finding shopping areas, restarants, places of interest etc.

Yes, the Nancy Chandler map is great. Just remember it isn't to scale.

Fodors sent me a complimentary copy of their own and it's pretty comprehensive...especially for the older traveller who like a bit of cocooning.
ISBN 978-1-4000-0829-2

Lonely Planet were THE experts on Thailand for a long time, but I was told recently that the Pattaya entry is missing - maybe because it was largely MINE???

yes i only read and be consulted by the guide book, and loney planet, never try fodors , do the fodor also publish travel guide too? sound very interesting to me

Fodors is well written and mostly aimed at the higher end and older traveller.
Lonely Planet is more geared to the younger backpacker market but contains a tremendous amount of detail.
Frommers is also very good but a lot of the guidebook content can be found online.I particularly like their "best of" guides to restaurants, sights, accomodation etc. and their suggested itineraries.

www.travelfish.org is a great website for up to date info and free downloadable, customised guides.

I loved having the Nancy Chandler map of Bangkok ahead of time and regretted that I didn't pre-purchase one for Chiang Mai. It helped in planning out where to logically go on any given day and how to best lump places together.

We like to read many guide books and have found that by taking notes from guidebooks, travel websites and various forums, we compile our own notes which are lighter to carry along for the day. Once we are done with the notes for a given city or day, we can throw them away and then not be bothered carrying along a heavy book.

most people's notes are lighter to carry, but june your's weigh a ton

Thanks all for your suggestions! I'll take the map recommendation, in particular, to heart.