I would lke to buy the best guide for Thailand. What do you suggest!!!<BR>We will be staying at the Shangri la and in Phuket at the Sheraton Laguna.<BR>Shopping suggestions and day tours would be great<BR>Thanks

Hi!<BR><BR>I prefer Lonely Planet - it has a lot of little tips and off the beaten path things to see and do.<BR><BR>I don't like shopping - BUT you should go to the floating market one hour south of Bangkok.<BR><BR>Ingrid

I don't think LP will even have a map too scosha's up scale hotels.. stick with. fodors, blue book.. which caters too high end travel.. <BR><BR>actually LETS go gudes kind of holds the midle ground <BR><BR>

I prefer the Insight Guides. There is a small city guide to Bangkok that has some great suggestions.

we love to shop so we use: THE TREASURERS AND PLEASURERS OF THAILAND by impact books...one rarely sees it mentioned but we love it...its very accurate...<BR>it has a good hotel guide section as well as restaurants....it is on the upscale side so that may not suit you if you are on a strict budget...but i will say that sometimes there is little difference, pricewise, between 3 star and 5 star in the thai economy...and there is all the difference in the quality,,,<BR><BR>for shere general info i prefer the frommer's guides for everyplace....the hit the ten most important of everything and it is reliable....<BR><BR>each guide has its benefits....i usually take 2 or 3...<BR><BR>if it is in your budget look at the bangkok marriott resort and spa...you won't be disappointed in any way..<BR><BR>our new favorite restaurants are harmonique, soi 34 off of new road, between the oriental hotel and the shangra-la hotel and gourmet gallery on a soi which begins with a &quot;P&quot; off of soi 39 sukumvit road; and lastly biscotti in the regent hotel...<BR><BR>

I also usually take two or three books. Fodors is great for suggestions on hotels and itineraries (or tours, if you are into that). Also, for Thailand, check out the Knopf Guide (great maps) and the Eyewitness Guide (great pictures). <BR><BR>For shopping in Bangkok, I highly recommend Nancy Chandler's map. You can order it before you go--be sure you get the latest edition--it is updated every year. You can order it direct from Bangkok--do a Google search. I got mine in about 7 days.

We tool LP's Thai phrasebook and found it to be very useful.

language is no problem in thailand, at least in the populated areas....in bangkok almost everyone, except taxi drivers, speak english, or if they can't the person next to them does...

It's true that most people do speak some english but we had a blast learning some thai and found the people to be very receptive and appreciative of that. I had a lot of fun trying to help my wife barter by using some of the phrases in the book. They would understand me but speak back to me in Thai too fast. I just laughed when I couldn't understand them . One masseuse gave me the greatest compliment..she was asking me if everything was ok during the massage and I kept saying &quot;krap&quot; at which time she said &quot;you're very Thai&quot;.