Good Reading for SEA
 

Hello, Almost done with planning stage for SEA trip next fall and now interested in doing some reading.

I am looking for suggestions for books, historical or fictional, about Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Have ordered Dawn Rooney's book already.

Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks all.

Do a search of Fodors for books on SEA. There are various threads with a lot of good suggestions.

Thanks silverwool, I did a search (google, always find Fodors search cumbersome).

Was surprised to find our library has only 1 of 12 books I requested and that Amazon wants $99 for a paperback of Stalking the Elephant Kings!!!

Hopefully, I will find a copy through an inter library search.

You can buy plenty of 'pirated' books on Cambodia in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. A few landmine victims sell them around the old market in SR. I particularly recommend 'When the War was Over' by Elizabeth Becker. Also I enjoyed 'Mad About the Mekong' by John Keay and 'Mekong' by Milton Osborne.

Another idea when you get to SR is to look at Blue Apsara books near the old market. They have a lot of second hand as well as photocopied books on the region. Not much good for pre trip research though.

Enjoy your trip, they are all great destinations in their own way. I've got my 8th trip to Cambodia coming up this year. (My daughter works there.)

IMO you should not support the illegal pirated goods trade, beggers etc.

One Foot in Laos by Dervla Murphy is worth a look.

First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

Tragedy in Paradise. C. Weldon
The ravens C. Robbins
The Dr Siri series by Colin Cotteril

Please do not support illegal purchase of books. Like so many the printed book business is having its share of problems struggling to stay alive.

Anything by Colin Cotterill for reading about Laos. Although he is a crime writer, his books are set in Laos and he uses them as a vehicle to take a look at Laotian history and politics. They are entertaining and immensely informative.
He has had quite a struggle with the Laos government to have them published or translated in Laos language too.

A great book on vernacular Thai culture is "Very Thai'-Philip Cornwel-Smith, John Goss cultural analyst and photographer respectively. Takes a fairly academic format but retains eminently readable prose. Prints a bit tiny but I understand a new edition with larger format is in the offing.

The Secret Agent by Francine Mathews is a novel based on the life of Jim Thompson. I really enjoyed reading it after our SE Asia trip this past January.