Thread: Thailand's farang authors: Do you read them?

My dad gave me a dog eared copy of Bangkok Eight, and after several tries and a long train ride to London I just kept putting it down after a few pages. It seemed to read much like an extended novice Stickman article and it bored me shitless.

I'd appreciate some recommendations on what my next choice of this genre should be and a brief synopsis, if any of you are into these books, or like my first foray, found it hard to take.

I reckon that if a reader is unfamiliar with the rantings on Thai based web forums over the last 10 years then it would be quite a fun read, learning the ins and outs of heirachy, corruption, prostitution, being connected blah blah blah...But once you're familiar with what goes on 'behind the scenes' it all gets a bit boring.

Try, The Solitary Man by Stephan Leather

Excellent book. I've enjoyed a lot of his books apart from Private Dancer where I just wanted to head butt the main character.

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

My dad gave me a dog eared copy of Bangkok Eight, and after several tries and a long train ride to London I just kept putting it down after a few pages. It seemed to read much like an extended novice Stickman article and it bored me shitless.

agree, quite lame and boring, read a few some years ago and could barely finish them

definitely written by delusional Thaiophiles,

Have a bash at a collection of short ravings by a chap called Somta Mslap.

Some of them are quite witty, especially if you like fables from fat people.

Villa Incognito - Tim Robbins. Set in Lao.
The Big Weird - Chris Moore.
Monsoon Country - Pira Sudham. Thai writing in English

Slithering South, by Steve Van Beek

Printed 2002

One man. One small boat. 720 miles from the Golden Triangle to the Sea.

Travels by boat starting at the beginnings of the Ping River all the way south to Bangkok. Nice narrative of his adventure experiences along the way. Nice read if you're interested in life along the Ping and Cho Praya.

Originally Posted by ltnt

Slithering South, by Steve Van Beek

Printed 2002

One man. One small boat. 720 miles from the Golden Triangle to the Sea.

Travels by boat starting at the beginnings of the Ping River all the way south to Bangkok. Nice narrative of his adventure experiences along the way. Nice read if you're interested in life along the Ping and Cho Praya.

His historic photo [coffee table editions] tomes are quite eclectic.

Last Thai book I read was the autobiography of the last executioner in Bangkok prison (Bang Kwang I think) excellent, read the whole thing in about 2 days.

Some examples of Thai fiction written by different mindsets could be:
A backpackers story of Thailand (yawn)
An expat in paradise (yawn)
Always the farang (A luuk kreung seeing Thailand as a grown up for the first time and just wants to get the hell outta there)
Saving Lek (yawn)

If all those above titles came out, nobody would buy them, as we all have a good idea of the content. The same can be said about many so what makes the decent reads stand out?

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

His historic photo [coffee table editions] tomes are quite eclectic.

I wouldn't know, don't have a coffee table edition of anything.

I have only ever read one book about Thailand apart from travel guides and that was called My name is Loi??? or something like that..bargirl story..it was OK..not too sure if it was true though.

I've read some of Chris Moore's Thai detective stories - not bad.

This book is brilliant. Amazon.com: Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind an American Housewife's Honest Love Affair with the Irrepressible People of Thailand (9789748303031): Carol Hollinger: Books

Originally Posted by ltnt

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

His historic photo [coffee table editions] tomes are quite eclectic.

I wouldn't know, don't have a coffee table edition of anything.

I don't even have a coffee table to put them on.

Read a few supposedly written by bargirls but can't remember the titles.
One bg book recounted the owner of a Pattaya bar trying to shaft her with a length of bamboo but she fought him off and killed him. Next day she was on a flight to Germany fleeing Thailand. She forgot to mention about the visa process everyone else has to go through.

Originally Posted by Gazza

Next day she was on a flight to Germany fleeing Thailand. She forgot to mention about the visa process everyone else has to go through.

She must have forgot amid all that romance. It's these small details that we on TD are aware of that make or break stories like these. A Thai can't ''flee'' to the west just like that.

I was unaware of any BGs having written books, are there any that weren't ghost written? What were they about?

I read 'Blundering around Isaan' by Peter Jaggs, apparently some anecdotes of this guys adventures many years ago. I gave the book to my brother to read (as he lives in Isaan too) and he thought it was total bullshit.

I also read the fishing book that he wrote.

Here is a link.

Jaggs, Peter - Bangkok Book House

None of the new stuff because it's too painful but this is very good and well worth a read :



Foremost among the biographies that Maurice Collis wrote during his wide-ranging literary career is Siamese White - an account of the career of Samuel White of Bath who, during the reign of James II, was appointed by the King of Siam as a mandarin of that country. The book superbly embodies that old adage - truth is stranger than fiction. 'A magnificent story, full of interest and excitement, but there is more to it than that. Collis, who has lived for years on the scene of these high happenings, is able to give us a first-hand picture of a fascinating land: of a lovely archipelago, of rivers and rapids, of an immemorial track through jungles haunted by tigers and malaria.' Evening Standard


Yep ..... Truth is stranger than fiction and a lot more interesting.

The only books I have read about thailand other than non fiction were the Constantine phaulkon novels.

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Originally Posted by Gazza

Next day she was on a flight to Germany fleeing Thailand. She forgot to mention about the visa process everyone else has to go through.

I was unaware of any BGs having written books, are there any that weren't ghost written? What were they about?

Cock, probably.

Why don't you write a book about your t-shirt?

I thought Bangkok 8 was better written than any other genre book I'd read set in Thailand. Next one was OK too. But by Bangkok Haunts it was really boring.

Best recent book set in Thailand is the short story collection by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Sightseeing.

Reading Steven Leather and most of the others is like sitting in a go-go at New Years when most of the girls have gone home and some asshole starts regaling you with his exploits as an SAS man and cocksman supreme.

That is really boring.

Originally Posted by Breny

Bangkok days by Lawrence Osborne. Its written well, and he is always "waiting for a check".There are some stories of the people he meets around the Soi's and others about his time in a Thai hospital ( I didn't know that you could order Champagne )

i can recommend that book too.



very readable. definately worth a punt.

Tales by Japanese Soldiers by Kazuo Tamayama
Thai Lite by S.Tsow
Building a house in Thailand by Ken Klein

Bangkok Hilton, True story of a British ex-pat jailed for drug smuggling in Bangkok's famous prison for I recall 14 years before being released.

Read this a few years ago.


Pretty illuminating account of how this place works.

Also a couple of the "It's Rough In Thai Prisons" accounts of the hapless momos who get into the drug smuggling biz around here. Nasty.