Travel guide book

Ed_Stephens

I've read the charter and don't see anything prohibiting posts on writing that isn't exactly creative but more factual but I'll bow to the mod's.

I've about 15,000 words written on a travel guide to Thailand called "Up to you." It was borne out of a few things. 1, travel guides have endless pages on hotels, restaurants and sites that you will never need. 2, they're too long. 3, I've read books about Thailand that have just annoyed me as they were so inaccurate or badly written that I found myself saying I could do better than this.

So using the adage of write what you know(10+ trips) I decided to write a travel guide with a difference. There's no top ten lists and it covers all the questions that constantly pop up in the forums I read. It covers short guides on the major destinations and the important how to get there and where to stay and how to get around questions that constantly are being asked.

My approach is not to tell people where to go(although I do include a guide to temple hopping in Bangkok as everyone should do it as they are there) but rather give them the tools and information to have their holiday their way. That's why it's called Up to you which as travellars to Thailand will know is a common phrase used by the locals.

I've been glancing at the self-publishing route and it's quite the struggle, I had played with the idea of just using pdf links of my site but that involves getting the site more well recognised and putting more work into the site than the book.

Goal is to finish the book during the Summer and decide on how to get it out there. I can post parts here for feedback if this is the right section and if people are considering going to Thailand or South-East Asia in general you'll find me more regularly over on the travel forum.

Das Kitty

Welcome!

Non fiction is just as creative as fiction, don't worry

I've been told it's easier to get non-fiction published. You could take a gander at some publishers and agents and see if any of them fit the bill.

You're welcome to put up excerpts here for feedback too.

Ed_Stephens

Great, this is the introduction.

Thailand, amazing Thailand, the Land of Smiles, almost 10 million people visit Thailand every year and now you want to go there too but it’s thousands of miles away, you haven’t a clue about their language, culture, customs, you’re probably not too sure where in Thailand you really want to go. All you know is that you want to go there. Luckily enough the millions that have gone before you have gained and shared their experiences and some of us have even written it down to help prepare you for that first and subsequent trips so keep calm and go to Thailand.

At the risk of doing myself out of a book sale the first piece of advice is that no amount of reading or research will prepare you for the shock to the system that Thailand will provide. It is an assault on your senses, the intense heat as you exit the airport, the chaos of the traffic, the noise of roaring motorbikes, the smells of food being cooked at the side of the street as tailors, street markets, Bar Girls, taxi’s and beggars all vie for business all day, every day. Thailand is full of life and all life is here, good and bad. Yes it’s disorientating and confusing and sometimes overwhelming but armed with some sound advice and the experience of other’s mistakes this initial panic will go away and you will enjoy one of the most unique places you will ever visit.


This book doesn’t give you the top ten bars, top ten places to stay or the top ten places to eat. All of these are completely subjective and constantly changing, in fact it would be impossible to do so as by the time you’ve read this book they will have changed or closed down or been taken over or just aren’t as good as they used to be. A famous phrase you will hear a lot in Thailand is “Up to you” and that’s exactly what this guide will enable you to do, have your holiday the way you want it. It will give you some background on Thai culture, practical information on airports, transport and how to approach the famous nightlife as well as loads of hints and tips from those who have gone before you and will give you the tools to make up your own mind as to what you want to do, after all it’s your holiday, you’ve paid for it!


There are loads of internet sites, forums and advice out there from any amount of people, the problem with all that is that different people want different things from their holiday and there’s some hostile people on the internet who seem to delight in picking on people who don’t know the first thing about holidaying in Thailand, that won’t happen here, this is aimed at total newbies or at the traveller who maybe stopped off in Bangkok for a few days and felt they missed out on a lot or maybe your first trip didn’t quite go as planned and Thailand wasn’t exactly what you were expecting. Don’t worry, we’ve heard it all before, we’ll tell you how to get through the airport and to your accommodation, we’ll tell you how to use the transport systems, we’ll tell you what to do and say so the bargirls won’t think you’re straight off the plane, we’ll tell you how to deal with scams, what’s worth buying, how to find the temples, how to take a cruise and all about the different resorts so you can make up your mind where you want to go. We’ll even tell you how to deal with the blues when you come home.


One of the great things about Thailand is the wealth of choice on offer, if you want a really nice hotel walking out onto your own beach you can have it, if you’re more a city person and want to be in the middle of all the nightlife and tourist attractions you can do that too, you can backpack on a budget or spend your trip going to boutique designer shops so what would be the point in a book telling you what to do on your holiday? The book is written in a pretty informal tone deliberately, we’re trying to emulate a conversation you might have with an experienced traveller in one of Thailand’s thousands of bars. There’s a few pictures too because seeing is believing.

Ed_Stephens

A little more,

First question: Why Thailand? It’s a good question, the traditional visitors are British, European, American and Australians and it can be quite an effort to get there from a lot of the world, some practical advice on getting there is contained in Chapter two. So why spend 24 hours or even longer in some cases stuck in airplanes and airports with all of the stress that modern air travel brings?

Quite simply there’s no other place quite like it, a lot of countries will claim this but there’s not too many that it really applies to. Pristine beaches, crystal clear waters are side by side with a unique nightlife scene and designer shopping malls as street hawkers sell everything from freshly squeezed orange juice to counterfeit watches and dvd’s, as many knocked off t-shirts as you’ve had hot dinners, there truly is something for everyone. Over the past 5 years there have been a massive increase in visitors from India, Russia and the Middle East and Thailand has adapted to this change with menus in Russian now commonplace, Arabic districts in popular tourist areas catering to families and middle-eastern food tastes.

This may seem unusual to some with the stereotypical view of Thailand but the typical visitor from these places are not older single males but families and couples.

Accommodation is cheap and plentiful and there are few cultures that do hospitality like the Thai’s. It is the sort of place you are drawn back to with many visitors returning time and time again. It can be cheap too but it has gotten more expensive as the Thai secret has got out but there are plenty of tips here to make your Baht(that’s the Thai currency) go further.

Ed_Stephens

When you start telling people you’re going to Thailand and if you happen to be a man people will naturally assume you’re going for the sex industry so expect plenty of double entendres and intimations that you’re going for “Love you long time”. Inevitably most of these people haven’t been to Thailand and just go along with the stereotypical view that Thailand is one big brothel that exists for aging men to get their wicked way with naïve trafficked young women who have been forced into this situation against their will, the truth of course is far more complicated and has several shades of grey that will make you challenge your suppositions about what you may have heard about Thailand. A full chapter on nightlife will introduce you to navigating your way around this infamous yet enthralling aspect of Thailand.


Another question, do women go there and how do they fit into the nightlife scene? What a crazy question! Of course women go there, on their own, as couples, with friends, as backpackers, like every other popular tourist destination. They come for the beaches, luxury spa treatments and the insane variety of shopping on offer. Everything from international designers, multi-storey malls and street markets.

Women are welcome in all bars and are even known to visit gogo bars but female travellers may feel more comfortable in the open-air beer bars. The Bargirls love talking to foreign women especially if you’re a typical white skinned westerner, Thai ladies are very envious of white skin and use all sorts of creams and lotions to make their skin look less dark. This is because in a lot of Asian countries the darker your skin is the more likely it is that you come from a poor background. Working in fields all day in the hot sun makes your skin darker and Thai ladies can’t figure out why western women lie on the beach all day in order to make their skin brown or why they would ever consider using fake tan! If Thai’s go to the beach they’ll usually sit in the shade or bring a shawl/umbrella with them. It’s not their favourite place to go, they’d much rather go get some Thai street food and cool off indoors.