Lonely Planet Writer Says He Made Up Part Of Books

[Thaising]

Lonely Planet writer says he made up part of books

Sun, Apr 13, 2008

Reuters

(Reuters) - An author for the Lonely Planet travel guidebook series has claimed that he plagiarized and made up large sections of his books, an Australian newspaper reported on Sunday.

Author Thomas Kohnstamm told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper he had worked on more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet, including their titles on Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, South America, Venezuela and Chile.

The Lonely Planet guidebooks sell more than six million copies a year.

The Sunday Telegraph said Kohnstamm also claims in his new book "Do Travel Writers Go To hel_l?" that he accepted free travel, contravening company policy.

He said in one case he had not even visited the country he wrote about.

"They didn't pay me enough to go to Colombia. I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating -- an intern at the Colombian consulate," the newspaper quoted Kohnstamm as saying.

Lonely Planet said it had reviewed Kohnstamm's guidebooks but had not found any inaccuracies in them, the Sunday Telegraph said.

[LaoPo]

Ouch....

Wonder what comments will surface...and by whom

Laopo

[taxexile]

He said in one case he had not even visited the country he wrote about.

they should re name those awful books "thailand for dummies" , "china for dummies" , etc. because travelling with those books will turn you into one for sure.

Lonely Planet said it had reviewed Kohnstamm's guidebooks but had not found any inaccuracies in them,

next case please.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Here's the link to today's BBC article on this topic, which amongst other things, includes one of Kohnstamm's techniques for conducting a restaurant review.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7346101.stm

[Crushdepth]

they should re name those awful books "thailand for dummies" , "china for dummies" , etc. because travelling with those books will turn you into one for sure.

The Thailand one is fairly good IMHO - never had a problem with it, even out in the 'boonies'.

[taxexile]

He says that after having sex with a waitress on a table after hours, he reviewed the restaurant with the words "the table service is friendly".

must have been one of those restaurants where the cervix charge is included.

[PeaceBlondie]

Since the BBC admits they own 75% of Lonely Planet, you have to give the BBC credit for a semi-impartial article about the conflict. The travel author admits he lied; is he also lying about lying?

[ClaytonSeymour]

Since the BBC admits they own 75% of Lonely Planet, you have to give the BBC credit for a semi-impartial article about the conflict. The travel author admits he lied; is he also lying about lying?

It would certainly appear that he has few scruples when it comes to making a few quid, so yes, I suspect he isn't telling the whole truth & nothing but the truth.

[donna]

its not only lonely planet. most publications pay their writers peanuts to do a huge job. some of them get only about 6 weeks or so to do the whole of southern thailand. of course the writers go on recommendations and give plugs to certain places. unfortunately thats just the way it is. i think its rare that they would plug a really crap place, but i accept that it does happen from time to time.

i know people who have done restaurant reviews without ever stepping foot in the place, and i also know people who have written features about a country without ever visiting it.

myself, i have written travel brochures without ever visiting the place, and according to all sources, the trips have sold well on my descriptions.

[PattayaParent]

In 1990 I was travelling India using the Lonely Planet guidebook.

It soon became obvious to me and many other users that the writer had never been in India so this news comes as no surprise.

[Tod]

That's not a surprise...

The Thailand guide is so FULL of bullshit, there is so many mistakes and fallacies, makes me wonder if they ever came to Thailand.

I run a travel agency, and there are many people everyday who come with their Lonely planet asking me about different things that just don't exist.

non-existent buses, wrong timetables etc...

[citizen33]

That's not a surprise...

The Thailand guide is so FULL of bullshit, there is so many mistakes and fallacies, makes me wonder if they ever came to Thailand.

I run a travel agency, and there are many people everyday who come with their Lonely planet asking me about different things that just don't exist.

non-existent buses, wrong timetables etc...

As I said in an earlier thread when a certain poster suggested that LP was the key to exploring Isaan, it is pretty useless for that region.

[Tod]

Pretty useless for any region...They say in the 2007 version that there is no ATM's on Koh Chang and that you can go from Trat to the cambodian border with a Thai minibus in less than an hour...(unless you drive on a 160km/h average, impossible)

[harrry]

wrong post

Edited October 26, 2008 by harrry

[polecat]

Pretty useless for any region...They say in the 2007 version that there is no ATM's on Koh Chang and that you can go from Trat to the cambodian border with a Thai minibus in less than an hour...(unless you drive on a 160km/h average, impossible)

OK, so you read the 2007 version. When did you read it?

When did the book come out? Start of 2007 or end of 2007? Actually they often come out in time for the year they advertise. So it may have been published at the end of 2006.

Now, let's say it takes, what, 6 months for editing, printing and distribution. That means the copy would have been submitted mid-2006. Now, nothing's to say that Koh Chang info wasn't written early on in the project.

This means the information could have been written towards the start of 2006.

I reckon they could install an ATM in 2 years.

The minibus? I don't know, maybe that's what the bus operator told the writer.

I know it's fashionable to bash guidebooks and LP in particular, but get a sense of proportion.

Donna was right, too. As far as I know, these companies pay peanuts for huge jobs.

[Ulysses G.]

Donna was right, too. As far as I know, these companies pay peanuts for huge jobs.

This is the problem. The writer is supposed to be so grateful for the job that he is willing to write it while paying for most of the travel costs her/himself. These days, they all hire youngsters whose parents will subsidize the trip.

Joe Cummings - who wrote the Thailand Lonely Planet for something like 20 years - is one of the most knowledgeable and greatest travel writers of all time, but Lonely Planet won't pay him enough to make a profit for his time.

It is a pity really.

Edited November 12, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[polecat]

This is the problem. The writer is supposed to be so grateful for the job that he is willing to write it while paying for most of the travel costs her/himself. These days, they all hire youngsters whose parents will subsidize the trip.

Spot on. Anyone with a laptop can call themself a travel writer these days. And there are so many people willing to work for bylines or peanuts that publishers will often choose that option over the experts.

However, travel writers of a certain age can still be found living the good life on royalty payments agreed before publishers wised up and started paying flat fees.

[stiggy]

A youngish guy came to the gulf islands last year ..

He was sporting a harvard uni ring and claimed to be a writer for Lonley Planet on a "gap year".He had a fake Kho sarn press pass that would be hanging out of his book as a bookmark.

it was amazing to see people fall over themselves offering free services.Including Meals, Rooms , Diving, water sports bike rentals onward travel and drinks.

He played the part well always offering to pay and saying he shouldn't accept any freebies.

Any how one night he was pissed an admitted that he was a fake, simply had no money and was getting away with it.

He felt those stupid enough t o believe him deserved it and as he wouldn't be returning it didn't matter !

[ashacat]

QUOTE (Tod @ 2008-10-26 16:18:41)

Pretty useless for any region...They say in the 2007 version that there is no ATM's on Koh Chang and that you can go from Trat to the cambodian border with a Thai minibus in less than an hour...(unless you drive on a 160km/h average, impossible)

OK, so you read the 2007 version. When did you read it?

When did the book come out? Start of 2007 or end of 2007? Actually they often come out in time for the year they advertise. So it may have been published at the end of 2006.

Now, let's say it takes, what, 6 months for editing, printing and distribution. That means the copy would have been submitted mid-2006. Now, nothing's to say that Koh Chang info wasn't written early on in the project.

This means the information could have been written towards the start of 2006.

I reckon they could install an ATM in 2 years.

The minibus? I don't know, maybe that's what the bus operator told the writer.

I know it's fashionable to bash guidebooks and LP in particular, but get a sense of proportion.

Donna was right, too. As far as I know, these companies pay peanuts for huge jobs.

Assuming you mean the Koh Chang in Trat; they have had ATM's there for at least 5 years, possibly longer...

[Tod]

QUOTE (Tod @ 2008-10-26 16:18:41)

Pretty useless for any region...They say in the 2007 version that there is no ATM's on Koh Chang and that you can go from Trat to the cambodian border with a Thai minibus in less than an hour...(unless you drive on a 160km/h average, impossible)

OK, so you read the 2007 version. When did you read it?

When did the book come out? Start of 2007 or end of 2007? Actually they often come out in time for the year they advertise. So it may have been published at the end of 2006.

Now, let's say it takes, what, 6 months for editing, printing and distribution. That means the copy would have been submitted mid-2006. Now, nothing's to say that Koh Chang info wasn't written early on in the project.

This means the information could have been written towards the start of 2006.

I reckon they could install an ATM in 2 years.

The minibus? I don't know, maybe that's what the bus operator told the writer.

I know it's fashionable to bash guidebooks and LP in particular, but get a sense of proportion.

Donna was right, too. As far as I know, these companies pay peanuts for huge jobs.

Assuming you mean the Koh Chang in Trat; they have had ATM's there for at least 5 years, possibly longer...

Yes, exactly. And that was just 2 examples among a million others. I don't know who is Joe Cummings and if he is a good travel writer, one thing I do know is that he screwed up big time with the Thailand edition.

Might be LP who don't pay enough, that is not the question, my point was just that this guide is ok to pass the time when you are in a bus or when you have nothing else to do in your hotel room. But that's it, not reliable at all.

The writers fault, LP's fault? I don't care, just funny to see how bad is the most popular guide for Thailand.

[JimsKnight]

Lonely Planet writer says he made up part of books

Sun, Apr 13, 2008

Reuters

(Reuters) - An author for the Lonely Planet travel guidebook series has claimed that he plagiarized and made up large sections of his books, an Australian newspaper reported on Sunday.

Author Thomas Kohnstamm told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper he had worked on more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet, including their titles on Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, South America, Venezuela and Chile.

The Lonely Planet guidebooks sell more than six million copies a year.

The Sunday Telegraph said Kohnstamm also claims in his new book "Do Travel Writers Go To hel_l?" that he accepted free travel, contravening company policy.

He said in one case he had not even visited the country he wrote about.

"They didn't pay me enough to go to Colombia. I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating -- an intern at the Colombian consulate," the newspaper quoted Kohnstamm as saying.

Lonely Planet said it had reviewed Kohnstamm's guidebooks but had not found any inaccuracies in them, the Sunday Telegraph said.

Yes, this is one of quite a few reasons I completely boycott Lonely Planets stuff, bar it's language book (which is ok).

Another is the know-it-all backpacker types who seem to think that the lonely planet book on Thailand is the be-all and end-all and *somehow* its prices are sacrosanct and all-knowing.

So when they show up at a place they must have some power-buzz on how the prices *must* be xxx baht because lonely planet says so!

Sorry love but that's about 5 years out of date Take a hike

[sbk]

QUOTE (Tod @ 2008-10-26 16:18:41)

Pretty useless for any region...They say in the 2007 version that there is no ATM's on Koh Chang and that you can go from Trat to the cambodian border with a Thai minibus in less than an hour...(unless you drive on a 160km/h average, impossible)

OK, so you read the 2007 version. When did you read it?

When did the book come out? Start of 2007 or end of 2007? Actually they often come out in time for the year they advertise. So it may have been published at the end of 2006.

Now, let's say it takes, what, 6 months for editing, printing and distribution. That means the copy would have been submitted mid-2006. Now, nothing's to say that Koh Chang info wasn't written early on in the project.

This means the information could have been written towards the start of 2006.

I reckon they could install an ATM in 2 years.

The minibus? I don't know, maybe that's what the bus operator told the writer.

I know it's fashionable to bash guidebooks and LP in particular, but get a sense of proportion.

Donna was right, too. As far as I know, these companies pay peanuts for huge jobs.

Assuming you mean the Koh Chang in Trat; they have had ATM's there for at least 5 years, possibly longer...

Yes, exactly. And that was just 2 examples among a million others. I don't know who is Joe Cummings and if he is a good travel writer, one thing I do know is that he screwed up big time with the Thailand edition.

Might be LP who don't pay enough, that is not the question, my point was just that this guide is ok to pass the time when you are in a bus or when you have nothing else to do in your hotel room. But that's it, not reliable at all.

The writers fault, LP's fault? I don't care, just funny to see how bad is the most popular guide for Thailand.

Look again, Joe Cummings no longer writes the Lonely Planet Thailand guidebooks

[5tash]

The last "Lonely Planet: Thailand" book Joe Cummings helped compile was 11Rev Ed edition (1 Sep 2005).

[0Mix1up]

OK, so you read the 2007 version. When did you read it?

When did the book come out? Start of 2007 or end of 2007? Actually they often come out in time for the year they advertise. So it may have been published at the end of 2006.

Now, let's say it takes, what, 6 months for editing, printing and distribution. That means the copy would have been submitted mid-2006. Now, nothing's to say that Koh Chang info wasn't written early on in the project.

This means the information could have been written towards the start of 2006.

I reckon they could install an ATM in 2 years.

they had them in 2005 at least

so if they HAD been there !!!!

and others have said earlier

so even contacting a local koh chang business without going there, they would have told you

sloppy high school reports basically

[polecat]

OK, so Lonely Planet got something wrong. Show me the guidebook that doesn't. (I'm sure the BBC are feeling the pinch after your boycott, Jimsknight.)

My knowledge of ATMs on Koh Chang is not the best, so my timeline example was just that: and example.

Sure, people who keep their heads buried in LP on a 2-week vac can be missing out. But maybe they're just trying to learn as much as they can in the short time they're here. I know plenty of expats who have lived here for years and couldn't tell you what Loi Krathong means.

Guidebooks are just that: guides.

If you read that a boat trip costs 20 baht, but the guy asks for 200, you'd feel something was wrong. If the guy asks for 40 baht, you'd probably think that was about right. If you turn up in a town and the guidebook has a few suggestions for restaurant and hotels in your range... that's a good thing, right?

Demonising things like LP is silly. Territorial. As is all this guff about Joe Cummings. He started doing LP Thailand something like 30 years ago. Has long been fluent in Thai. Wrote the phrasebooks. And is (probably) barely involved now. Your name stays on a book's credits if any of your original material is still being used, whether it's a history of Thai architecture or the coolest ATMs on White Sands Beach. Give the guy a break.

[AmeriThai]

The LP Thailand book (when Cummings wrote for it) was okay as a point for absolute no-nothing beginners. The biggest problem with it is the accommodations info. By the time the book is released, much of it is inaccurate; in some cases, listing places that no longer existed. That wasn't Cummings fault though because there can be quite a spread of time from when it's written to when it's actually released to the book stores. The problem It's pretty hard to imagine Cummings would've or could've gone to all the hotels and guesthouses listed. My guess is that he grabbed info from other sources, including the various TAT accommodations booklets that were free for the asking. No point in reinventing the wheel. Most of the other info is pretty basic stuff. It did try to cover a lot about Thailand. Maybe too much which can be a problem with limiting the information thus making it somewhat inaccurate.

Same thing goes for guidebooks by other publishers.

[bunnaag]

many infos are actually from travellers who point out which places are not existing anymore and which places have changed from good to bad and changes in transport posibilities etc.Years ago if you were lucky they even send you the new edition or you could choose any other countryedition