What Are Some Good Novels Which Are Based In Thailand?

[Ulysses G.]

[A book I love is "Letters From Thailand" by Botan, translated by Susan Fulop, though it's about the integration of a Chinese immigrant family into Bangkok life, so really it isn't up the OP's street. Otherwise I'm struggling!

I really enjoyed it as well.

[too true]

I really enjoyed Jasmine Nights by SP Somtow. Entertaining and insightful look into upper class Thai society in the 60s.

[Moonrakers]

Forgot to put in my Best Novels, and not asked for, but WORST novel I've ever read, actually never got past first few chapters was something from someone called Jake Needham.

Good old Trink also rubbished it.

The Big Mango?

I actually finished it, god knows why. Some of the most self indulgent crap that I have ever had the misfortune to actually buy.

Yes, I agree. The idea for the "Big Mango" story is quite a good one but it's full of cardboard cutouts and I can't even remember the ending.

Andrew Hicks

The Big Mango is one of only three Bangkok novels that I have read more than once and I could not disagree more.

Jake is one of few Thailand-based novelists who sees through the BS and has the balls to tell it how it is. I know quite a few people, including some other novelists, funnily enough, struggle with that.

It was so full of unnecessary, self indulgent irrelevant crap. Such as:

(along the lines of) "Nobody watches the BBC anymore, because of the over exaggerated British accents"

<deleted>! For starters it just isn't true, the accents are not exaggerated whatsoever. But more to the point things such as that had no relevance to the story whatsoever and where just an opportunity to have an unnecessary pop at the Brits (and other nationalities), whilst bigging up the mighty US of A.

As said the idea of the story was a good one, but it was so full of BS that it made it barely readable. A good story utterly ruined.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Moonrakers

[Ulysses G.]

But more to the point things such as that had no relevance to the story whatsoever and where just an opportunity to have an unnecessary pop at the Brits (and other nationalities), whilst bigging up the mighty US of A.

Sounds better than I thought. I will have to give it a read!

[bendejo]

I very much like John Le Carre's "Honorable Schoolboy."

Though not set entirely in Thailand, but several SE Asia locations at the end of the Vietnam War, it will give you a flavor of how different things were in the region a few decades ago.

Also, the book stands alone, even though it is one of the Smiley series (George Smiley is top man at the battered British Secret Service) it is not necessary to read the other books to appreciate this one. Then again, if you like this book you may want to read the others.

IMO, Le Carre is the best of the Cold War spook story writers.

[Andrew Hicks]

Sorry, but I would the Thai Girl novel VERY LOW by literary standards. What a shameless plug!

I did read it so I know what I am talking about. Probably the most poorly written novel I have read in years.

Hey, Jingthing, you're a meanie. Loads of people really love "Thai Girl"!

Oh well, can't please all of the readers all of the time and I admit that I too am often disappointed with a novel that's a top seller with a strong reputation.

It can be a matter of personal choice. Witness the above disagreements over Jake Needham's books which for me at least are weak stories, though snappily written.

Flamers lurk on Thaivisa though and last time someone came to rescue "Thai Girl", saying the following,

"The real heart and soul of this book lies in the character of Fon (the 'Thai girl'). Beautifully observed and drawn, a striking metaphor for Thai culture itself, it is through her that Hicks adeptly explores the central theme of most books of this genre: the difficulty, frustration, pain and, perhaps ultimately, the futility of the foreigner trying to come to terms with the mercurial nature of Thailand. It is to his credit - and I believe displays and reflects the respect he has for this country - that he chose not to use the hackneyed milieu of the Bangkok bar scene as a vehicle to achieve this."

He said I had 'a natural gift for narrative' and 'a raw talent for story telling'. Wow!

Now Jingthing's brought me down to earth again.

Anyway "Thai Girl's" still selling well and has just been reprinted yet again. And last year it made more profit than General Motors and Chrysler combined, money which incidentally is covenated for the relief of poverty in a certain small village in Isaan.

Yes, I can almost guarantee that you'll love my "Thai Girl" if you give it half chance!

And it's being translated into Danish and I've sold the movie option. Wait for it!

Andrew Hicks

[Ulysses G.]

Hey, Jingthing, you're a meanie. Loads of people really love "Thai Girl"!

Jingthing is one of my favorite posters and I don't think that he bears you any ill will. He is known for his honesty and I think that he is just saying exactly how he feels.

On the other hand, maybe he did not realize that you post here.

[HankChinasky]

Sorry, but I would the Thai Girl novel VERY LOW by literary standards. What a shameless plug!

I did read it so I know what I am talking about. Probably the most poorly written novel I have read in years.

I completely agree. Absolutely flat from beginning to the end, dull and uncaptivating characters. Peppered with a few true but commonplace statements about Thailand.

Really surprised this piece of rubbish became a bestseller...

[Jingthing]

Hey, Jingthing, you're a meanie. Loads of people really love "Thai Girl"!

Sorry. I don't intend to be mean. Plugging your novel on a thread like this is very bad form and if you were honest with yourself, you would realize that as well. To me your product is just like any product, you are asking people to spend their money and time on it and I truly feel there are better uses for most people's time and money.

However, look at the bright side. There is some truth that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Have I spelled your name correctly?

ANDREW HICKS

Thai Girl

Really surprised this piece of rubbish became a bestseller...

Could be the shameless marketing?

Edited March 18, 2009 by Jingthing

[HankChinasky]

Oups! And now I just realized that the author is a member of

[djlest]

BANGKOK 8

Is brilliant in my Book!!!

[Jingthing]

BANGKOK 8

Is brilliant in my Book!!!

Many votes for that one.

I just bought a used copy of The Big Mango based on at least some good comments here. I hope I like it.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

I find it interesting that several years ago when anyone would recommend "Private Dancer" on TV every second post would say how terrible it is and how anyone who likes it is stupid. Now, most people seem to think that it is a pretty good book.

[Moonrakers]

BANGKOK 8

Is brilliant in my Book!!!

Many votes for that one.

I just bought a used copy of The Big Mango based on at least some good comments here. I hope I like it.

You're just looking forward to the Brit bashing.

[Jingthing]

You're just looking forward to the Brit bashing.

I hadn't realized. I'll get right on it.

[Ulysses G.]

I have to admit that I have not read The Big Mango (but I have a bookstore with the same name), but before Bangkok 8 came out, Jake Needham was the most popular local author. People also said that he writes quite well, but John Burdett came along and kind of left him in the dust.

[coventry]

"Le Pont de La Riviere Kwai" by Pierre Boulle. It should have been made into a film.

[Underbelly]

Serving rice in KFC

[Ulysses G.]

"Le Pont de La Riviere Kwai" by Pierre Boulle. It should have been made into a film.

I think that it was!

[eljeque]

Besides many of the good books already mentioned, try this one

A Farang Strikes Back

.... an easy title to remember.

[JetsetBkk]

I find it interesting that several years ago when anyone would recommend "Private Dancer" on TV every second post would say how terrible it is and how anyone who likes it is stupid. Now, most people seem to think that it is a pretty good book.

I was just thinking that. I couldn't put it down after I'd started - kept thinking someone had been following me around, making notes. :D

[stickman]

I have to admit that I have not read The Big Mango (but I have a bookstore with the same name), but before Bangkok 8 came out, Jake Needham was the most popular local author. People also said that he writes quite well, but John Burdett came along and kind of left him in the dust.

Pretty much anything by Jake Needham, Steve Leather or Chris Moore is good. They are a cut above all the other local authors. Most of Steve's books are set in the UK but his Thailand stuff is all good. Ditto Needham. Chris Moore understands Thailand better than all the authors and his books are almost unique in that they could only be set here. Pretty much everything he has published in the last 5 years has been great.

I am not sure why pepole like to shit on Jake Needham. He is a very accomplished writer and funnily enough, out with Steve Leather tonight Steve speaks very highly of Jake's books and writing ability.

I guess it is that usual Bangkok problem - envy. Jake is a successful guy with a gorgeous, highly intelligent wife and a happy family life. So people speak ill of his books because they are jealous of what he has and what he has achieved. Sad.

Burdett can write but I don't like his books at all.

Edited March 18, 2009 by stickman

[Jimjim]

All I know is, Even Thai Girls Cry was absolutely horrible. Seemed more like the personal fantasy of the author than a good book.

[polecat]

I am not sure why pepole like to shit on Jake Needham. He is a very accomplished writer and funnily enough, out with Steve Leather tonight Steve speaks very highly of Jake's books and writing ability.

I guess it is that usual Bangkok problem - envy. Jake is a successful guy with a gorgeous, highly intelligent wife and a happy family life. So people speak ill of his books because they are jealous of what he has and what he has achieved. Sad.

Rather peculiar to presume that readers even know he has a beautiful wife etc. Maybe they just don't like the books he writes.

I've never read one because each time I've browsed his books the cack-handed cliches have me dry-retching. Maybe they're brilliant, but now that I know he has a happy family life I'll definitely never buy one!

[Andrew Hicks]

You're just looking forward to the Brit bashing.

I hadn't realized. I'll get right on it.

So you love Brit bashing eh?

Despite that I'll take your criticism of "Thai Girl" on the nose though because the book has genuinely become hugely popular, even being described as a cult novel by one author and your individual view will not dent that.

But I agree with Ulysses G's comment a couple of posts up about how strange it is that opinions of books on Thaivisa swing so wildly between extremes.

Perhaps that's the consequence of the convention of anonymity which allows members to kick shit everywhere... which at least makes the forum colourfulI suppose.

Nonetheless different people will have different views of the same book and that's accepted by every author.

One man's meat etc! And it only needs a minority to like it to make it a bestseller.

For me the key to a novel is in the storytelling.

In my personal view John Burdett and Jake Needham are snappy writers but poor storytellers. Steve Leather is, he tells me, deliberately a plain writer but I think he's a great storyteller. I've read a lot of his UK based thrillers, not a genre I'd usually read, but I've found them totally gripping.

"I couldn't put it down," he said of "Thai Girl" (see inside the front dust jacket) and surely that's the key ingredient to a good read.

Andrew

PS Is it in poor taste to have a humble author on the forum discussing books?

[Jingthing]

So you love Brit bashing eh?

It was a joke.

Happy to give you yet another chance to promote your awful novel, you shameless hack. (It takes one to know one, ha ha.)

Consider this. People ask for good pizza joints. And a poster who owns a pizza join promotes his place. Would YOU take that seriously?

Now, yet another chance for you to re-publish your dust jacket. When can I expect the check in the mail?

THAI GIRL

by ANDREW HICKS

Edited March 19, 2009 by Jingthing

[lannarebirth]

I rather like Pira Sudham's work and as Endure mentions 'Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind' is a good gentle read.

Pira Sudham's original stuff was good but the last book he wrote was a real disappointment. 'The Teachers of Mad Dog Swamp' by Khamman Khonkhai is worth a read.

His People of Esarn was very good IMO. Monsoon Country, not too bad and Force of Karma, pretty awful.

I can recommend the novels of Chart Korbjitti. The Judgement (Story of fak), Mad Dogs and Company, Time, etc.

[coventry]

"Le Pont de La Riviere Kwai" by Pierre Boulle. It should have been made into a film.

I think that it was!

"In 1997, this film was deemed "Culturally, historically, or aesthetically, significant and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry."

What the <deleted> for ? Was it was because William Holden blew the bridge up ?

[Geekfreaklover]

Probably the best novel set in thailand is "The Falcon of Siam" - I forget the authors name.

Burdetts first book " Bangkok eight" is very good. I like David Young's "Sukuhmvit Road"

I also like "losing the plot" by C. Wow becasue it is so very different from the normal dross. He is also a friend, so i can plug him.

Most of what you see on the shelves published by the likes of Bangkok Book House is terrible. In fact the authors pay for the printing costs, so it is more or less self publishing. The only two books are readable from BBH are 'The Butterfly Trap' by Dennis Jon and 'The Last escape' by Mr Garrigan.

As for the others, Needham's "Big Mango' is worth a read. I would avoid C. Moore.

As fot 'Thai Girl' - Sorry, Andrew the book is not very good by any standards and I find it hard to buy the claim that someone has bought the film rights to a book that simply doesn't have any a film in it. Cult classic?

[Jingthing]

I am going to mention a book hardly anyone knows about. It is set mostly in Thailand and has a lot about working as an anthropologist with hill tribe cultures and Christian missionaries based in Chiang Mai. It is both critical and sympathetic to the missionaries at the very same time which I found to be quite a feat. At the core of it is a compelling murder mystery. It is written very well and a great read. Berlinski is a real literary artist, unlike some poseurs.

Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski