Anna and the King  •  Andy Tennant 1999 •  DVD This is the fourth adaptation of the diaries of Anna Leonowens, the widowed British governess who came to Siam with her young son in 1860 with the purpose of tutoring the King's formidable clan of children and wives. First there was Margaret Landon's 1944 novel, then a non-musical stage version, followed by the celebrated Rogers & Hammerstein musical "The King and I," and most recently, this 1999 version, starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat, which focuses as much on the turbulent political climate of nineteenth-century Siam as it does on the chemistry between Anna and the King. (TLD56, $14.98)
Arts of Southeast Asia  •  Fiona Kerlogue ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES A handsome guide to the art, architecture, textiles and crafts of Southeast Asia, featuring 183 illustrations, 102 in color. Organized thematically, this concise book includes chapters on Hindu, Buddhist and indigenous art. A volume in the World of Art series. (SEA45, $16.95)
Bangkok Haunts  •  John Burdett MYSTERY •  2008 •  PAPER  • 368 PAGES The riveting sequel to Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Tattoo, once again featuring Royal Thai Police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. (TLD76, $13.95)
Bangkok Shopping  •  Nancy Chandler 2004 •  MAP A colorful map guide to shopping, restaurants, hotels and attractions. (TLD50, $12.95)
Bangkok Tattoo  •  John Burdett MYSTERY •  2006 •  PAPER Burdett plumbs the dark side of Bangkok in this mesmerizing murder mystery starring Royal Thai Police detective, Sonchai Jitpleecheep. Second in the series. (TLD78, $13.95)
Birds of Southeast Asia  •  Craig Robson FIELD GUIDE •  2005 •  PAPER  • 304 PAGES A compact field guide to the birds of Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in the outstanding series of Princeton Field Guides. The book features 140 color plates covering 1,270 species, concise text and range maps. This is the field edition of Robson's masterful Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia. (SEA49, $35.00)
Bombay Anna, The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the King and I Governess  •  Susan Morgan BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2008 •  HARD COVER  • 274 PAGES Darwing on extensive research, Morgan portrays Anna Leonowens, of musical fame, as not only the first foreigner in the royal harem of Siam but also a world traveler and an independent woman. (TLD84, $24.95)
Buddha  •  Karen Armstrong RELIGION •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 240 PAGES A concise, thought-provoking biography of the Buddha in the Penguin Lives series, written by one of the foremost experts on world religions. A member of the Association of Muslim Social Services in Jerusalem, Karen Armstrong is a former Roman Catholic nun who teaches Judaism. Her many books include: A History of God; Islam, a Short History; and Jerusalem: One City Three Faiths. She has also written a biography of Mohammed. (REL09, $14.00)
Chiang Mai Shopping  •  Nancy Chandler 2001 •  MAP A colorful map guide to shopping, restaurants, hotels and attractions. (TLD49, $10.95)
Classical Dance and Theatre in South-East Asia  •  Jukka O. Miettinen CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1993 •  HARD COVER  • 228 PAGES An illustrated introduction to disappearing traditions in dance, theater, and puppet theater in Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Java, and Bali. (SEA54, $85.00)
Exploring Phuket & Phi Phi  •  Oliver Hargreave GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 230 PAGES This guide takes the independent traveler on a tour of the islands' history and natural attractions as well as pointing the way to the best places to stay--from charming huts on secluded beaches to swank villas with infinity pools. Detailed maps, color photos, and an engaging insightful text make this post-tsunami guide an indispensable companion for anyone visiting or thinking of visiting these islands. (TLD81, $24.95)
Eyewitness Guide Thailand  •  Philip Cornwel-Smith  •  Deni Brown GUIDEBOOK •  2004 •  PAPER  • 504 PAGES A compact illustrated guide to Thailand, featuring color photographs, excellent maps and a regional overview of the country's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date. (TLD26, $25.00)
Eyewitness Top 10 Bangkok Travel Guides  •  Eyewitness Travel Guides  •  Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER  • 128 PAGES A compact, illustrated guide in the popular series, featuring favorite attractions. (TLD82, $12.00)
Fieldwork  •  Mischa Berlinski LITERATURE •  2007 •  HARD COVER  • 320 PAGES This cleverly plotted thriller, set in Thailand, revolves around the murder investigation by an anthropology student not coincidentally named Mischa Berlinski. (TLD80, $24.00)
Fodor's Thailand  •  Fodors GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 569 PAGES A popular, practical guide. (TLD42, $23.95)
The Food of Thailand, A Journey for Food Lovers  •  Kay Halsey FOOD •  2006 •  PAPER  • 296 PAGES This culinary journey guides readers through Bangkok's markets to the seafood freshly cooked on the beaches of the Gulf of Thailand, to the sweet-makers of Phetchaburi province to the rice-growing hill tribes of the northern region. (TLD89, $34.95)
Footprint Diving the World, A Guide to the World's Coral Seas  •  Beth Tierney  •  Shaun Tierney GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 350 PAGES An inviting, beautifully illustrated guide to 220 dive sites in 19 countries with chapters on Australia and the Pacific, Mexico and Honduras, Egypt, East Africa and the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Micronesia. Featuring the diving couple's favorite destinations, the book includes a planning guide, practical tips, and listing of dive centers, hotels, restaurants and live-aboards. (OCE102, $29.95)
Footprint Thailand Handbook  •  Andrew Spooner GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 751 PAGES A practical guide in the popular British series. (TLD67, $24.95)
A Fortune-Teller Told Me, Earthbound Travels in the Far East  •  Tizanio Terzani TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 371 PAGES Grounded for a year, the peripatetic journalist (Italian-born, writing in German, and based in India) sets off by any other means to complete his rounds through Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Mongolia, China, Japan and other far-flung destinations. The result is this warm, anecdotal account of the character of the region. It's got to be the book most recommended to us on contemporary Asia. (SEA35, $14.95)
Genders and Sexualities in Modern Thailand  •  Peter Jackson  •  Nerida Cook CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2000 •  PAPER  • 289 PAGES A well-edited collection of 15 essays by noted scholars on issues of gender, sexuality and culture in Thailand, covering gender roles, marriage and sexual identity. The authors, who rely variously on interviews, historical research and popular accounts, tackle serious issues of prostitution, AIDS, and class. (TLD44, $27.50)
A Guide to Khmer Temples in Thailand and Laos  •  Michael Freeman GUIDEBOOK •  1998 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES • COMING IN A compact guide to Khmer temples throughout the region, both famous and little-visited, featuring color photography, maps, temple plans and diagrams. It includes many remarkable sites near the border with Cambodia that are open to the public for the first time. (TLD20, $19.95)
A Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia  •  Craig Robson FIELD GUIDE •  2000 •  HARD COVER  • 504 PAGES A comprehensive guide and handbook to the 1,250 species of birds found in Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia -- the first in a decade. It features 104 color plates, good descriptive text, range maps and introductory chapters on habitats, conservation and bird watching in the region. (SEA22, $85.00)
In Search of Southeast Asia: a Modern History  •  David P. Chandler  •  David J. Steinberg HISTORY •  1988 •  PAPER  • 590 PAGES Written by seven historians of Asia, this scholarly overview of the social, economic and political history of Southeast Asia is an excellent introduction to the region. A popular text for courses on modern Southeast Asian history, the organizing theme of the book is the region's cultural adaptation to change. Parts 2, 4 & 5 are organized by country. (SEA18, $30.00)
Insight Guide Southeast Asia  •  Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2003 •  PAPER  • 302 PAGES • COMING IN A profusely illustrated overview of Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Phillippines, featuring concise essays by well regarded authors on history, politics and culture, as well as hundreds of photos and maps and some limited practical information. (SEA51, $22.95)
Insight Pocket Guide Bangkok  •  Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2001 •  PAPER  • 136 PAGES This convenient, slim volume features color photographs, many maps (including a handy fold-out map of the city), good short descriptions of major points of interest, and other practical information. (TLD03, $13.95)
Insight Pocket Guide Phuket  •  Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK •  1999 •  PAPER  • 112 PAGES This convenient, slim volume features color photographs, many maps (including a handy fold-out map), good short descriptions of major points of interest, and other practical information. (TLD33, $12.95)
Jewelry of Southeast Asia  •  Anne Richter ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2000 •  HARD COVER  • 304 PAGES An in-depth analysis of Southeast Asia's jewelry tradition that spans from the Neolithic and Bronze Age to the present, complemented by 350 full-color illustrations. Richter showcases more than 300 prized pieces and provides insightful commentary. (SEA25, $75.00)
The King and I  •  Walter Lang 1956 •  DVD The classic Rogers & Hammerstein musical adaptation of Margaret Landon's 1944 novel "Anna and the King of Siam," based on the diaries of Anna Leonowens. Deborah Kerr stars as the British schoolteacher who came to Siam (now Thailand) with her son in 1860 to tutor the King's many children and wives. Here is Yul Brynner's unforgettable performance as the stern, unsmiling King of Siam, whose facade can only be melted by a rousing chorus of "Shall We Dance." (TLD55, $19.98)
Knopf Guide Thailand  •  Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2005 •  PAPER A compact visual guide to Thailand. (TLD57, $26.95)
Little Angels, Real Life Stories of Thai Novice Monks  •  Phra Peter Pannapadipo CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2005 •  PAPER (TLD63, $13.45)
Lonely Planet Bangkok  •  Joe Cummings GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER  • 290 PAGES This comprehensive, practical guide includes a good overview of history and attractions, dozens of color maps, and even a section on Thai language. (TLD19, $18.99)
Lonely Planet Bangkok Encounter  •  Lonely Planet Publications GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 216 PAGES With a section of not-to-be-missed highlights and a calendar of annual events, this lively pocket guide organized by neighborhood includes suggested side trips, along what to see and where to shop, eat, drink and play. With a double-sided pullout map. (TLD77, $11.99)
Lonely Planet Bangkok Encounter  •  Lonely Planet Publications GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 216 PAGES With a section of not-to-be-missed highlights and a calendar of annual events, this lively pocket guide organized by neighborhood includes suggested side trips, along what to see and where to shop, eat, drink and play. With a double-sided pullout map. (TLD77, $11.99)
Lonely Planet Ko Samui Encounter  •  China Williams GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER With a section of not-to-missed highlights and a calendar of annual events, this lively pocket guide organized by neighborhood includes suggested side trips, along what to see and where to shop, eat, drink and play. With a double-sided pullout map. (TLD85, $12.99)
Lonely Planet Phuket Encounter  •  Adam Skolnick GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER With a section of not-to-missed highlights and a calendar of annual events, this lively pocket guide organized by neighborhood includes suggested side trips, along what to see and where to shop, eat, drink and play. With a double-sided pullout map. (TLD86, $12.99)
Lonely Planet Thai Phrasebook  •  Joe Cummings LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2008 •  PAPER  • 258 PAGES A handy pocket phrasebook, covering pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler in Thailand. (TLD46, $8.99)
Lonely Planet Thailand's Islands and Beaches  •  China Williams GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 468 PAGES A compact practical guide in the popular series with chapters on Bangkok, Gulf of Thailand and Andaman coasts. With information on beach resorts, national parks and adventure activities in popular Phuket and other holiday destinations. (TLD48, $21.99)
Lonely Planet, Diving and Snorkeling Thailand  •  Tim Rock GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 176 PAGES This practical, illustrated guide to 75 diving and snorkeling sites in Thailand features a short overview of marine life, color photographs and excellent maps. (TLD58, $24.99)
Miles from Nowhere, A Round the World Bicycle Adventure  •  Barbara Savage TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1985 •  PAPER  • 340 PAGES The adventures of a beginning cyclist and her husband who cover 23,000 miles and 25 countries in two years. The personal, unpretentious writing captures the colorful characters that cross the path of this young couple and the flavor of the countries they traverse. Sadly, Barbara Savage died in a cycling accident training for the triathlon upon her return home as the book was going to press. (BCY02, $16.95)
Moon Thailand  •  Suzanne Nam GUIDEBOOK •  2008 •  PAPER  • 600 PAGES A practical guide in the popular series. (TLD88, $21.95)
The Naked Tourist, In Search of Adventure and Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall  •  Lawrence Osborne TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES • NEW "It came upon me suddenly," Osborne reports, "like a mental disorder unknown to psychiatry: the desire to stop everything in normal life, to uproot, leave." And so he does, taking off on a six-month journey from Dubai to India, Bangkok, Bali and Papua New Guinea on the "Asian Highway." Osborne is not just interested in travel, but also in the reasons why we travel, layering his own entertaining adventures with ruminations on Shangri-La, The Grand Tour, the exotic and primitive. (SEA50, $14.00)
National Geographic Traveler Thailand  •  Carl Parkes  •  Phil Macdonald GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES This guide to Thailand, published in the National Geographic attractive visual style, features hundreds of photographs, full color maps, and useful information on history, nature, culture, and travel. (TLD51, $27.95)
Phra Farang: An English Monk in Thailand  •  Phra Peter Pannapadipo BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2005 •  PAPER  • 356 PAGES Phra Peter Pannapadipo (AKA Peter Robinson) writes with candor and humor of his transformation from London businessman to novice Buddhist monk. Pannapadipo has also written Little Angels, the story of novice Buddhist monks in rural Thailand. (TLD60, $16.00)
The Politics of Heroin, CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade  •  Alfred McCoy HISTORY •  1991 •  PAPER  • 634 PAGES An expanded version of McCoy's groundbreaking "The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia." This second edition includes the relationship between drug merchants, and intelligence and law enforcement agencies from Southeast Asia, to Central America and Afghanistan. The author is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. (LAO09, $32.95)
Richard Bangs' Adventures With Purpose, Dispatches from the Front Lines of Earth  •  Richard Bangs EXPLORATION •  2007 •  PAPER  • 400 PAGES Hair-raising jaunts to far-flung corners of the world, including Libya, Bosnia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. (WLD127, $16.95)
Rough Guide Music Thailand  •  Various Artists MUSIC •  2003 •  AUDIO CD A carefully chosen sampling of the diverse sounds of Thailand. Includes the lukthung style from the central region, and the vibrant and pulsating morlam from the northeast region. (TLD75, $14.95)
Rough Guide Thailand  •  Paul Gray  •  Lucy Ridout GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 966 PAGES This sturdy comprehensive travel guide in the British series includes an excellent historical and cultural overview of Thailand along with extensive listings. An excellent choice. (TLD12, $25.99)
The Size of the World  •  Joan Silber LITERATURE •  2008 •  HARD COVER In this richly imagined novel-in-stories, Silber explores connections between cultures and countries, and the power of place to change a person's life. Drawing on historical events from wartime Vietnam to colonial Thailand, Mexico and 9/11-era United States, her loosely linked chapters follow travelers, immigrants and ex-pats as they leave home for adventures into the foreign, forever changed in unexpected ways. Silber, who has traveled extensively in Asia, grounds her globe-spanning narrative with the personal yearnings, hopes and fears of each character. Her prose, heartfelt yet unsentimental, creates a textured portrait of a complex world, in which the distance between countries are often smaller than the distance between people. (WLD143, $23.95)
Soul of the Tiger, Searching for Nature's Answers in Southeast Asia  •  Jeffrey A. McNeely  •  Paul Spencer Sochaczewski NATURAL HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 432 PAGES A wide-ranging meditation on the role of animals and nature in the complex human societies of Southeast Asia, originally published in 1988. The authors wax philosophical -- and sometimes blackly humorous -- about conservation issues throughout the region. They argue for effective community-based conservation building on traditional relationships between people and the environment (SEA02, $18.95)
Southeast Asia Map  •  Nelles MAP A clear, double-sided map of all of southeast Asia from Burma, Vietnam and Thailand to Hong Kong, the Philippines and Indonesia at a scale of 1:4,500,000. (SEA12, $10.95)
Southeast Asia, A Concise History  •  Mary Somers Heidhues HISTORY •  2001 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES A lively, illustrated history of Southeast Asia, covering the politics, economics, society and culture of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. With 131 black-and-white illustrations and 11 maps. (SEA26, $19.95)
Southeast Asia, From Prehistory to History  •  Peter Bellwood  •  Ian Glover HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES Geared for students, this popular textbook outlines the cultural history of the region from Neolithic and early metal periods to the major Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms. (SEA53, $190.00)
Time Out Bangkok, And Beach Escapes  •  Philip Cornwel-Smith GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES An up-to-date guide on what to do and where to go by the people who publish Time Out Magazine. (TLD64, $19.95)
Travels in the East  •  Donald Richie  •  Stephen Mansfield TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2007 •  PAPER  • 180 PAGES The unmatchable, exuberant Richie (who winningly writes "New countries are like new clothes") muses on Egypt, India, Bhutan, Mongolia, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Thailand, Yap, Korea, and Japan in this kaleidoscope of travel essays. (ASA63, $14.95)
Wallpaper City Guide Bangkok  •  Wallpaper Magazine GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER A stylish, thin (it fits in your back pocket) city guide compiled by the design magazine Wallpaper's local reporters. Well-organized, with chapter tabs, many photographs and of-the-moment recommendations. (TLD74, $8.95)
What the Buddha Taught  •  Walpola Sri Rahula RELIGION •  1972 •  PAPER  • 151 PAGES A classic account of Theravada Buddhism by a respected monk and scholar from Sri Lanka. The venerable Walpola Sri Rahula, who taught at Northwestern, was instrumental introducing Buddhism as it is practiced in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Sri Lanka to the United States. First published in 1959 (and still widely taught), the book introduces Sanskrit and Pali terms, and provides translations from relevant original texts with explanations for Western readers. Drawing on the words of Buddha. (SEA41, $13.00)
A Woman's Asia  •  Marybeth Bond ANTHOLOGY •  2005 •  PAPER  • 310 PAGES These thirty-five personal, often hilarious accounts of women's adventures from China to Sri Lanka to Turkey to Bhutan, not only illuminating the everyday, oft-overlooked cultural practices of Asia, but also giving a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of the female traveller. Featuring selections from Jan Morris, Pamela Logan and Alison Wright. (ASA49, $17.95)
World Religions: Eastern Traditions  •  Willard G. Oxtoby RELIGION •  2002 •  PAPER  • 515 PAGES A clear and insightful introduction to Eastern religions by a team of scholars. It's a handsomely produced concise overview of Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, and East Asian traditions, as rewarding for the general reader as the student. This second edition features additional suggested reading, photographs, glossary and thought-provoking review questions. (ASA07, $64.95)