Discover GEEO’s recommended books to read before you travel to Thailand. Our book club is a way for travelers to learn through literature about the places they’ll be visiting.

These are some of our favorites about Thailand, so if you’re heading there, take a look (the GEEO book club is not a required element of our programs, just a bit of added fun)! We hope you will enjoy the books we have selected and they will enhance your experience.

You should be able to find most of our selections through the links below and in your local library system as well. Do you have any feedback on our selections or suggestions for additions? Contact us and let us know!

Recommended books to read before traveling on our Thailand program:

Fiction:

• Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Nonfiction:

• The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej by Paul M. Handley (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Buddhadasa: Theravada Buddhism and Modernist Reform in Thailand by Peter Jackson (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

For those looking for more suggestions, here are some other books you may want to consider:

• Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery by William Warren (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Buddhism in Thailand (Families and Their Faiths) by Frances Hawker (K-3 book) (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Bangkok 8: A Royal Thai Detective Novel by John Burdett (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Beach by Alex Garland (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A History of Thailand by Chris Baker (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Hush! A Thai Lullaby by Ho Minfong (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Silk Umbrellas by Carolyn Marsden (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

GEEO utilizes both Bookshop.org and Amazon Associates links for the above-suggested books. If you purchase a book through one of the links above, you’re supporting us as a nonprofit and helping more teachers travel through GEEO!