The following thirty-three audiobooks about Thailand are guaranteed to teach you something, make errands and workouts more interesting – they might even make you laugh. Read on to find your ideal audiobook – the list includes Thai language lessons, hilarious satire, murder-mysteries and fascinating WWII history from around Southeast Asia.
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Tip! You can choose any two of the following audiobooks to enjoy free with an Audible trial.
1. Private Dancer
Private Dancer
View on AmazonNo pretence of high-brow literature here, but Private Dancer should be required reading for anyone, of any gender, intending to set foot in a Bangkok bar. It’s a fairly tongue-in-cheek thriller novel and I highly recommend it. (Incidentally, Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon, below, is by the same author and – I think – deserves your time for its title alone).
Audiobook length: 11 hours and 30 minutes
2. Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon
Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon
View on AmazonAudiobook length: 6 hours and 43 minutes
3. The Beach
The Beach
View on AmazonRaising the literature stakes, The Beach is the novel version of the Leonardo DiCaprio you just might be too young to remember.
Audiobook length: 11 hours and 12 minutes
4. The Narrow Road to the Deep North
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
View on AmazonThe Narrow Road to the Deep North is amongst the longer audiobooks on the list (nearly fifteen hours) and indeed the only Man Booker Prize winner.
Audiobook length: 14 hours and 59 minutes
5. Fieldwork: A Novel
Fieldwork: A Novel
View on AmazonAudiobook length: 12 hours and 4 minutes
Crazy Rich Asians series
Crazy Rich Asians + China Rich Girlfriend + Rich People Problems
If you live under an actual rock (man or woman – I’m not giving a free pass to anyone) and you haven’t read the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy … rectify your largest character failing right now, please. While only slim portions of the books take place in Thailand, the ‘Bangkok cousins’ are discussed at length. Need further convincing that you’ll laugh so hard you’ll fall off your treadmill? Wait until you meet a character with an extra-special English name: Perineum Wang.
Royal Thai Detective series
(1) Bangkok 8 + (2) Bangkok Tattoo + (3) Bangkok Haunts
(4) The Godfather of Kathmandu + (5) Vulture Peak + (6) The Bangkok Asset
All six books follow Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a Royal Thai Detective. If you love getting stuck into a series (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Cuckoo’s Calling, etc), these books are fast-paced and take you further into the world of Bangkok corruption than you’d ever want to see first-hand.
Thai phrasebooks and language lessons
Thai Phrasebook (1,001 phrases) + Get Talking Thai in Ten Days + Must-Know Thai Slang
My advice for learning any Thai language before your Thailand trip is (A) do it and (B) learn it together as a couple or with your travel buddy. If you know any words in Thai beyond hello and thank you – let alone Thai slang – you’ll be rewarded with a Thai version of Beatlemania. Repeat: Any effort learning any Thai – even counting to ten – is worth it.
Learn Thai (Level 1) + Thai Survival Phrases + Learn Thai (Level 3)
A few weeks before your trip, just add a beginner Thai language audiobook to your morning commute. Even ten or fifteen minutes’ attention will offer a net gain.
TIP! If you’re travelling with a group (and are competitive), undertake this language-learning in TOTAL SECRET. Imagine their astonishment when you order your first beer. In Thai.
Buddhism and Thai culture
Thailand: Experience Thailand! + Buddhism Plain and Simple + What the Buddha Taught
Any of these audiobooks will enhance your visits to temples in Thailand, as well as give you a wider understanding of Theravada Buddhism.
Regional WWII history
The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson + Elephant Company + Judy
World War Two buffs, step right up. Animal lovers? You too. Jim Thompson is a famous figure in Thai history but, while he’s well-known for his silk empire, his namesake Bangkok museum covers little of his war years. While neither Elephant Company nor Judy occurs in Thailand, they both offer incredible wartime tales of animals in India (Elephant Company) and Shanghai, Singapore and North Sumatra (Judy). Pre-disposed to any dog story, I absolutely fell in love with Judy and cannot stop talking about it. How it hasn’t been made into a movie I don’t know.
Travel books (and elephants!)
Cockpit Confidential + Not Afraid of the Fall + Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
If your travel days require travel books, look no further than Cockpit Confidential. If you, as well, spend your time on planes wondering what – really – is keeping that emergency exit door in place (besides a billion pounds of pressure), you’ll finally find your answers. (It’s good news).
Are We There Yet? + How to Travel the World on $50 a Day + An African Love Story
A final word on the last book on the list, An African Love Story. African elephants, you ask? Yep. While Thailand has elephant opportunities galore, there are no comparable audiobooks on the subject and this by the late Dame Daphne Sheldrick is an all-time favourite.
How and where to enjoy your audiobooks
Headphone Splitter + Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker
Running time for the audiobooks above varies from about three hours for Thai language audiobooks to nearly fifteen hours for the longest novel. Perhaps you’ll use the books in your daily life to widen your Thailand expertise and bring your trip a bit closer. Or, demolish a long flight or series of flights with a novel or two. If you’re travelling as a couple, a headphone-splitter means you can enjoy your book together – or even learn Thai phrases as a polyglot-powerhouse.
An even better plan? Once in Thailand, you have guaranteed entertainment:
- When you’re jet-lagged (but don’t want to turn on a light or stare at a screen).
- When you’re bored on a bus, ferry, train or car ride but will get motion-sickness if you read
- When you don’t have WiFi (power cuts happen!)
You can even add an audiobook to a relaxing Thai foot massage (or vice versa) or – with waterproof travel speaker – an especially splendid outdoor bath.
TIP! Bonus suggestion from one reluctant yogi to another? Do ten minutes of Shavasana feel more like fifty to you too? ‘Augment’ the boring bits of yoga with an audiobook and still technically call it ‘a noble meeting of mind/body/soul’.
To get through all thirty-three books by New Year you’ll need to start soon but – with an average running time of three to four hours – it’s easy to enjoy the few that particularly appeal over the course of just a week or two.
Which two will you pick?
Still can’t decide? My top two are Crazy Rich Asians – and – for dog-lovers especially – Judy: The Unforgettable Story of the Dog Who Went to War. Enjoy!
More Thailand books?
