Attractive, full-color photographs accompany the positions in each of eight lessons that detail the unique methods of Thai massage for feet, legs, back, chest, abdomen, and extremities, as well as techniques for different positions of repose. There is a useful introduction and a good overview of the body musculature and the actual mechanics of Thai massage, as well as specific massage routines for easing chronic pain and for beginning practitioners.

4.5 Stars

Maria Mercati has done an excellent job of bringing Thai massage to neophytes such as myself. The text is very readable and it tends to put the reader into the proper, relaxed state of mind. The bodywork shown within really works and is not difficult to learn. I just wish for more: more history and more exercises. This is an excellent, inexpensive resource.

This is a quality book that is a good introduction to the marvelous field of Thai Massage. The photos are clear and the descriptions of technique are competent. There are aspects that are lacking though that are extremely well covered in another book entitled, 'Thai Massage: A Traditional Medical Technique'by Dr. Richard Gold and published by Churchill Livingstone. This book presents Thai Massage as a primary component of an entire traditional medical system. The theories and history of Thai Medicine are covered and the development of the medicine in the context of Buddhist culture is very well presented.This book also has excellent photos and clear and easy to follow descriptions. Thai Massage is a unique style of bodywork that will see rapid growth in the West as it becomes better known.These books will certainly help that growth.

This book has a lot of good recipes. Unfortunately, I am not convinced the recipes were designed for vegetarians. Many of the recipes have ingredient lists like "Fish sauce (or light soy sauce)".

Apart from that, book has lots of pretty pictures, is well organized and has most of the Thai food that vegetarians would order in a restaurant (curries, pad thai, pineapple fried rice). No Drunken Noodle though!

I'm a huge fan of thai food and was skeptical that I could go vegetarian and still cook thai but this cookbook has great recipes! It has a number of really tasty curries like the root vegetable curry, the jungle curry and others. And the flavors are full and alive. I'm really happy with tyhe recipes I've tried so far and plan to keep on cookin'. Very happy I bought the book.

I just wanted to say to anyone who thinks this was not meant for veggies, should have read the intro. The Author explains how to substitute, say fish sauce, with light soy or other kinds of combinations to achieve the same flavors. The Pad thai is wonderful as well as the stir-fry's and soups. I recommend you at least try it on for size

"Sabbath River" is well researched and well written, but it suffers from the absence of graphics: maps, timelines, and tables. Halkin would better serve his 21st century audience with visuals. Call me intellectually lazy, but I would have been fully on-board this "great adventure" had the author used graphics. As it was, I read the first half and thumbed through the latter half-unable to trudge through the details that could have been fleshed-out graphically. For example, in the final chapters much is made of various obscure texts, but these are never put into perspective on a graphic that shows their temporal and spatial context. In another case, the author cites a "lost," then "found" will of questionable provenance. I wanted to see the picture of the will-a picture of the will with arrows pointing to all its questionable features. This books is attractive to the curious, but it suffers from an insufficient number of graphics.

Hillel Harkin's study of the fabled 10 lost tribes of Israel succeeds because he is not an anthropologist or biblical scholar. Indeed, if one is looking for an in depth study of the lost tribes and their hypothetical present locations, this probably is not the best place to go. However, if you are looking for a story rooted in history, told by a world traveler who writes sweeping narratives and locale descriptions, than this is your best bet.

The story of the lost tribes is a fascinating one. It is so interesting that thousands of anthropologists and explorers have spent their whole life looking for this group of ancient Jews. The story is as mysterious as it is educational. In the 8th century BC, the Assyrians conquered northern Israel. The ten tribes of Jews that inhabited the area were mostly uprooted and moved, east, to the vast areas of the Assyrian Empire. After that, no one is sure where they ended up. It would be a good guess that wherever they settled, they were assimilated into the native culture, but influenced the natives greatly, possibly with their monotheist religion. This may seem to many as a curious historical footnote, but to some in the Jewish religion, it is one of the most important factors in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The location and return of the 10 northern tribes is an integral part of Jewish tradition, even if many have cast it off as a relic of the past.

Harkin story follows the travels of one Rabbi Avichail, an eccentric but dedicated Jewish scholar. Avichail firmly believes that the tribes and their culture can still be found, in former Assyrian areas such as India, Central Asia, and China. Now, just years ago, this was deemed almost absurd. However, with recent technological and genetic discoveries, the lineage of some of these groups is no longer hypothetical. Roman genes in China and Greek genes in Afghanistan have been discovered, pointing to ancient connections. Avichail believes that he can find these groups, and return them to the promise land. Harkin is skeptical at first, mainly because the often shaky evidence Avichail provides, and the fruitless tribe search in southern China. However, he, and the reader, soon become fascinated by the Mizo people of northeastern India. They passionately claim lineage to the Manasseh, one of the lost tribes. They share some intriguing similarities, such as one God known as Ya (Yahweh), an old song of the Red Sea, and ritual circumcision. The Mizo are constantly split from within, as Christianity and cultural strife strain the relationship between them and their old ways. Avichail and his party, including Harkin, are quickly wrapped up into this intriguing cultural and religious situation.

The book benefits from Harkins insightful eye, which look into almost every facet of Avichail, the Mizo, and their claims. The sweeping descriptions of the areas the party visits and the surrounding political situations are vivid and entertaining. It is a remarkable hybrid of a travel, history, and religious narrative that synthesizes very well.

A fascinating read.

First, before starting this book, I recommend that you take a look at the author's two page guide to pronunciation, to better understand the Hebrew, Mizo, Thado, and Burmese words in the text. Halkin, a well known translator of Hebrew books, posits that a little-known ethnic group living along the Indian-Burmese border is descended from the ancient Jewish tribe of Manasseh. The fate of the ten lost tribes of Israel has haunted Jewish and Christian imaginations throughout the ages. Hillel Halkin has long been intrigued by the subject. And why not? Many American Jews of a certain age dreamed of an aboriginal, strong, warrior Jew, the type who could win fistfights on the way to and from junior high school. And so, Halkin embarked on a journey. In 1998, he accompanied a Jerusalem rabbi and dedicated lost-tribes hunter to China, Thailand, and northeast India, where the rabbi hoped to discover traces of the lost tribes. Halkin went with a very healthy dose of skepticism. Most look at Rabbi Avichail as a well meaning crackpot. Whatever the Rabbi is, he makes for an interesting story, having traveled to Marranos in Portugal, Karens in Burma, Tatars in Dagestan, Kananites in Kerala, and 'Indians' in Manipur and Mizoram. The book captures your interest from its first paragraph. The Sabbath is approaching as Halkin and the rabbi are searching out the non-Chinese Chiang's in Western Szechuan. Then the police arrive at their hotel. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens. After a variety of adventures and misadventures, Halkin returned several times to the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, where 5000 people belive they are a lost tribe of Hebrews. Are these people the victims of a mass cultural delusion, having accepted a myth to promote and reinforce their distinct cultural identity? Or are the actually descendants of some Bnai Menashe? Are these Kuki-Chin-Mizo people, living along the Indian-Burmese border, descended from the ancient biblical tribe of Manasseh. Halkin isn't a scholar, linguist, or ethnographer, but neither am I, and the story is still fascinating. Why do they have a song about crossing the Red Sea while living in Northeast India, a song they have sung prior to any missionaries showing up and one that contains ancient words? Why do they have a god named Yah(za), a history of brit milah circumcision on the eighth day after birth, a mourning period of 7 days, a Spring festival of unleavened bread (among rice eaters), and the use of the word 'selah.' There are some who broke away and even started a competing shul (if that's not Jewish, what is?) Whatever you decide, the book is an exciting, mysterious and enlightening read. Sign me up for a Bnai Menashe kippah?

I had much admired Lyttleton's journal articles, but found this book to be disappointing. He doesn't mention the low HIV prevalence in the region where he did his work until well into the book. The naive reader may feel misled; the knowledgable reader will know that much of what Lyttleton has to say is not placed in a proper context. His effort to develop a fairly conventional neo-Marxist polictical economy of HIV in NE Thailand falls flat when one considers the low prevalence and the lack of linear links to economic conditions. This should not avert attention for ineequities but, in telling the story of HIV in Thailand one should attend to sexual networking, mixing patterns, social patterns, etc. His treatment of areas where he did not do original field work is often superficial, woefully incomplete, and/or muddled. Topics such as homosexuality and vaccine research are hampered by this. The relative success of Thailand's first generation prevention efforts also gets short shrift, which seems typical of many "critical" analyses. The need for new directions need not negate what has been accomplished. Like too much of the writing on HIV in Thailand, the effort to present a rather predictable agenda gets in the way of telling the real story which is far more nuanced and complex than the one offered here.

"Endangered Relations:Negotiating Sex and AIDS in Thailand" by Chris Lyttleton should be a required textbook for all college students studying sociology, anthropology, and public health. The author is certainly a pioneer that has ventured into third world countries to teach the indigenous people the devistating effects of contracting AIDS and how this disease kills the individual, and the strength of their society and nation. The time, effort, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity of this book is unparrelled in our time. I thank Chris for sharing his genious through this book with us. A must read for college students so they will not forget the AIDS pandemic, in hopes too that they will follow Chris Lyttleton's lead and help educate the young and old of all countries.Truely a book that is above politics.

This book is a first in telling the story of HIV/AIDS in Thailand. There is little in which to compare it with in terms of publications on HIV/AIDS because despite the volumes of reports, numerous chapters in books, and other analyses on HIV/AIDS in Thailand there is no one book that tries to capture the history of the epidemic and the lessons learned. It is a complete exegesis of the epidemic in that it devotes much time to the response of the unfolding epidemic of the early 1990s, and the epidemiology of the spread of HIV, while at the same time exploring culture and context. Thus it is a valuable critique of policy and programming in the early days of the epidemic, but an even-handed critique that never entirely moves away from what is the strength of the book and that is the ethnographic context. The critique is not so much a basis for confronting the supposed wisdom of the time but for presenting another view of the world of sex and sexuality which can never be reducible to simple formulae. Thus it is a thorough anthropological exploration of gender and sexual cultures, as well as disease and contagion and the meanings that villagers bring to these, especially in the context of interventions and media campaigns. This exploration is invaluable given that there are as many as one million HIV positive people in Thailand and increasing numbers in surrounding countries. If lessons are to be learnt from the Thai experience it is documentation like this that needs to be read and digested. It may not be an easy read for a bio-medical person or someone who is looking for the definitive epidemiological study, for the focus is on unravelling the layers of meaning behind behaviour and attitudes, but this is in a narrative style that is very accessible. There are no broad theoretical constructs but there is much theory that supports the empirical findings, and which rather than detracting from the narrative serves to edify, and often amplify that what may seem simple is in fact often complex.

Overall, I was satisfied with this Fodor Guide. Bangkok and Chiang Mai dining choices were very good. Shopping and signtseeing recommendations were disappointing.

Fodor does it again! This guide is very well put together and is a must have when visiting the 'Land of Smiles'. Fodor's Thailand puts on display the beauty and mystery of this wonderful country. Whether you are there for the wonderful sites, the delicious food, or the great bargains, DON'T leave your room without this book in your back pocket.

I like Michael Ziesing. He's an interesting guy. But unless the idea of going to Thailand for a vacation just hit you on the head like an apple falling out of a tree, this book isn't going to give you much in the way of practical advice. It's pretty much a validation of a lot of stuff you already know, if you've ever been to Thailand and have a modicum of common sense.

Don't get me wrong. It's a pretty good read, and Ziesing, as I said earlier, is an interesting and entertaining guy. But it's more Ziesing's tale of his experience in Thailand, with a few lessons drawn from the experience, than it is a "guide" to anything.

Still, if the musings of an ex-community college philosophy professor on his new low maintenance lifestyle in a Buddhist country sounds like something you'd like to read, then buy the book. You won't be disappointed. There's not a whole lot out there coming from anywhere near the social/financial perspective of Ziesing about living in Thailand.

Come to think of it, these days there's not a whole lot out there coming from Ziesing's perspective on anything. Buy this book and help change the zeitgeist.

As a person who loves to go to Thailand 2 weeks at a time, I thought exploring the idea of living there full time would be interesting if nothing else. This book is a great guide on how to be a decent American when traveling abroad (not just in Thailand). Much of what I read in the book I already knew from studying the culture. I wish I would have read this book before my first trip to Thailand. a good book of realistic concerns That westerners should know and understand before even vacationing in Thailand!

The book is great. In fact I bought the book and I did it. I went to Udonthani (in Northeast Thailand), met and married a beautiful Thai girl. I intend to move their next year. Buy the book you won't regrt it. There is a lot of valuable advice in the book. In fact I outdid the author - my is 30 years younger than me. Definitly its worth the money. And the author was correct in saying that Thai people are nice friendly people. Thailand is like being in another world - nice, friendly, unpretentious people. Buy the book. I should write one myself!

This book remains the one volume available outside of Thailand that has been written for people who are planning to live, work, or study in that country (several guides of varying utility are available in Thailand). The book provides more info than a typical guidebook about Thai culture and customs, but I have found it not so much outdated as limited in scope. The section on supervising Thai workers does not go beyond putting on a happy face and bringing cream cakes to the office. In practice, one needs a wider repertoire of skills than that. Similarly, the advice on social behavior doesn't go much beyond the stuff that makes people paranoid about offending Thais (e.g., watching where your toes are pointed, not patting people on the head). In addition, the book does not help people with the inevtable "violations" of cultural rules by Thais themselves, nor does it provide simple startegies for adaptation (like learning to watch people and emulate their behavior). The book does not provide useful starting places for adapting to Thai culture---for example, the similarities in cultural codes to what one finds in non-urban parts of the US Midwest. It's surprising that this book has not undergone major revision and that no other has emerged as a replacemnt---it would not be difficult to do.

If you're looking for a short read with add-on value, then this book is for you. It has more depth than what you will find in a Fodor's or Lonely Planet. Part of the book tries to appeal to expats moving their families to Thailand, which is a mistake because you just can't cover the complexities of that chore in a small paperback.

Unfortunately, the book IS out of date. While originally published in the early 80s, it looks more like the early 70s. If I were the author, I would make a serious attempt at revamping the whole thing. I felt like I was reading an old National Geographic.

I recently went to Thailand and bought 4 books and Nancy Chandler's map of Bangkok. Of those four books (and the map) this was the most helpful on my trip. It gave me something no other guidebook ever has given me: an inside look at Thai culture and an understanding of my own reactions as a transplant into a totally foreign environment. If you want to go to Thailand and see the tourist attractions, then almost any guidebook will do. But if you want to experience the tradition with an understanding of the history and meaning behind it, or get to know the people on a level closer than just a touristing "farang" [foreigner], this book will open your eyes to the uniquely beautiful ways of the Thais. This is more than just a guidebook, this is an inside look at Thailand you won't find anywhere else.

The 1999 Edition was great for the first couple of years, but it is time for a new one now. This one is now antiquated. It's been 4 years now and we would like the 4th Edition ASAP. Let's go Carl and don't let the JV book take away all the light from the Varsity team's book !

I owned several guidebooks while living in Thailand and used them extensively while traveling throughout the kingdom. The LP guidebook is updated every year which made it excellent for the nitty-gritty of travel. On the downside of the LP, EVERYONE is carrying it over there. I found myself following hordes of backpackers from the train station to every guesthouse listed in The Bible. I began to notice travelers unwittingly conversing in "lonelyplanetspeak"--qouting directly from lp guide. Moon Publication's guidebook provided me with out of the way places to stay and eat as well as a different point of view--off the beaten track, but not in a ditch. Carl Parkes has a great sense of both humor and adventure. I found him to be a much more enjoyable travel companion than that other guy.

The Thailand Handbook gives you valuable background information on the culture and history of Thailand. As far as places to go are concerned, it is refreshing to see a guidebook that covers not only the major attractions but also the attractions of smaller towns you might pass through on your journey.

I found Eyewitness Travel Guide for Thailand very informative, and easy to read. It had tons of pictures, facts, FYIs, and did I mention pictures? Like Eyewitness I agree that a picture is worth a thousand words. I also bought Lonely Planet's Travel Guide for Thailand, but liked Eyewitness' much better. Lonely Planet's Travel Guide had a more standard layout for the abundant amount of facts, but was limited on the pictures. The phrase at the bottom of Eyewitness' book holds true, "The Guides That Show You What Others Only Tell You."

If you are looking for a Thailand travel book, this is it. The many beautiful pictures and the well written articles on every aspect of Thai culture are invaluable for the traveller or the person who simply dreams of exotic locales. Definitely a must purchase!

Truly a wonderful travel guide. This is a must have for your adventures in Amazing Thailand. This book gives you all the information you need, when you pack for your vacation this will be the only travel reference you will need to take with you. A valuable tool in exploring Bangkok and the surronding regions. The maps inside helped us get back to our hotel on more than one occasion, a definate life saver and an essential necessity.