If you’re anything like us, you might carry lofty ideas of chucking War & Peace in your suitcase and finishing it off on holiday (only 1351 pages to go…) Take it from us: Save yourself the baggage allowance and indulge your inner bookworm before you set off instead. Picking up a couple of books (or watching a film or two!) is a nifty little way to immerse yourself in a destination before you get there, and helps you hit the ground running as soon as you land.
So if you’re packing your bags for Bangkok, we’ve hit the stacks to whip you up some reading recommendations – here’s a list of books set in Bangkok we think you should hunker down with before you jet off.
Bangkok Wakes to Rain
Pitchaya Sudbanthad
First, there’s the missionary doctor, yearning for the crisp airs of New England while slowly succumbing to the chaotic allure of 19th-century Siam. Fast-forward to post-WWII, where a socialite marries, mothers, and throws fabulous parties, blissfully unaware of her eventual one-woman-show future. Then there’s the jazz pianist, called in to soothe the house’s restless spirits, even as he battles his own.
Add a young woman sprinting away from her political baggage, and you’ve got quite the line-up. Meanwhile, in New Krungthep, savvy teens row clueless tourists past relics of the sunken old city, landmarks they’ve all but forgotten themselves. History collapses into itself as these stories weave together, drawn by the relentless forces shaping and reshaping Bangkok: the city that never sleeps, never stops morphing, and never runs out of chaos.
The Glass Kingdom
Lawrence Osborne
Fleeing New York with a suitcase stuffed full of stolen cash and an air of mystery, Sarah Mullins touches down in Bangkok, ready to disappear into the chaos. Her chosen hideout? The Kingdom, a swanky apartment complex with panoramic views of the bustling city—and just enough polished glass to keep her secrets hidden, or so she hopes.
Things heat up when Sarah meets Mali, the complex’s resident siren, mid-lap in the pool. Mali wastes no time dragging the quiet American into her orbit, starting with an invite to her weekly poker nights. Before long, Sarah is gulping down shots of yadong, gossiping over extravagant snacks, and cozying up to the Kingdom’s clique of glamorous expat women. The vibe? Think “Real Housewives of Bangkok,” with a slightly shadier edge.
But paradise comes with fine print. As political chaos brews in the streets below and uprisings shake the city, the Kingdom’s glitzy facade starts to crack. Strange disappearances spark suspicion, and Sarah’s sanctuary turns into a pressure cooker of paranoia, complete with neighbors who seem a little too interested in everyone’s business. Under the constant watch of the building’s many eyes, Sarah’s glass refuge begins to feel more like a fishbowl—and one she might not escape unscathed.
The Wind Up Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi
Anderson Lake is a loyal cog in the corporate machine, AgriGen’s go-to “Calorie Man” in Thailand. Masquerading as a factory manager, he spends his days wandering Bangkok’s markets, hunting for extinct foodstuffs like a calorie-obsessed Indiana Jones. Why? Because in this future, history’s lost snacks are worth their weight in gold – or maybe even more.
Enter Emiko, the Windup Girl: a stunningly engineered creation who’s as fascinating as she is tragic. Emiko is one of the New People – a lab-grown being designed to fulfil the whims of the wealthy and the weird. Now abandoned in Bangkok, she’s caught between pity, prejudice, and paranoia. To some, New People are soulless monstrosities; to others, they’re demonic scapegoats. But mostly, they’re whatever the rich want them to be—soldiers, servants, or, in Emiko’s case, a chilling symbol of a future where ethics took a long lunch break and never came back.
Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl isn’t just a sci-fi novel; it’s a cutting-edge critique of greed, bioengineering, and what happens when humanity plays God with a lab budget. No wonder this book earned a spot as one of the most acclaimed sci-fi works of the 21st century.
Anna and the King of Siam
Margaret Landon
Anna Leonowens, a prim and proper Englishwoman, might have been the least likely person to shake up Siamese history—yet somehow, she did. A young widow with a stiff upper lip and a couple of kids in tow, she was hired in the 1860s by King Mongkut of Siam to teach his many children (and his favoured concubines) the ways of the Western world and help him communicate with foreign powers.
Among her students was young Prince Chulalongkorn, who soaked up Anna’s lessons on democracy and Lincoln like a sponge. Flash forward a few decades, and this once-impressionable prince became Siam’s most forward-thinking king. Under his reign, the country ditched feudalism, abolished slavery, and embarked on a dramatic makeover into a modern society. Not bad for a kid who probably had to write essays on the Gettysburg Address.
Margaret Landon based this novel on the original diaries of Anna Leonowens, and it in turn went on to inspire everything from Broadway musicals to big-screen epics (The King and I, anyone?)
Bangkok Days
Lawrence Osborne
Tourists flock to Bangkok for all sorts of reasons. Lawrence Osborne? He came for the cheap dentistry. Pain-free and broke, he quickly discovered that you can live quite comfortably in Bangkok on a budget that wouldn’t cover a latte back home. Naturally, he decided to stick around.
Osborne’s journey through Bangkok isn’t your typical expat tale of tuk-tuks and temples. Instead, he dives headfirst into the city’s surreal chaos: drifting through its labyrinthine canals, dining at the No Hands Restaurant where the waitresses feed you like a helpless infant (yes, really), and even attempting an ill-fated stint as a gigolo. Spoiler: it doesn’t go well.
Bangkok Days is more than just a travelogue – it’s a feverish, funny, and occasionally absurd love letter to a city that rekindled Osborne’s faith in adventure. Bangkok has a way of getting under your skin – just like a good root canal.
Not got those tickets yet? Here’s some cheap flights to Bangkok
