Guidebooks for Asia
Planning a trip through Southeast Asia? These guidebooks, maps, phrasebooks and travel books cover Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Brunei. Some are proper travel guidebooks, some are language helpers, and a few are culture or food books that are handy before you go.
Southeast Asia Travel Guidebooks, Maps & Phrasebooks
Travel apps are useful, but a decent guidebook still saves a lot of mucking around, especially when your phone battery is dead, the Wi-Fi is hopeless, or you are trying to work out where you actually are.
Thailand Guidebooks
Lonely Planet Thailand
A full Thailand travel guide with itineraries, maps, regional advice and practical planning information.
Sailing the Seas
A travel and ocean lifestyle book for people who like boats, islands and watery escapes. Not Thailand-only, but it fits the travel mood nicely.
Hot Thai Kitchen
A Thai food book by Pailin Chongchitnant. Handy if your Thailand trip leaves you wanting to cook more than toast when you get home.
Learn Thai for Adult Beginners
A Thai language learning book for beginners. Useful if you want to do a bit more than point at the menu and hope.
Continental Drifter
A travel and culture story by Kathy MacLeod. More personal reading than guidebook, but still a good Southeast Asia travel shelf book.
Reading & Writing Thai
A workbook for learning Thai script. Not exactly beach reading, but very useful if you are staying longer.
Myanmar / Burma Books
Burma Superstar
A Burmese cooking and culture book with recipes from the crossroads of Southeast Asia.
The Piano Tuner
A novel set partly in colonial Burma. More atmosphere than guidebook, but good travel reading.
Reading & Writing Burmese
A Burmese language workbook for self-study. Useful for travellers who like learning more than hello and thank you.
Burma Chronicles
A graphic travel memoir by Guy Delisle. A different kind of travel book, and often more readable than a dry guide.
Mini Burmese Dictionary
A small Burmese-English and English-Burmese dictionary. Handy if you like having a proper backup to your phone.
Burmese Kitchen
A Burmese food book exploring the flavours of Myanmar. Good for food-minded travellers.
Cambodia Guidebooks
Lonely Planet Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & Northern Thailand
A regional guidebook covering several countries in one go. Useful for longer Southeast Asia trips.
Lonely Planet Southeast Asia Planning Map
A planning map for Southeast Asia. Handy when the trip starts with “maybe we’ll just go everywhere”.
Lonely Planet Pocket Siem Reap & the Temples of Angkor
A compact guide for Siem Reap and Angkor. Good if the temples are the main event.
Lonely Planet Cambodia
A full Cambodia travel guide with city, temple, transport and planning information.
The New Tourist
A thoughtful travel book about modern tourism. Useful reading if you want to travel without being too much of a pest.
Tuttle Practical Cambodian Dictionary
An English-Cambodian and Cambodian-English dictionary. Useful if you like doing things the old-school way.
Laos Guidebooks
The Rough Guide to Laos
A Laos travel guide with practical planning information and regional detail.
Lonely Planet Laos
A full Laos guidebook covering the main routes, towns and travel planning details.
DK Cambodia & Laos
A visual travel guide covering both Cambodia and Laos. Good if you prefer more photos and layout than dense text.
Michelin Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia Map
A regional road and travel map covering Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Still useful when the phone map starts sulking.
Laos Travel Reference Map
A Laos travel map from ITMB Publishing. Good for route planning and getting the bigger picture.
Lonely Planet Lao Phrasebook & Dictionary
A Lao phrasebook and dictionary for basic travel language. Small enough to actually take with you.
Malaysia & Brunei Guidebooks
Lonely Planet Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei
A regional travel guide covering Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Good for a wider trip through the area.
Malaysia – Culture Smart!
A customs and culture guide for Malaysia. Useful if you like arriving with at least half a clue.
Lonely Planet Pocket Kuala Lumpur & Melaka
A compact pocket guide for Kuala Lumpur and Melaka. Good for shorter city stops.
Lonely Planet Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei
Another edition of the Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei guide. Worth checking if one version is out of stock or overpriced.
Kuala Lumpur Travel Guide 2025
A Kuala Lumpur city guide covering culture, food and city highlights.
Kuala Lumpur Travel Guide 2025
A second Kuala Lumpur travel guide option, focused on modern sights and cultural highlights.
Vietnam Guidebooks
Lonely Planet Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & Northern Thailand
A regional guidebook for a longer trip through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and northern Thailand.
My First Vietnamese Words Series
A beginner-friendly Vietnamese words book. More language helper than guidebook, but still useful for travellers.
Lonely Planet Vietnam
A Vietnam guidebook option covering the main destinations and practical travel planning.
Learn Vietnamese for Adult Beginners
A Vietnamese language book for adult beginners. Useful if you want a bit more than hello and thank you.
Fodor’s Essential Vietnam
A Vietnam travel guide from Fodor’s, useful for trip planning, sights and route ideas.
DK Vietnam
A visual Vietnam travel guide with photos, maps and practical destination information.
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