New Lonely Planet Guide to Phuket

It was a few months ago that a guy called Adam visited our office and said he was doing some research for a new Lonely Planet guidebook all about Phuket. He explained this was a new kind of guide. Rather than try to pack the entire SE Asia region or the whole of Thailand into a guidebook that ends up weighing 2 kilos and is out of date by the time it's published, the new idea is to make small pocket sized guides to single destinations, ideal for holidaymakers. Sounded good - a small, detailed guidebook with way more information about Phuket than you can find squeezed into any Thailand guide.

"Looking for information about Phuket? You've come to the right place!", said the author of Jamie's Phuket! I and Khun Wan, our all-knowing secretary/accountant then supplied Adam with an information overload. Wan also helped him out with translations and interviews. I think Adam stayed about a month in Phuket travelling all over the island. Very nice guy - you can see his website here: Adam Skolnick

I'd forgotten about it actually, until a couple of days ago. I went for lunch at my favourite little Phad Thai shop and the owner proudly showed me a photo of her husband cooking Phad Thai in a book. "Is it a good book?", she asked. I checked the front cover - Phuket Encounter... Lonely Planet. "Yes, it's a good book!". Then I remembered - must be that new guidebook. It looks like this:

      

Aside from the tasty Phad Thai, there are many places listed in the Phuket Encounter guide that also feature here on Jamie's Phuket, and I am glad to say (rather chuffed in fact) that this blog is listed in the guidebook as a recommended website. I'd certainly recommend this book for visitors to Phuket, and you can be sure it's up to date as Adam was only here a few months ago, though prices can change of course.

The Amazon website lists the Phuket Encounter Guide and says it's not yet released, but can be pre ordered. When I checked the Lonely Planet website, I could not find the book. It's that new! So how the heck did the owner of the back street Phad Thai shop get a copy??!!

• Phuket Encounter Guide - Order from Amazon.com