Thailand
Gilded temples at first light, markets that float, and the quiet rituals that hold it all together. Preview the photographs, field notes, and cultural context inside the book.
Places and travel notes
Explore a sample of the locations and practical notes included alongside the photographs, from Bangkok's temple quarter to the Andaman coast.
Bangkok's temple quarter
Wat Pho and the Grand Palace sit within walking distance of each other on Rattanakosin island. Arrive at opening to photograph before the heat and the crowds.
Chiang Mai old city
A square kilometre bounded by moat and ruined wall, holding more than thirty temples. Best explored slowly, on foot, over two or three days.
Damnoen Saduak market
The canal market south-west of Bangkok. Go before seven to see it working rather than performing for the day's visitors.
Ayutthaya ruins
The former capital, sacked in 1767 and left standing. An hour north of Bangkok by train, and far quieter than its history suggests.
Krabi and the Andaman coast
Limestone karsts rising straight from green water. Longtail boats leave from Ao Nang; the light is best in the first two hours after sunrise.
Isan, the north-east
The least-visited region and the most distinct — Lao-influenced food, silk weaving villages, and festivals with no audience but themselves.
Travel essentials
- Best time to visit
- November to February is dry and cooler. March to May is intensely hot; June to October brings rain, greener landscapes and far fewer people.
- Getting there
- Bangkok's two airports connect to most of the world. Domestic flights, overnight trains and long-distance buses link the regions cheaply.
- Getting around
- Bangkok has the BTS Skytrain and metro; elsewhere, songthaews, motorbike taxis and rail. Trains are slow and worth it.
- Where to stay
- Everything from guesthouses to heritage hotels. In Chiang Mai, staying inside the old city puts most of the book's locations on foot.
- Food
- Regional, not singular — fiery som tam in the north-east, coconut curries in the south, Chinese-influenced noodles in Bangkok. Street stalls are the standard, not the exception.
- Safety and etiquette
- Generally very safe. Cover shoulders and knees at temples, remove shoes, never point your feet toward a Buddha image, and treat images of the monarchy with care.
Practical details change. Check entry requirements and current advisories with an official source before you travel. Last reviewed: September 2026.
Stories behind the photographs
Each image came from somewhere specific, at a particular hour, for a reason. Read a few of the field notes that accompany the photographs.
The alms round
Before dawn, monks walk a fixed route while households wait with rice. It is not charity in the way outsiders read it — the giver receives the merit, and the exchange runs in both directions.
Photographing it means standing back, staying low, and not interrupting. The mist here comes off the rice fields in the cool season and burns away within the hour.
A market that floats
Before roads reached the delta, the canals were the roads. The floating markets are a surviving fragment of that older system, now part commerce and part memory.
The working hours are the early ones. By mid-morning the boats are selling souvenirs; before seven, they are still selling breakfast to each other.
Ribbons on the bow
The coloured cloths tied to the prow are offerings to the spirit of the water, renewed by the boatman and never decorative. The engine is often a repurposed truck motor on a long shaft — the design is entirely local.
The karsts behind are limestone laid down in shallow seas, then lifted and cut by water into towers.
Read the place in context
The book puts Thailand's photographs in context, tracing the history and cultural traditions that shape its architecture, daily life, and sense of place.
A timeline, briefly
- 1238
The Sukhothai kingdom forms, credited with the Thai script and the classical Buddha image.
- 1351
Ayutthaya is founded and grows into one of the largest cities on earth, trading with Persia, Japan and Europe.
- 1767
Ayutthaya falls to Burmese armies. The capital moves south, eventually to Bangkok.
- 1782
The Chakri dynasty begins; Rattanakosin island becomes the new royal centre.
- 1855–1910
Reforms under Mongkut and Chulalongkorn modernise the state and keep colonial powers at arm's length.
- 1932
Absolute monarchy ends; a constitutional system begins, and remains contested.
- 1960s–now
Rapid urbanisation and mass tourism reshape the coasts and the capital.
Why the temples look the way they do
The multi-tiered roof, the flame-like finials at each gable end, the naga serpents flanking the stairs — none of it is ornament for its own sake. The naga guards the threshold between the ordinary world and the sacred one. The gold is merit made visible: donated, applied, and renewed.
Northern temples carry Lanna influence, with lower roofs and darker wood. Bangkok's are steeper, brighter, and more Khmer-inflected. Once you can see the difference, you can place a photograph on a map.
Places beyond the familiar
A glimpse of the lesser-known locations and regional stories featured in the book.
Nan province
A quiet valley near the Lao border with murals in Wat Phumin that depict ordinary nineteenth-century life rather than scripture.
Phetchaburi
Two hours from Bangkok, full of working temples and palm-sugar kitchens, and almost entirely unvisited.
Ban Chiang
A Bronze Age settlement in the north-east that rewrote the region's archaeological timeline. Rarely on anyone's route.
Trang's islands
The Andaman coast without the crowds, still largely fishing communities rather than resorts.
Mae Hong Son loop
Mountain roads, Shan villages and morning markets where Burmese and Thai overlap.
Bangkok's canals
Thonburi's waterways still carry commuter boats past wooden houses — the city as it was laid out.
Rituals, craft, and daily life
Field notes on the traditions and encounters behind the images.
Loi Krathong
November. Small floats of banana leaf and candle released onto water as an apology to the river. In Chiang Mai it coincides with Yi Peng and its lanterns.
Songkran
April. The lunar new year, marked by pouring water over elders' hands — the street water fights grew out of that older blessing.
Silk weaving in Isan
Village workshops in Surin and Khon Kaen still raise silkworms and weave mudmee by hand. Many take visitors for a half-day at the loom.
Temple dawn sitting
Several monasteries welcome visitors to morning chanting. Arrive before six, sit at the back, and stay for the whole thing.
Cooking from the market
The good classes start at the market stalls, choosing herbs, not at the stove. Ask for the regional menu rather than the tourist one.
Community-run stays
Homestay networks in Nan and Mae Hong Son put money directly into the villages you photograph. Book ahead; they are small by design.
A note on photographing people: ask first, especially at religious sites and with monks. A refused photograph costs nothing; a taken one can cost a great deal.
Take the book with you
Buy directly from Global Image Books. Your EPUB3 edition is delivered as a digital download.