Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [226]
Fresh from an epic journey across Europe, Asia and Australia in 1972, Tony and Maureen Wheeler sat at their kitchen table stapling together notes. The first Lonely Planet guidebook, Across Asia on the Cheap, was born.
Travellers snapped up the guides. Inspired by their success, the Wheelers began publishing books to Southeast Asia, India and beyond. Demand was prodigious, and the Wheelers expanded the business rapidly to keep up. Over the years, Lonely Planet extended its coverage to every country and into the virtual world via lonelyplanet.com and the Thorn Tree message board.
As Lonely Planet became a globally loved brand, Tony and Maureen received several offers for the company. But it wasn’t until 2007 that they found a partner whom they trusted to remain true to the company’s principles of travelling widely, treading lightly and giving sustainably. In October of that year, BBC Worldwide acquired a 75% share in the company, pledging to uphold Lonely Planet’s commitment to independent travel, trustworthy advice and editorial independence.
Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Melbourne, London and Oakland, with over 500 staff members and 300 authors. Tony and Maureen are still actively involved with Lonely Planet. They’re travelling more often than ever, and they’re devoting their spare time to charitable projects. And the company is still driven by the philosophy of Across Asia on the Cheap: ‘All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!’
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AUSTIN BUSH
I’d like to thank the book’s previous authors, China Williams and Joe Cummings, for their excellent work, some of which still survives, my patient and incredibly helpful coordinating author Andrew Burke and commissioning editor Tashi Wheeler, map guru David Connolly and the rest of the LP staff in Melbourne, my local experts Gregoire Glachant, Steven Pettifor and Kong Rithdee, as well as those who introduced me to new places and joined me at the old, including Yuthika Charoenrungruang, Ron Diaz, Nick Grossman, Richard Hermes, Yaowalak Itthichaiwarakom, Wes and Ann Hsu, Paul Hutt and Maylee Thavat.
OUR READERS
Many thanks to the travellers who used the last edition and wrote to us with helpful hints, useful advice and interesting anecdotes:
John Cole, Tony Day, Ca Favier, Daniel Furrer, John Hambleton, Leslaw Kula, Ramamurthi Kunjithapadam, Jason Leis, Alona Lisitsa, Philip Mainwaring, Barbara Mueller, Rickee Ng, Maggie Olson, Soniya P, Stig Bjerregaard Pedersen, Lesueur Romain, Gee Turf, Antoni P Uni, Suresh Viswanathan, Lauren Wistrom