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Diving in Thailand by Colin Piprell and Ashley J Boyd
Diving in Thailand by Colin Piprell and Ashley J Boyd
It must be frustrating to publish a guide book, only to have events beyond anyone's control make some sections obviously out of date.
While the dive sites of the west coast of Thailand generally survived well, the Tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 did trash Christmas Point, which Diving in Thailand describes as a 'four to five star' dive. Such glitches are disappointing, but excusable considering the circumstances.
What is less excusable are other parts that are out of date. I don't know Thailand as well as the authors do (or did?), but I do know that Fantasea Reef has been off-limits for the past five years.
I also know that the first few Similan Islands are off-limits. Yet Diving in Thailand describes these sites with no mention of such restrictions.
Turning back to the introductory chapters, the photography advice mentions Nikonos cameras, no longer in production, yet fails to mention digital cameras.
It makes me wonder; if I, with my limited knowledge, can pick up such obvious examples of how Diving in Thailand is out of date, how much can we trust the rest of the text?
It's a shame, because the book is attractive and has accurate maps, and photographs of better quality than most guide books.
A clue lies in the first pages. This edition was published in 2004, but the first edition was published in 1994. It's an attractive book that was no doubt excellent 10 years ago.
What a pity that the publisher skimped on updating it for the current edition.
John Liddiard
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Diving in Thailand by Colin Piprell and Ashley J Boyd (Times Editions, ISBN 9812328858). Softback, 216pp, £14.50
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