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Rating: 
Summary: Best for expats and business travel
Review: As a long-term resident of Thailand I found this book to be the best intoduction to Thai for other expats and for business travel in Thailand. The conversation exercises are practical and easy to apply in everyday speech. I particuarly like the way new words are presented: some are quite challenging for a new speaker but really essential to quickly coming to grasp with real Thai. Ironically, some of the words and phrases normally associated with language books (for example, shopping and tourist related activities) are not dealt with until much later in the book. Exercises in Thai script are a bit sketchy and, for a proper understanding, students will need a more advanced book on writing/reading Thai. Cassette tapes clear.
Rating:
Summary: Buying the book with the CD is essential
Review: I recently joined a company that has allowed me the luxury to travel and work in Thailand from time to time. I have observed that there are several errors throughout the book, but generally it is very well written by its British and Thai authors. The book has an easy layout, and each chapter builds upon the next. I would strongly advise that the CD, (or the cassette), is purchased with the book, because it's impossible to duplicate the tones of Thai language from the text alone. As an ex-schoolteacher I appreciated what the authors were trying to acheive with this language course; learning the language in a systematic 'learning-by-doing' method. However, it's definitely not the type of book to carry around with you as a tourist in Thailand, so I would suggest the excellent Lonely Planet's Thai phrasebook for that. (ISBN 0-86442-658-5) Nick D. Benson, Boulder, CO, 12/2000
Rating:
Summary: Buying the book with the CD is essential
Review: I recently joined a company that has allowed me the luxury to travel and work in Thailand from time to time. I have observed that there are several errors throughout the book, but generally it is very well written by its British and Thai authors. The book has an easy layout, and each chapter builds upon the next. I would strongly advise that the CD, (or the cassette), is purchased with the book, because it's impossible to duplicate the tones of Thai language from the text alone. As an ex-schoolteacher I appreciated what the authors were trying to acheive with this language course; learning the language in a systematic 'learning-by-doing' method. However, it's definitely not the type of book to carry around with you as a tourist in Thailand, so I would suggest the excellent Lonely Planet's Thai phrasebook for that. (ISBN 0-86442-658-5) Nick D. Benson, Boulder, CO, 12/2000
Rating: 
Summary: This book is ok, better for buisiness traveler than pleasure
Review: I went traveling in Thailand and wanted to prepare by learning a little Thai. This book was ok, but could have been much more useful if: 1) The dialogue excercises and examples had been more geared towards typical traveler conversation. Instead, the first dialogues present "in the office" conversations. 2) The roman letter pronunciation system followed a more standardized model. I found the system that this book uses to be far different from other pronunciation systems, and hence very confusing. On the good side, the flow of the book and the CD match up pretty well, and the book has lessons in Thai script, though I wished that it showed the differnt fonts, or all the different ways of writing the same Thai letter. In Thailand, I was not able to recognize many letters that I thought I had learned, because they did not match the examples in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Colloquial Thai?
Review: Overall, I thought the book was a good text for someone just attempting to learn Thai. What becomes evident later is that it in itself is insufficient to provide a complete guide. There are numerous spelling/grammatical errors that one can find as you progress through the course. In several instances when checking answers to the exercises provided, you'll find the answers do not completely match the question. What I discovered after a period of time is that this book will give you a good reference but you need an additional text or two that combines good transliteration with a cross referenced dictionary. I found that using this book with Mike Simpson's "The English Thai Dictionary" provided me with a better understanding. I think the fault for the errors is with the author/publisher but the greatest disadvantage to the up and coming learner is that there is no standard by which Thai is taught. Every book/author takes a different approach to the romanization of the language and the Thai scripting. Still, it is a good reference book that will give you the fundamental basics and start you on the way.
Rating:
Summary: Colloquial Thai?
Review: Overall, I thought the book was a good text for someone just attempting to learn Thai. What becomes evident later is that it in itself is insufficient to provide a complete guide. There are numerous spelling/grammatical errors that one can find as you progress through the course. In several instances when checking answers to the exercises provided, you'll find the answers do not completely match the question. What I discovered after a period of time is that this book will give you a good reference but you need an additional text or two that combines good transliteration with a cross referenced dictionary. I found that using this book with Mike Simpson's "The English Thai Dictionary" provided me with a better understanding. I think the fault for the errors is with the author/publisher but the greatest disadvantage to the up and coming learner is that there is no standard by which Thai is taught. Every book/author takes a different approach to the romanization of the language and the Thai scripting. Still, it is a good reference book that will give you the fundamental basics and start you on the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Thai language book and 2 tapes
Review: The Moore and Rodchue COLLOQUIAL THAI and the accompanying 2 cassette tapes from Routledge are not all they are cracked up to be. Main gripe...one can not use the tapes without having the book in hand at the same time...so no use of tapes in the automobile. Also, neither the tapes nor the book are clear about where in the book the tape is referencing and vice versa. Also, no repetition on the tapes and u know how difficult it is to rewind a tape an inch to repeat a word or phrase. If a person learns Thai from this book/tape set, they really should go into the language business because the set presents very difficult usage challenges and is not educationally sound...that comes from a 30 year educator...me. Get a computer CD ROM set instead or get a native Thai to speak to your own cassette this way...1.Thai word three times, 2.English word twice, and again the same Thai word three times...then go to the next word. Sad product as it stands...
Rating:
Summary: Thai language book and 2 tapes
Review: The Moore and Rodchue COLLOQUIAL THAI and the accompanying 2 cassette tapes from Routledge are not all they are cracked up to be. Main gripe...one can not use the tapes without having the book in hand at the same time...so no use of tapes in the automobile. Also, neither the tapes nor the book are clear about where in the book the tape is referencing and vice versa. Also, no repetition on the tapes and u know how difficult it is to rewind a tape an inch to repeat a word or phrase. If a person learns Thai from this book/tape set, they really should go into the language business because the set presents very difficult usage challenges and is not educationally sound...that comes from a 30 year educator...me. Get a computer CD ROM set instead or get a native Thai to speak to your own cassette this way...1.Thai word three times, 2.English word twice, and again the same Thai word three times...then go to the next word. Sad product as it stands...
Rating: 
Summary: Better than a phrase book...
Review: This course is certainly better than a phrase book. I like the dialogs and that they teach you the grammar. However, they use their own way of transliterating Thai into the roman alphabet, which makes it utterly confusing when you try to look something up in a dictionary. "j" is written as "ch", "ch" is "sh", etc. Furthermore, the transliteration is skimping on the tone marks. Tone marks appear in the glossary but not in the dialoges. Although each chapter has a section where they teach you Thai script, they don't show the Thai spelling of the words that are used in the dialoges. In my opinion, "Teach yourself Thai" is a better course than this one.
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