US Forces Pacific Culture Guide: Thailand

Does an excellent job at its intended goal, giving a succinct yet fairly detailed look at the breadth of Thailand life from politics, religion, and history to familial relations and pop culture.

Two relatively minor issues:
First, this guide already needs a fairly sizable update on the Thai political section. The 2014 coup d'etat removing Yingluck Shinawatra happened not that long before publication, and the aftermath of the coup including the NCPO and its legislative reorganization isn't fleshed out in as much depth as I would like. Additionally, Thailand has seen several major political events in the few years since publication, including King Bhumibol's death and his succession by King Vajiralongkorn as well as the 2019 election and the continuance of Prayut as the prime minister.

Second, the first chapter of the guide discusses Thailand's place in the surrounding Southeastern Asian area and cultural relationships with those other countries. In the discussion, the guide explicitly states that there are five mainland and five maritime Southeast Asian nations and proceeds to list them out. Somehow East Timor is not only disregarded in the discussion, but it is also not even listed or included as a Southeast Asian nation. Seems a bit odd for a guide published in 2015. However, as East Timor is not the main subject of the guide, this issue isn't that major.