If you’re a bookworm, you may have started the year by challenging yourself to read twenty-five, fifty or even one hundred books in 2026. What you might not have predicted is just how quickly this year has flown by, and now there are only three months left for us to reach our targets.
It’s time to lock in, but don’t worry: we’ve compiled a list of ten books that will help you hit that target in no time.
Our guide has something for every taste, and what’s more, all of the books are by Thai authors, so you can soak up the beauty of local stories while racing towards your reading goal.
If you love biographies…
1. Siamese Anglophile – Teddy Spha Palasthira
The author, known as ‘Teddy’, is a London-born Thai, and this biography is a cheerful journey of his life from 1950s England to 1990s America. It’s eclectic and unexpectedly funny, making it the perfect breezy read for the end of the year.
Reading time: At 256 pages, allow around five hours.
Where to find it: Kinokuniya stocks it.
If you love sweeping social commentary…
2. Poon Pid Thong (Gold-Pasted Cement) – Krisna Asoksin
Want to sink your teeth into something meaty and multi-layered? Pick up this book by prolific and critically acclaimed Thai author Krisna Asoksin.
Poon Pid Thong, or Gold-Pasted Cement, takes readers back to Thailand in the mid-Twentieth Century to explore everything from gender relations and parent-child dynamics to the contrast between modernism and tradition. It illuminates and challenges the culture of the time, while still presenting the story in a heartwarming, joyful package.
Reading time: At 660 pages, this is the biggest commitment on the list, at around 13 hours.
Where to find it: Asia Books has it.
If you love dipping in and out of a short story collection…
3. Sightseeing – Rattawut Lapcharoensap
Does a short-story collection count as one single book, or multiple? When it’s the end of the year, and there’s a target to reach, we reckon each individual story in a best-selling collection like this one can go towards your yearly total.
Each of Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s short stories captures a different slice of contemporary Thai life, yet the collection comes together neatly around the question of whether our beliefs and prejudices are accurate perceptions of the world.
Reading time: At 272 pages, allow around five and a half hours. With seven stories, that’s roughly 45 minutes each.
Where to find it: It’s on Amazon, including a Kindle edition.
If you love epic and otherworldly stories…
4. Death and the Maiden – Apinuch Petcharapiracht
Halloween is on the horizon, making it the perfect time to pick up a book with dark and spooky themes. This one from Petchaburi-based author Apinuch Petcharapiracht drags the reader into a dystopian world where birds are messengers of death, and one ghost boy is left wondering why the Reaper hasn’t yet come to take his soul to the underworld.
Reading time: At 176 pages, it takes around three and a half hours.
Where to find it: Kinokuniya stocks it.
If you love feeling inspired…
5. Slow Steps to Love – Tew Bunnag
Sometimes what we all need is a deeply emotional book to purge all the pent-up bad feelings that have accumulated throughout the year. If that’s what you’re looking for, the Thai book to pick up is ‘Slow Steps to Love’ by Thai author Tew Bunnag.
Telling the story of a wealthy, ageing and jaded writer who has his heart moved by a traditional healer from the slums, ‘Slow Steps to Love’ is all about the power of healing, redemption and change. By the last page, even the most grumpy and disillusioned reader will start believing in joy again.
Reading time: At 336 pages, plan for around seven hours.
Where to find it: Kinokuniya and Asia Books stock it.
If you love gripping crime stories…
6. Sex Doll Goddess – Jadet Kamjorndet
While it’s always fun to watch an action-packed blockbuster movie, there’s nothing quite like immersing yourself in a fast-paced, twisty thriller book. This one’s another perfect read for Halloween time: a freshly divorced man encounters a beautiful sex doll and elopes with her to the South of Thailand – as you do.
His happily-ever-after is interrupted by a mugging, a kidnapping, unexpected secrets coming to light and the realisation that his doll-wife may actually not be what he thought she was.
Reading time: At 304 pages, allow around six hours.
Where to find it: Kinokuniya has it, and Amazon sells a Kindle edition.
If you love books that are a bit unusual…
7. The Twenty-Five Fifties – Shane Bunnag
Don’t crack open this book expecting a typical contemporary story – The Twenty-Five Fifties takes storytelling conventions and turns them on their head.
Shane Bunnag, the son of Tew Bunnag featured earlier on this list, takes inspiration from mythology and his own order to transform a fairly simple story of a young man’s bicycle voyage across Thailand into a bizarre adventure.
Reading time: At 164 pages, it’s the quickest read here, at just over three hours.
Where to find it: Pick it up at the River Books shop on Maharaj Road, near Wat Pho, or at Kinokuniya.
A quick recap
| Book | Pages | Estimated reading time | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siamese Anglophile | 256 | About 5 hours | Kinokuniya |
| Poon Pid Thong | 660 | About 13 hours | Asia Books |
| Sightseeing | 272 | About 5.5 hours | Amazon (Kindle) |
| Death and the Maiden | 176 | About 3.5 hours | Kinokuniya |
| Slow Steps to Love | 336 | About 7 hours | Kinokuniya, Asia Books, Thai Book Fair |
| Sex Doll Goddess | 304 | About 6 hours | Kinokuniya, Amazon (Kindle) |
| The Twenty-Five Fifties | 164 | About 3 hours | River Books, Kinokuniya |
So, where do you start?
Think of this list as a menu rather than a to-do list. Most of us won’t read all seven, and that’s fine; one that suits your mood is plenty.
If time’s tight, The Twenty-Five Fifties takes about 10 days at 20 minutes a day. If you’ve got a longer stretch ahead, Slow Steps to Love or Sex Doll Goddess will keep you company for around three weeks.
Which one are you reaching for first, and how’s your reading target looking?
The story 7 Thai books to read before the end of 2026 as seen on Thaiger News.
