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Book Review: Beyond The Comfort Zone by James M Turner

01 March, 2010 05:57:00 Helene Turvey

Last year I went to Thailand on holiday and one of the things that really riled me was the proliferation of old white men with their Thai “girlfriends”.

I am far from a prude and consider myself extremely worldly but this blatant flaunting of the sex trade seemed seedy and perverse.

If this is what was being paraded in the streets, I thought, what was happening behind closed doors?

Who knew James M Turner's autobiography would shed such light on the 'behind the scenes' of that country?

Beyond the Comfort Zone

In his autobiography, Beyond The Comfort Zone, James M Turner writes about his journey from being one of the highest paid session musicians in the UK to surviving in The Golden Triangle of South East Asia.

As a musician he toured with ‘Bros’ and ‘Take That’ and lived the rock n roll lifestyle but after a painful divorce he decided to take time out and moved to Thailand.

While living in Chang Mai and studying Thai he met up with an ex-Israeli, Franco, and together they worked to bust-up an illegal Child Trafficking ring working across the Burmese/ Thai borders.

Exceptional journey

His exceptional journey is the making of a Hollywood blockbuster and at times I had to remind myself that it’s a true story.

For an untrained novelist, the book is really well written and Turner’s dialogue leaps off the page.

His very British sense of humour had me in stitches. He is amazingly honest and does not shy away from his excesses and, at times, loutish behaviour.

His descriptions of places put me right in there with him among the Tuk-Tuks and street vendors. Turner also loves food and he had my mouth watering for fish ball soup.

Pad Thai anyone?

In short: Shantaram for South East Asia

Recommend: Yes

Available: Click here to buy on kalahari.net

More info: www.cliffsedgebooks.com