I know you specifically said this *wasn't* the advice you wanted -- but take a look at Hot Thai Kitchen, and particularly the YouTube videos.
Pai (the host) does have a cookbook, though I haven't read it.
I have bought and borrowed Thai cookbooks for years (including most of the ones listed above) and would occasionally manage something decent from them, but it was always a ton of work and something wasn't right. It wasn't until I was able to watch someone make the recipes that some of the techniques clicked for me.
At least for me, some of the techniques used in Thai cooking are counterintuitive or non-obvious -- e.g., you have to get the oil to separate out of the coconut milk when you're making a curry, and you want to wait for it to happen at a certain point in the process. At least for me, that was way easier to watch than try to figure out from text.
So even if you find a book book you like, it might be worth watching her cook through a similar recipe to see the process.
