How do you determine the most efficient star based on where you are going for example I'm heading to lax

From the east and I want to know which star to take? Is there a map or anything?

Also how do I know how to choose appropriate SIDS?

i use flightaware for the routes. it tells you the SID and STAR for the route you are flying. Make sure you have the correct airac 

Try these links for an elaboration on Alex's recommendation:

 

http://flightaware.com/statistics/ifr-route/

 

Also to say if I was landing at hkg what would I use? ABBEY1G ABBEY1C ABBEY1D if a flightplan from flight aware said there

When you see the same star with a 1c, 1d designation that is usually to differentiate what runway the star arrives at. What flight aware does not tell you is the arrival runway. You shouldn't rely on that though, since the weather and wind conditions you fly in might be different than the conditions the original flight flew. Some flexibility is required. That means predicting wind at the arrival airport and what runway will likely be active for landing, and then coordinating your STAR with the direction you arrive from and the available options for your particular runway. A decent weather add-on should be able to give you an arrival forecast.

 

There are also some flight planning utilities that can graphically depict (and narrow down) the different STAR/runway combinations so you can see very clearly which arrival suites your route the best. Looking at the charts is also vital.

also noobish question how to determine active runway if atc not online

do you have a weather engine.if inot what weather preset do you fly with. if its clear all weather wind will be 0@0 whicc will mean any airport with a runway number closest to zero will be the active runway. if you have ASN then go to conditions and type in the ICAo code for the airport and it will display the winds and the closest runway number to the winds is the active(dont not pay attention to the gusts on determining runways, i never do and ive been flying in real life for a couple years now)

I think STARS and SIDS are there to maintain traffic flow given: 1) the direction from which you are arriving/departing, and the active runways/patterns at the arrival airport.  The seem to exist to deconflict arrivals, departures and enroute traffic.  Often, the transitions in a STAR and points along an airway (upper or lower level) that would allow a transition from the airway "highway" and serve as an "offramp" (or "onramp" for a SID) to leave or join the approach/departure traffic.  A good program (although not perfect) to get a sense of all of this is PFPX (aerosoft).  It seems to use some of the same logic that you can see if you study flightaware - connect in a transition (from/STAR, to/SID) your airport.  Additionally, each airport has its preferred runway policies/preferences and the SIDS/STARS are designed for these.  I grew up near PHNL and 8L is for laning and 8R is for takeoffs for the heavier jets, so policies like this affect SID/STAR selection.  In any case, regardless of what you (or the dispatcher) request, ATC is going to tell you which SID and STAR to use.  

 

As to the "which runway" question: ilu33366swho's answer is good.  I would only add that local conditions might favor a runway  even it it isn't entirely aligned with the predominant wind.  If the wind speed isn't that high, cross-winds (and even tailwinds) might be possible, depending on local conditions.  Take Lukla (VNLK) or Saint Barthélemy Airport (TFFJ), for instance (which don't have SIDS/STARs or the like), terrain and local conditions dictate runway selection no matter what the wind is doing.

thank you all 

you are very welcome

UK STARS start on an airway and end at a  hold from which an approach can be made to any runway. For example, London Heathrow via Bovingdon is BNN 4A is:

 

BNN 4A Arrival via L15 (  FL150  to  FL190 ), L10 (  FL140 and below ), L612 (  FL90  to  FL140)  to  HON VOR  continue on  HON VOR  R141 to  TOBID  then  SOPIT  to  WCO NDB  then turn left onto  BNN VOR  R298 to  BNN VOR  .