November 20 2003

Jim Thompson's house and museum

Jim Thompson's house set in lush tropical gardens

Few places are as evocative of a lost age as Jim Thompson's house in Bangkok. Thompson was an American intelligence officer who was stationed in Thailand at the end of WW2. Like many westerners before and since, he fell in love with the place and decided to stay on.

Thompson trained as an architect but his interest lay in textiles. Though the craft was almost extinct, hand-woven Thai silk became his passion. With help from New York Vogue, he promoted the fabric in the West and succeeded in reviving the ancient craft.

Like a latter-day Venetian merchant, he amassed a vast fortune and spent much of it creating a lavish canal-side home in Bangkok. The mansion was assembled from six ancient teak houses collected from as far away as Ayuthaya. Over the course of his life, Thompson filled it with Asian art treasures.

At that time, Bangkok was a city of canals and so the house was built facing the water. Each day, Thompson would visit the silk-makers by boat. When you look out from his study over the lush courtyard garden, you have to admire the guy's vision.

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The house is furnished with an eclectic mix of oriental arts and crafts but it feels more like a home than a museum. Thompson's living quarters are very comfortable. What an enviable life he must have led here. I'd love to live in the house myself and so would my Thai girlfriend - it's one of the few things we can agree on.

In 1967, Thompson set off on a walking trip to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. He was never heard from again has since become something of a legend. His sister was murdered in the same year, fuelling various conspiracy theories. In fact, he may have been run over by a truck and his body hidden by the driver. In Asia, that would be entirely plausible.

It's amazing how many western men living in Thailand die prematurely. I've got my own theories about the matter, which are explained in the posting Would your Thai wife murder you for cash?.

Jim Thompson's house and museum can be found at the end of Soi Kasem San 2 - very close to the National Stadium Skytrain station and walking distance from Siam Square. Opening hours are 9am - 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Entrance is 100 baht and includes a guided tour.

More information

www.jimthompsonhouse.com

[Posted to Activities by David]

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Readers' comments

Dana says:

When I visited the Jim Thompson house the extremely attractive, feminine, charming, intelligent (?), young Thai guide was pregnant but not wearing a wedding ring. Another bonehead woman pumping out another baby the world does not need. I'm waiting to get blamed for this one. Except for methane gas producing cattle there is no greater pollutant on earth than babies. They make no contributiion, suck up oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, and cost incalcuable amounts of energy, money, and stress. But this little lass will be treated special and the guy who put it to her may be labeled negatively. Give me a fucking break.

June 6, 2004 3:00 PM

mr peter says:

If we don't have babies who is going to be paying the taxes to fund our old age, not so far off? True though babies are a fucking annoyance, almost as bad as dogs and students.
Jim Thompson house is one of my favourite places in Bkk but I prefered it before the redevelopment with the shop and cafe additions. I never knew his sister was killed the same year, was that in LOS as well? -peter

June 6, 2004 3:11 PM

Dana says:

Jim Thompson was not killed in LOS. He was offed by the CIA in another country--other websites have astonishing Freedom of Information act info on this.

The house and grounds are interesting. For my taste the guides emphasis the objects d'art too much when more interesting things could have been said about the architecture and the construction technigues.

When I was there I was the only tourist to aggressively tour the gardens. They are sort of representational although I am always a little skeptical of so-called lush gardens in Thailand because they make such great snake hiders.

The shop is nice but I was STUNNED STUNNED STUNNED by the prices. The shirts were the finast shirts I have ever seen but by the time you pay for the shirt and then you pay a tailor to make it fit you have paid too much.

June 6, 2004 3:35 PM

mr peter says:

Yes I forgot, he was done to death in malaysia cameroon highlands I think whilst on vacation and on a solitary walk. Very interesting story deserving of a film-peter

June 6, 2004 5:03 PM

Dana says:

My instincts are that many film treatments have probably already been squashed by the United States government. There is abundant evidence that we killed him.

Too bad--an interesting one of a kind story and a unigue interesting man who was trying to do the right thing. Trying to do the right thing out of your culture is a long odds game. No good deed goes unpunished.

June 6, 2004 9:52 PM

Norman says:

how can you aggresively tour a garden?
don't be so pretentious Mr Peter

April 27, 2006 10:35 AM

Justin says:

maybe mr peter assaulted some of the plants, or perhaps verbally abused the trees...

October 31, 2006 7:46 PM

Pants Elk says:

Interesting bit of pulp speculation here:

http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/
PAW02-03/03-1023/features.html

He worked for the OSS? The CIA were involved? He had friends in high places? He went for a walk in the woods and just disappeared?

Su-ure he did!

November 1, 2006 2:04 PM

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