Jim Thompson House

Jim Thompson was born 1906 in Delaware USA and served in the Office of Strategic Services (CIA predecessor) in Thailand during WWII. He fell in love with the place and decided to stay permanently. He became interested in the talents of thelocal silk weavers. Through working with them to tailor their patterns to western tastes and his good head for business, he transformed this flailing local industry in to a globally successful export business. With his success he began collecting art and designed his dream home which was constructed by purchasing six Thai teak wood homes from around the country and having them reassembled here in 1959 to create one large house. The result is a beautiful house containing his elegant art collection surrounded by lush gardens and ponds. Jim went missing at in 1967 at the age of 61 while on a solo hike in the Cameroon Highlands of Malaysia. There was much speculation around his disappearance and in the book The Ideal Man by journalist Joshua Kurlantzick, it is suggested Jim’s anti-American stance made him a target for suppression by the USA. Another popular speculation is that he was eaten by a tiger. His body was never found and as he had no direct family the Thai government now manages the house as a historical site. The house is decorated as it was when he disappeared, so is like a wondrous step back in time. You can only see the interior of the house as part of a 30 minute guided tour which run every 20 minutes (last tour 6:00pm). While you are waiting for the next tour you can see Thai dancing and women demonstrating silk being unwound from cocoons. There is a restaurant on site serving excellent Thai food and also a shop selling pricey silk. If you want to buy some silk from somewhere without a big tourist mark-up head to Baan Krua village nearby, original supplier of Jim Thompsons silks and off the tourist radar. To get here get off the BTS at National Stadium and just follow the signs for Jim Thompson House, it’s about a 20 minute walk or catch a tuk-tuk. Entrance: 150B / 100B (student), open daily 9:00am – 6:00pm Address: 6 Soi Kasem San 2, Siam Square, Bangkok