Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
54
Malaysia Airlines
G4
55
United Airlines
G7
56
Vietnam Airlines
H4
Jim Thompson House
HISTORICAL BUILDING
(
www.jimthompsonhouse.com
; 6 Soi Kasem San 2; adult/child 100/50B; 9am-5pm, compulsory tours in English &
French every 20min; klorng boat to Tha Saphan Hua Chang, National Stadium exit 1)
This jungly com-
pound is the former home of the eponymous American silk entrepreneur and art collector.
Born in Delaware in 1906, Thompson briefly served in the Office of Strategic Services
(the forerunner of the CIA) in Thailand during WWII. Settling in Bangkok after the war,
his neighbours' handmade silk caught his eye and piqued his business sense; he sent
samples to fashion houses in Milan, London and Paris, gradually building a steady world-
wide clientele.
In addition to textiles, Thompson also collected parts of various derelict Thai homes
and had them reassembled in their current location in 1959. Some of the homes were
brought from the old royal capital of Ayuthaya; others were pulled down and floated
across the
klorng
from Baan Krua, including the first building you enter on the tour. One
striking departure from tradition is the way each wall has its exterior side facing the
house's interior, thus exposing the wall's bracing system. His small but splendid Asian art
collection and his personal belongings are also on display in the main house.
Thompson's story doesn't end with his informal reign as Bangkok's best-adapted for-
eigner. While out for an afternoon walk in the Cameron Highlands of western Malaysia in
1967, Thompson mysteriously disappeared. That same year his sister was murdered in the
USA, fuelling various conspiracy theories. Was it communist spies? Business rivals? Or a
man-eating tiger? Although the mystery has never been solved, evidence revealed by
American journalist Joshua Kurlantzick in his profile of Thompson,
The Ideal Man,
sug-
gests that the vocal anti-American stance Thompson took later in his life may have made
him a potential target of suppression by the CIA.
Beware well-dressed touts in soi near the Thompson house who will tell you it is closed
and try to haul you off on a dodgy buying spree.
Erawan Shrine
MONUMENT
