Jilly and I visited Jim's House last week - Jim Thompson is famous for building an awesome house in the heart of Bangkok, and of course he is the chap who revitalised the Silk Industry in Thailand.
We got the BTS train 6 Stops to National Stadium and from there a slow 4 min walk to Jim's House, else you can get the free shuttle service (golf cart) which takes a whole 40 seconds! We arrived at 10.30 which was a good time time as not too many tourists had a arrived yet, so we got to wonder around the exhibitions and shop before our designated 30 min English Tour at 10.45. Tickets to Jim's house cost ฿150 (£3.25) tour included, after the tour you can spend as much time as you like walking around the beautiful gardens and looking at some of the stunning silk exhibitions.
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| Jim's House |
Our tour guide (I forget her name) was lovely! She showed us around Jim's garden and house giving us lots of interesting information about Jim and the Thai culture. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside his house (it must be shy) so you can't see all the cool stuff he had in there, but believe me when i say - Jim's house must have been the place to be and the envy of all his neighbours back in the day! He had all the mod-cons including western loo, mouse maze, frog pee-pee pot and gorgeous furniture drenched in luxurious silk fabrics. Scattered around the house are his antique collection of Buddhas and hand painted plates and ornaments. Apart from his amazing interior designing skills, his house is also special as it was made from 6 separate teak Thai houses from around the country that were dismantled, then combined into one big house!
Whilst the tour of his house was very interesting and made me miss my house back in London Town (I am going to drench it in silk upon my return and have a bright green silk bed just like Jim's!), I was hoping for a bit more info on the silk making and more about his designs. But i guess that's more of a 'Silk Factory' kinda tour.
Jim fell in love with Thailand when he was based here during the war and returned years later to purchase and renovate a hotel, but decided that silk trade was more interesting. He became famous when some of his silk was used in the 1956 Film of 'The Kind & I', he then went on to save the silk industry in Thailand (I will now think of him when i wear my Thai Silk Scarf!) Sadly, and without any trace Jim disappeared when he was 61! Our tour guide told us that his Thai horoscope said that something would happen to him when he was 61... eek! No trace was ever found of Jim... and he was declared dead in absentia by the Thai government a few years later and his silky mansion was then turned into a museum.
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