The Jim Thompson house is very much in the "Must See" category in Bangkok.
The CIA man turned silk merchant put together this beautiful house by transporting five original houses from elsewhere in the country.
You have to take a tour to look round - but the guides are excellent and knowledgeable.
The man himself is mentioned in the film "The King and I", and looked set at one time to enjoy his retirement as the chief farang socialite of Bangkok. However during a short evening walk whilst visiting the Cameron Highland in Malaysia he became lost - and was never heard of again.
Whilst some features of the house have been 'westernised' - such as having downstairs rooms, much of the Thai style was kept including the high sill to the door to keep children in (altough he never had any) and animals out. Thais also believe that 'evil spirits' are kept out by such methods.
I especially liked the bedroom. It had a chamberpot in the shape of an animal, and a 'mouse house'. The purpose of the giant mousebox was to let two mice free and see which would get to the bottom of the cunningly designed house first. The guide when pressed admitted that it was more than just for fun that these things were built - serious bets could take place !
I think that we should extend the idea further - it would make hores racing far more interesting if they had to naviage a small town to get to the finish line.
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Address: Rama I Road, Pathumwan District, Bangkok
Directions: The place is well known to Taxi's and Tuk Tuks but also close to the skytrain stop at the Stadium
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on Sep 29, 2003
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