Jim Thompson House Museum

The legend lives on.

Jim Thompson House Museum

Jim Thompson House Bangkok Museum showing traditional Thai architecture combined with Western influences.   In 1967, Jim Thompson went on holiday with friends to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. There he set out for a walk in the surrounding jungle but never returned. Thus began the Jim Thompson legend.  

Jim Thompson House is a museum in Bangkok. It is a complex of various old Thai structures that the American businessman Jim Thompson collected in from all parts of Thailand in the 1950s and 60s.

Jim Thompson House Museum

Jim Thompson, an American businessman was perhaps ‘the best known foreigner in Bangkok, and possibly in Southeast Asia’. “In the twenty years before his ill-fated holiday in Malaysia, he had accomplished more than most men in a full life. He had built a major industry in a remote and little known country whose language he could not speak; he had become an authority on an art that, previously, he scarcely knew existed and had assembled a collection that attracted scholars from all over the world; he had built a home that was a work of art in itself and one of the landmarks of Bangkok; and, in the process of doing all this, he had become a sort of landmark himself, a personality so widely known in his adopted homeland that a letter addressed simply ‘Jim Thompson, Bangkok’ found its way to him in a city of three and a half million people.”

Living Room

In 1958 this American businessman began what was to be the pinnacle of his architectural achievement, a new home to showcase his art collection. Formed from parts of six antique Thai houses, his home (completed in 1959) sits on a klong (canal) across from Bangkrua, where his weavers were then located. Most of the 19th-century houses were dismantled and moved from Ayutthaya, but the largest – a weaver’s house (now the living room) – came from Bangkuar.

Without a doubt AGODA is the best online Hotel booking site.

Silk Loom at Jim Thompson House.

With his natural flair for design and colour, and driven by his single-minded dedication to reviving the craft, Thompson soon gained worldwide recognition for his success in rebuilding the silk industry in Thailand, for generating international demand for Thai silk and for contributing to the growth of the silk industry.

Spooling silk at Jim Thompson House

Jim Thompson Bangkok Museum is only about 15 minutes walk from the MBK centre.

Please click on Google + to help my page ranking.

Elevated rooms.

In the hot and humid tropical climate, the airy, open quality of a Thai house and the broad overhangs of its roof protect the interior from both sun and rain. Elevated houses facilitate the circulation of air and offered a more comfortable living space. It was cooler to live in and protected the home from the risk of floods in the monsoon season. It also offered protection from hostile wildlife. The open space beneath the house was versatile. It was used as a living area in the hot season, as storage for the season’s harvest, and as a place to keep livestock.

All visitors have a guide.

It’s such a popular Thailand tourist destination you are not allowed to walk around the property by yourself, you must wait for a guide to take you in groups.

Rice storage.

This separate room was where they stored the rice. It is such a unique property in the heart of Bangkok, you can see why it’s such a popular Thailand tourist destination.

Entertainers at Jim Thompson Bangkok Museum

These lads looked terrific in their traditional costumes.

Thai welcome at Jim Thompson House.

Here is a slide show.

Jim Thompson in 1962

A rare old photo of Jim Thompson.

Thanks for visiting my Jim Thompson House museum photo blog. 

The best Bangkok budget hotel I have ever stayed in.

Thanks for visiting my Jim Thompson House Bangkok Museum photo blog.

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Sabai Wing North Pattaya

The best Pattaya budget hotel, 3 pools & opposite Central Marina shopping mall. For a great room rate just book through THIS LINK.

Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.

Pattaya Hilton

This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate. 

 Soi Cowboy                  Nana Plaza                    Patpong

                        

 

  Please check out these fabulous posts

       Gold Coast                              Pattaya                          Cinque Terre

                    

 

Rio de Janeiro                  Singapore                    Eastern Europe

                    

    Bangkok Bars                         Tokyo                      Cape Town Safari

                     

               Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

                  through these links below.  Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation. 

Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels

          

 Brazil Hotels

 

 That’s all folks

 

Pattaya live webcam

 

Click here for my post on Bangkok bars.

Heavy rain in Pattaya

The River Kwai

Author: David Herd

My history, particularly over the last 30 years is dominated by overseas travel. I sold my home in Australia October 20th 2011 and have have been living in Thailand since then. I don’t know where the time has gone? It seems like you go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning, and 20 years have flashed by. Not sure how many years I have left, however I have enjoyed a wonderful charmed life, and if it all ended today I would leave this world with no regrets. I was born in Sydney halfway through the last century, started my travels in the 60s with the usual U.K. Europe adventure at the age of 20, back to Australia and worked in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide in Sales & Marketing with multinational companies including Sanyo, Canon & Remington. Engaged to be married 3 times and never quite made it to the alter, finally realized by the mid 90s I was not cut out for "long term relationships" so I moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 1987, worked for a couple of banks as a Financial Planner, I took a year off work in 1998 to travel and never went back to full time work again, after 25 fun filled years on the Coast I packed up and moved to Thailand. What is the purpose of this blog? Well I really want to use it to record my travel experiences & to display my photographs, give and receive travel tips, comment on places I visit, restaurants I eat in and use it to replace the autobiography I intended to write, apart from all that it helps me fill in my day. :) I moved to Thailand mainly because I wanted to keep travelling while my health allowed me to, there are huge advantages being closer to all the places I want to visit. Cost of living in Thailand is around 35% of the cost in Australia, plus flights are 50% cheaper because you are much closer to everywhere. ???? Consequently I am able to travel to many more places compared to living in Australia. Having said all that, it is & has always been my intention to return to Australia when my travelling is finished, I predict this will happen around 2021.