Saturday, February 21 – Bangkok

I think I mentioned that breakfast is included here at the Volve Hotel, and it’s very good!

They offer a selection of fruit, bread, juice, yogurt, and vegetables…

…and also a choice from an a la carte menu. Today I went with Eggs Benedict, with salmon instead of Canadian bacon. Also had some guava juice and Thai lemon tea. It was great!

Thai Baht. 1 USD = 31 THB.

My only previous visit to Bangkok was a little over 20 years ago. I traveled here during one of my breaks while working in Kuwait. One thing I remember enjoying was my tour of the Jim Thompson House, so I’m going to make a return visit today.

I’ll be taking the Skytrain (BTS) to the Thompson House, with only one transfer.

Pretty quiet at the Thong Lo Station this morning.

I changed trains at a station that is adjacent to Nimibutr Stadium, and…

…Thephasadin Stadium. Both are part of the National Stadium Complex.

It’s common for the BTS stations to be connected to shopping malls via an elevated walkway.

I feel like I’ve told the Jim Thompson story previously in this Journal, but I’m not sure under what circumstance that would have been. In any event, here’s a brief summary of his (very) interesting life…

Jim Thompson was an American businessman who helped revitalize the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in 1906, he was trained as an architect, but quit his job in 1941 to enlist in the military. At the height of the Second World War, Thompson was recruited to serve as an operative in the OSS (the forerunner to the CIA). In 1946, he went to work as a military attache in Thailand.

In 1948, Thompson co-founded the Thai Silk Company Limited. The firm achieved a coup in 1951 when designer Irene Sharaff made use of Thai silk fabrics for the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, The King and I. From then on, the company prospered.

In the spring of 1967, Thompson vanished from Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands while out for a walk. His disappearance from the hill station generated one of the largest land searches in Southeast Asian history and remains one of the most famous mysteries in the region. Over the years, many theories have been advanced to explain his disappearance, but no definitive answer has ever emerged.

Sadly, an investigation in 2023 by the Thai authorities found that Thompson had smuggled a large number of antiquities from Thailand and sold them in the United States and the United Kingdom. The objects removed by Thompson include items from the Si Thep Historical Park during the 1960s.

The Museum opens at 10am. I arrived a little early, but fortunately the museum shop and cafe were open.

Beautiful silk products on display.

Dating to 1959, The Jim Thompson House consists of a combination of six traditional Thai-style homes, primarily constructed of wood, and various old Thai structures that were collected from all parts of Thailand in the 1950s and 1960s. He designed it as a place live and to showcase his Southeast Asian art collection.

After purchasing my ticket (250 THB / 8 USD), I was assigned to the English-speaking group, who’s tour began at 10:10. Very efficient! There were 16 of us in the group; the tour lasted 45 minutes. Following the tour we were free to roam around the grounds, but not back inside the house.

Here are a few photos from the visit…

It’s interesting, we were allowed to take pictures in the house, but other people could not be included in the photo (unless they were friends or family visiting together as a group). I kind of like it, but have never encountered that rule before. Imagine trying to enforce it at the Louvre!

Very impressed! I’m happy I returned to The Jim Thompson House. Two decades later! It’s as nice as I remembered. And happy to see it’s been so well maintained.

The house sits on Khlong (canal) Saen Saep across from Bangkrua, where Thai Silk Company’s weavers were then located. This patio faces the canal, which is just beyond the structure in the background.

Khlong Saen Saep

A water taxi service operates on the canal.

Following the JT House tour, I was on the BTS back toward my hotel, but got off one stop early to check out a park.

Benjakitti Park dates to 1992, and covers 180 acres.

There’s a nice walking/jogging/biking path that runs around the lake.

Surprised to see leaves on the ground. An early autumn?

On the right is the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

A nice visit. I’m glad I made the diversion to check it out!

Time to make my way back to the hotel. I’ll bypass the train and walk instead. Will take about an hour.