The strange tale of Jim Thompson – the American who went from architect to spy to reviver of Thailand’s ailing silk industry – is one of the most fascinating you're likely to come across in Bangkok's exotic swirl. And probably the best place to appreciate the man, and his works, is at the house he designed and built – simply called the Jim Thompson House. A few kilometres east from the centre of Bangkok, this beautifully preserved house is now a museum to Jim, one of the few foreigners to receive Thailand's highest honour – the Order of the White Elephant.
Thompson – the man from Delaware, USA – received that award in 1962, after his Thai Silk Company had achieved wild success back in his home-country. He first fell in love with Thailand, and its vibrant silk-work, after coming here during the Second World War. Silk had fallen out of favour locally, but his ideas helped turn round a Thai industry that had forgotten its true splendour. By the time of his mysterious death in 1967, over a hundred silk companies were in business in Thailand.
But as a visit to Jim Thompson House shows, his energies were directed in many directions. It is packed to the gills with objects that caught his artistic eye. Belgian antiques, Italian tiles, Thai porcelain and, of course, Thai silk hangings – all arranged to complement to carved intricacies of the house itself. It was created from six traditional teak Thai houses, here on the banks of a local klong (or canal). They were cleverly joined together without nails, on a day determined to be most auspicious, according to the traditional Buddhist Thai way.
Sadly Jim Thompson wasn't able to live out his days here. He went on a walking holiday in Malaysia, with friends, in 1967. He went on a walk in the jungle, and never returned – apparently he lost his way and died. But Bangkok hasn't forgotten him, one of the most renowned of its 'farangs'. A visit to the house that Jim built might show you why.
