Jim Thompson House Museum

The creator of the legendary Thai silk empire, former scout and cognoscenti of antiques, yank Jim Thompson is that the most noted and revered foreigner in Kingdom of Thailand, United Nations agency left a really wealthy heritage behind. Hidden within the shadow of the succulent-green garden in Bangkok’s center, his original home is stuffed with works of art and is one amongst the capital’s most often visited places.

Jim Thompson was born in Pennsylvania, in 1906. He received bailiwick education and for a time worked at planning public buildings. Before the planet War II, he engaged in politics and entered into a joint intelligence organization of the u.  s.. operating for it, he terminated up in Kingdom of Thailand, in 1946. surprised by country’s ancient history and wealthy culture, Thompson resigned from the military and determined to settle in national capital. He opened his own business there. Having transmitted associate interest to textile production from his father, the yank actively engaged within the revival of Thai silk production, that fell into decay when the war. The Thai silk was world noted for its superior quality, original patterns and bright colours.

In 1959, Jim Thompson bought a neglected piece of land on the bank of the Klong stream, in Bangkok. it absolutely was situated opposite to the quarter, wherever his weavers lived. He brought six ancient teak homes, inbuilt the classical Thai vogue, from totally different provinces of the country and fashioned his residence from them. He then enclosed it with picturesque park with tropical plants.

Thompson home is a tremendous combination of European approach and Asian traditions. Its main charm is in its proportions: high ceilings and suite of spacious rooms. giant windows overlook the garden, and door thresholds ar upraised, that makes them seem like windows. varied mirrors reflective park’s verdure and works of art augment this game of illusions. Jim Thompson crammed his house with works of art: pictorial canvases, sculptures, multi-colored Chinese ceramic ware.

 Jim Thompson House Museum

Thompson was noted as a collector of antiques: he gathered and fixed old things and later created a beautiful assortment from them. Today, his home is a repository that presents wholly superb works of art from totally different corners of the Southeast Asia: wood Burmese statuettes, stone sculptures from Kingdom of Cambodia, old jewellery, footage by Thai artists, silkscreen decorations. The park, that surrounds the house, options Statues of Buddha from the eighth – thirteenth centuries.

The Jim Thompson House repository has sections, dedicated to the Thai people’s life and therefore the history of Thai silk trade. One building contains a hall telling regarding Thompson’s life and work. His destiny remains a mystery till now: in 1967, he created a vacation in Asian country together with his friends, went for a walk and ne'er came back. No traces of the cryptically disappeared yank were found.