Jim Thompson House

The Jim Thompson House is the most charming small museum in Bangkok and a perfect calm hour in the middle of the city. Jim Thompson was an American architect and intelligence officer who came to Thailand at the end of the Second World War, stayed, and built a business that brought hand-woven Thai silk to the attention of the world; his company still bears his name. In the late 1950s he bought six traditional teak houses, some from the old capital of Ayutthaya and some from a weavers' village across the canal, had them dismantled and reassembled into one rambling home on the bank of Khlong Saen Saep, and filled it with his collection of Southeast Asian art: Buddha images, Chinese porcelain, Burmese carvings, Thai paintings and antique furniture. In 1967, while on holiday in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, he went for a walk and was never seen again; the mystery of his disappearance has never been solved, which only adds to the house's appeal. Today it is a museum run by a foundation, set in a lush, shaded garden of ponds and tropical plants. Visits to the main house are by guided tour only, offered in English and several other languages and included in the ticket, which is currently 250 baht for adults, with discounts for under-22s and free entry for children under ten. The guides explain the architecture, the red-painted teak walls, the raised thresholds that keep out spirits and the stories behind the collection. The complex is open every day from 10am to 5pm. Around the house are a silk shop, a restaurant and a cafe overlooking the garden pond, and a contemporary art centre that stages exhibitions.

The house is easy to reach but hidden from the street, at the end of a quiet lane, Soi Kasemsan 2, off Rama I Road, a few minutes on foot from National Stadium BTS station and across the road from the MBK Center and Siam Discovery. Tours run frequently through the day and last around thirty to forty minutes; the museum has introduced online booking, but walk-in tours are offered throughout the day when online slots are full. Inside the house, shoes come off and photography is restricted, so enjoy the garden and the exterior for pictures. Beware of anyone outside who claims the house is closed and offers to take you elsewhere; buy tickets only at the museum or through its authorised channels, as the museum itself warns.

What makes the visit special is the sense of a real home. The rooms are arranged as Thompson left them, with his dining table set, his collections in the cases and the canal visible from the windows, where he could watch the weavers' boats pass. The architecture is a lesson in traditional Thai building: the walls lean inward, the floors are raised on stilts against floods, and each house is joined by covered walkways. Thompson broke tradition by turning some walls inside out to show the decorative panelling to his guests, an architect's choice that the guides point out.

Plan an hour for the tour and the garden, and longer if you want lunch at the restaurant or a browse in the silk shop, which sells the company's fabrics, scarves and homeware at full price. The house combines easily with the shopping malls of Siam, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre across the road at the National Stadium intersection, and the Khlong Saen Saep canal boat, which stops at a pier beside the weavers' community of Bang Krua, opposite the house, if you want an adventurous ride east towards Pratunam.