Bangkok in a Nutshell: 10 Fun Facts, Bangkok, Thailand

Off the main street, down a quiet narrow lane, a lush tropical garden full of ferns and orchids, planted with frangipani and palm trees, and where lotuses grow on a pond opens up on the dark teak wood Thompson’s house. In the heart of busy and bustling Bangkok, a stone’s throw away from the luxurious shopping malls of Siam Square, the quietness and peacefulness is only briefly disturbed by the noise of the water taxis running up and down the khlong - or canal - that serves the back side of the house. Today the Jim Thompson Museum, the estate was built by the silk businessman and possibly American spy in the 1950’s.

In the luxurious house, European furniture and Carrara marble highlight the refinement of the antique China vases, wooden Burmese Buddha statues, and oriental decors. East and West meet in the utmost refinement and taste. The avid art collector and architect even imported parts of the house itself from the former capital of Siam, Ayuttaya.

In Jim Thompson’s bedroom, a few of his portraits remind the man shrouded in mystery. An agent of the US Office of Strategic Service (OSS, today’s CIA) during World War II, Thompson (1906-1967) served in Northern Africa, Sri Lanka, and Thailand to support the Thai liberation movement. He set up the local Bangkok OSS office after the Japanese occupation ended in 1945. After the war, he settled in Thailand. From a wealthy and influential East Coast textile family, in 1948, he went back to his roots, buying shares in the Thai Silk Company Limited that was on the verge of collapsing. Reviving Thai silk by taking it from Hollywood to Broadway via Vogue, and supplying the Thai Queen Sirikit, a true model and advocate for the delicate fabric, Thompson saved the local industry. He provided jobs to the Cham weavers of the Muslim Ban Khrua community who used to live opposite the canal behind his house, and to many rural women weaving from home until well after his disappearance. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).