Jim Thompson’s House

Rama I Road
Bangkok
Bangkok
Thailand

Type: Historical Interest
Addmission Fee: 100 Baht for adults and 50 Baht for students
Hours: Open from 9am to 5pm

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Jim Thompson’s House: The life story of James Harrison Wilson Thompson is like a James Bond novel. His life was as colorful and exciting as the colors of the vast silk empire that he created. Born in Greenville, Delaware in 1906, he became an architect in New York. He volunteered to join the army when the Second World War began and was enrolled into the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services that later became the Central Intelligence Agency, and his clandestine work took him to North Africa and Asia.

At the end of the war he was station head in Bangkok. He became enamored of Thailand and at the end of the war decided to stay on. His first project was to help in the remodeling of the Oriental Hotel. And then he turned his attention to developing the silk industry, which at the time was a dying industry. His artistic and marketing skills created the Jim Thompson silk empire and have made Thailand a major source of quality silk today.

The home he created in Bangkok is a complex of six traditional Thai houses that were brought from different parts of Thailand and set in lavish grounds. If you wish to tour the property you must take a guide; the tour will give you an insight into the man who became known as the host with the most. He loved entertaining and his guests included people like Noel Coward and W. Somerset Maugham.

The house is in the center of Bangkok, opposite the National Stadium on Rama I Road. Open from 9am to 5pm. Admission: 100 Baht for adults and 50 Baht for students.