JIM THOMPSON HOUSE GUIDEBOOK

JIM THOMPSON HOUSE

GUIDEBOOK

The Bangkok home and Asian art collection of the late
James H.W. Thompson, also known as the “Thai Silk King”.

Table of contents 1
2-3
INTRO
THE ENTRANCE HALL 4
THAI PAINTINGS 5
THE KITCHEN ROOM
THE DINING ROOM 6
THE LIVING ROOM 7
THE STUDY ROOM
THE GUEST BEDROOM 8-9
THE MASTER BEDROOM 10
11

1

INTRO

The Bangkok home and Asian art collection of
the late James H.W. Thompson, also known as
the “Thai Silk King”.

The Jim Thompson’s house is a Thai house
owned by James H.W. Thompson, an
American entrepreneur who founded the
world renowned Jim Thompson Thai Silk
Company .

In 1967, Jim Thompson went on holiday at the
Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. There he set
out for a walk in the surrounding jungle and
never returned, thus, marked the beginning of
the Jim Thompson legend.

JIM THOMPSON HOUSE GUIDEBOOK

2

THE ENTRANCE HALL

In general Thai houses did
not have any stairways inside
the home, but with his
unique idea of architecture
that collects from the
studying, "Jim Thompson"
was creating this.
To construct this house Mr.
Thompson collected many
antique building materials.
For example, this Italian
marble floor came from the
19th-century Thai palace due
to Marble being one of the
popular materials for
residential decoration, it is a
natural stone that is full of
beauty, style, luxury, and
quality options for interiors.

3

09

The standing Buddha
Modern Style

The wooden statues are called "Nats", there
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abreticalensy. Tshpiisrictas nfrroamngenfartoumreinstuecrvhieawss, trees,
prirvoedrsu,cet vreevniehwusm, haunmbaeniningtse' rsepstirpitisecbeesc, aaunsde
e“Nveantsl”isctasn. be designated for various reasons.
Think about what your audience would be

eiBnntugearregsmitnegdepisnheoatnomds ganeatdnwgrriatipnhgic! As gtoain, choose

accompany your words, as these also help
A Burmese man from the 19th century was
catch your audience's eye.
found in Mandalay, Burma country and
made of teak.

THAI 4
PAINTINGS

What are Thai paintings?

The traditional Thai paintings were among
the first works of art to catch Thompson's
attention, but what are Thai paintings?
Thai paintings are a type of Fine art, which
reflects various aspects of Thailand that
are usually related to religion, society,
culture, and belief. In the past, almost all
Thai art was about religion, and we also
have a long tradition of making Buddhist
paintings on cloth.

The oldest painting

This is the oldest painting in our collection from the
17th century, and it's been restored. The painting
shows different events in the life of the historical
Buddha Prince Shakyamuni, which starts from his
birth until Enlightenment.

5

THE
KITCHEN
ROOM

Rice-wine pot Buddha meditating on a Naga

A rice wine pot for rice wine. It The 13th century Khmer style Buddha image meditates on
has a spout, and there is no lid. the seven heads of Naga King, a mythical serpent and God
So, how do you put wine of the Waters. After that, it was damaged, and seven Naga
inside? heads were missing. This statue represents an important
Here is the answer. First, you situation in the life of Lord Buddha.
need to turn the pot upside According to legend, after attaining Enlightenment the Lord
down to pour in the wine, and Buddha sat meditating for many weeks, and when it started
then inside the pot is a long to rain the Naga King came to protect him from flooding
tube. Therefore, after you fill and finally formed a hood to shelter him from the rain.
the pot and turn it back right
side again, the wine will not
come out, that's because the
tube is higher than the level of
rice wine.

Benjarong Porcelains

Benjarong is the traditional form of Thai porcelain. In the 18th and 19th centuries, samples of Thai
designs were sent to China to make this special type of porcelain. These porcelains were decorated
with various colors which consist of white, green, yellow, black, and red due to “Benjarong” means five
colors. Later other colors including gold were added.

THE DINING 6
ROOM
Kraak wares, Blue and
The decoration of this room White porcelains
shows Jim Thompson's
creative design talent.
Usually, the craved panels
below the window are only
seen from the outside of
Thai houses but Mr.
Thompson turned them
facing inside for guests
could be admired while he
ate dinner.

The plates on the table are known as “Kraak”, these The deer head
wares were produced mainly in the late Ming
Dynasty which was first shipped to Europe by the The deer heads on the wall
Portuguese traders, also Kraak are among the first were made for the European market.
Chinese export wares to arrive in Europe in mass
quantities.

Next are Blue and White Chinese porcelain was
made for the export market and shipped around
the world. These porcelains were decorated under
the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt
oxide and commonly applied with brush painting
by hand.

7 THE LIVING ROOM

About the living room Buddha
image head
The living room is the largest room of
Jim Thompson's house. Mr. Thompson This Buddha's
bought this beautiful part of this home head came
from a weaver's family who are living from the old
across the canal and this room is over capital of Siam.
200 years old.

Jim Thompson loves to sit on this
western-style sofa and enjoy looking
outside to his beautiful garden.

There also has antique lamps made
from drums turned upside down.

THE 8
STUDY
ROOM

Buddha image

An important
Buddha statue of
the 8th century
from Central
Thailand.
Although the
torso is damaged,
but it's still
beautiful as a
value legacy.

9 THE STUDY ROOM

Astrological Charts

For many Thais, astrology is a very important part of their lives, and never separate
from each other. Thai people often consult astrologers to set the date for their lucky
period before making the decision, and these are 4 popular topics for consult
consist of love, work, fortune, and health.
Here are two astrological charts were drawn for Mr. Thompson by a Thai monk. The
left shows the lucky day for him to move into this house and that is the day of 3rd
April 1959. The right one is his horoscope, Jim Thompson was born in 1906, which is
the year of the horse.
According to this chart, Mr. Thompson needed to be very careful when he turned to
61 years old and Jim Thompson also mysteriously disappeared when he was 61 as
forecast.

Map of Siam

Siam has a long history of contact ad trade
with westerners. This map was made by
the French in 1686. It shows how large the
Kingdom of Siam was at the time of the
visit of Monsieur Le Chevalier de
Chaumont, the first French ambassador to
Siam.

THE GUEST BEDROOM 10

Garden and Jim Thompson’s private life

The view of the garden is very beautiful from Chamber pot
here, Jim Thompson enjoyed his garden very
much. In a letter to his sister, he described it In the old days, Thai houses didn't
as a “Jungle”. He lived in this house alone. He have toilets. The toilets were
had been married before the war but was located outside the house in the
divorced by the time he came to Thailand. compound. So, for more
convenience, chamber pots were
used instead.

The Chamber pot is like a portable
toilet, meant for nocturnal use in
the bedroom and it was common
in many cultures before the advent
of indoor plumbing and flushing
toilets.

11 T H E M A S T E R R O O M

Jim Thompson's photograph

These are photographs of Mr. Thompson that were taken a
few months before he disappeared in the Cameron
Highlands of Malaysia in 1967.

At that time, he was on a vacation and staying at the home
of his friends afterward in the afternoon he went for a walk
due to he left behind his cigarettes and medicine that he
usually used, he certainly did not plan to be gone for long,
and until today we still do not know what happened to him.

Standing screen

Standing screens with detail in wood covered with dark
green glass mosaic, are often used in Thai temples. They are
placed in front of the door to block Evil spirits from entering
the room. This one is originally had more than 450 Buddha
images.

Mouse House

A traditional entertainment of the 19th century of China
“Mouse House”, Chinese mandarins used these houses for
gambling games by painting live mice in different colors
then placed them in this Mouse House to bet on which one
would get through the maze first.

The door

Before leaving out the room, Thai are always paying
attention to every step of their life by using stratagem to
prevent an accident that might happen as the raised board
below the opening is architecturally important because it
helps support the walls and it also prevents the baby from
crawling out of the room.

In addition, we believe that Evil spirits can only travel in
straight lines. Therefore, when they hit this panel, they are
stopped from entering the room.

Contact us

www.jimthompsonhouse.com

6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road,

Bangkok

Tel: (662) 216-7368