Following a weekend of shopping and dining, it was time for some serious sightseeing. Having visited the usual sights like Grand Palace and the Floating Market, you would think that there’s nothing more to see. That might have been true if the city wasn’t filled with so much culture and diversity. But having culture and diversity is exactly the strong point of Bangkok. As a matter of fact, we paid visits to several new spots for the rest of the trip!
Jim Thompson House
Our first stop was at Jim Thompson House which used to be the home of James H.W. Thompson, the “legendary American of Thailand” recognised for his exceptional contribution to the development of the Thai silk industry. This is a great place for people that wish to explore a traditional Thai house.
The house combines six traditional Thai-style buildings made of teak. Even though it was constructed in 1959, some of the buildings were at least two centuries old. They had been purchased from different parts of the country, dismantled and brought to the present site.
The house was a fine example of Thompson’s keen eye for design and colour, and became the “talk of the town”. Sadly in 1967, he disappeared mysteriously while holidaying with friends in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. Until today, no one knows what happened to him there. But the Jim Thompson legend lives on.
Visitors are only allowed into the house in groups, brought around by tour guides. So after paying the admission of 100 baht an adult (I paid only 50 baht for being under 25!), everybody would wait around until the guide brought us into the house.
Near the ticket counter was a pond with some fish in it, plus the biggest stingray I’ve ever seen! It’s gigantic! And I certainly wouldn’t want to fall into the pond with it.
Before going up the stairs into the house, we had to take off our footwear, following Thai tradition. The house was elevated a full storey above the ground to avoid flooding during the monsoon season and prevent animals from getting in.
We were brought from room to room in the house, with our guide giving us an overview of the various furniture. For example, the dining table was actually formed by joining two heavy mahjong tables. (I doubt mahjong here refers to the game!)
This drawing room is the oldest part of the house, dating from around 1800. It originated from the silk weaving village of Ban Krua. Hanging from the ceiling is a crystal chandelier that came from an old palace. On both sides of the room, you can see Burmese figurines of Nat (good spirits) from Amarapura that decorate the niches, which were originally windows.
All the things were obviously pretty old, so no photography was allowed. Some of the colourful porcelain wares were exactly like those we’d seen at the Peranakan Museum in Singapore.
Interestingly, in both the master bedroom and the guestroom, we found potties, or what they call “pee-pee pots”! Haha! One was shaped like a cat, the other, a frog, with lids on them.
Due to the elevation, there’s a vast open space beneath the house. Ornate carvings and sculptures decorate the area.
This statue of the Buddha has the head missing. It’s centuries old, and was highly priced by Thompson himself.
The beautiful patterns on this wood panel are used as a stencil for making sarong.
The octagonal table features a highly unusual circular blue painting.
Following our tour, we stopped by the Jim Thompson restaurant and bar. It’s a nice looking place that serves Thai food and drinks.
See these triangular cushions? From our guided tour we learned that you’re supposed to turn them sideways so that you can rest your arm(pit) on it.
That’s exactly what I did whilst enjoying a singha beer. It’s interesting to note that in many places in Bangkok, the beers cost almost the same or just slightly more than the coffees and fruit juices.
6 Soi Kasemsan 2
Rama I Road
Bangkok, Thailand
Website
Nearest BTS: National Stadium
Opening hours: 9am – 5pm daily (last guided tour at 4:30pm)
Admission: Adults 100 baht; Students 50 baht
Suan Pakkad Palace
Our second stop for the day was another traditional Thai-style house, the Suan Pakkad Palace. This was the private residence of Prince Chumbhot Paribatra, a grandson of King Rama V.
The lacquer pavilion below was originally from a temple in Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand.
The prince brought it here as a 50th birthday present to his wife, although he never lived to see the completion of its refurbishment.
We were allowed to go up to the second level of the pavilion, where magnificent mural paintings in gold on black lacquer decorate the walls. The murals depict the life of the Buddha.
The eight houses in the palace are connected via bridges. Again, we would take our shoes off to explore within the houses. As the trail starts from one house and ends at another, we were provided plastic bags to carry our shoes as we explored the place.
The darker area on the wooden floor are actually tables! They can be brought up when needed, and retracted into the floor after use.
That’s Baiyoke Sky Tower in the background, the tallest building in Bangkok. You can actually go right up to the rooftop and enjoy the night scenery on a rotating open-air platform.
Can you guess what this is?
And with that, we’re done with our sightseeing for the day!
352-354 Sri Ayudhya Road
Ratchathewi
Bangkok 10400
Thailand
Tel: +66 2245 4934 | Website
Nearest BTS: Phaya Thai (Exit 4)
Opening hours: 9am – 6pm daily
Admission: Adults 100 baht; Students 50 baht
Steamboat dinner at Siam Center
During my trips to Bangkok, I would always make a stop for steamboat buffet at coca suki at Siam Center. The buffet used to cost just 99 baht, and you can select all the food you want from a conveyor belt, just like the sushi restaurants in Singapore.
This time round, we went there and found that the price has increased to 219 baht! Nonetheless, it was still cheap by buffet standards, and there was better variety of food than before.
I like that the juices are served with pretty flowers. There’s nothing like a watermelon juice to cool one down after a whole afternoon walking in the sun.
Siam Center
Rama I Road
#430-432
Bangkok 10330
Thailand
Nearest BTS: Siam
Jan 16, 2009
2
Wonderful photos of Jim Thompson house! Really conveys the feeling of the place – one can almost smell the hardwoods and hear the water fountains.
Jan 16, 2009
3472
Thanks Bill. I imagine you’re the kind of guy that would love this place!
Jan 16, 2009
7
so is that a coffin?
Jan 16, 2009
3472
Yup you got that right! I couldn’t figure out what it was until our guide told us :P
Jan 16, 2009
1
That brings back lovely memories for me. I visited the Jim Thompson house in November 2007 and will probably go back on my next trip in a few weeks. How did you manage to get those inside pictures of the house? Very nice pictures by the way.
And what is that long wooden thing then?
Jan 16, 2009
3472
Those sculptures and carvings were at the open area beneath the house where photography was allowed. The one photo that I managed to get of the Drawing Room was actually taken from outside the house! You can tell that the wooden pillars have sunlight shining on it from an opening. That’s where I got the picture!
And that long wooden thing is a coffin! Creepy huh.
Jan 17, 2009
14
i went to e steamboat buffet last yr after reading/referencing from your bangkok trip yrs ago.
yea. the price shot up to 219bht. but with the service they provide. i think is all while worth.
i still rmb the waiter kept adding and cook the ingredients for us.. =)
Sep 12, 2010
5
Hi Veron, thanks again for evoking fond memories. I visited the Jim Thompson house in Oct, 2008. It’s amazing you managed to take pictures inside the building. When I visited, our group was strictly instructed that photography in the grounds and from outside the building was OK, but strictly no photography inside. And no way I could do sneak shots as the guide was always with us.
One other point, not directly related to the post: throughout, you say solo trip, but keep referring to ‘we’.
Who is ‘we’?
Sep 12, 2010
3472
Hi Shankar,
It’s nice to know that we have left our footsteps at the same places, albeit not at the same time!
All the pictures taken at the Jim Thompson House were in the allowed areas like under the house or from the garden. I wish they had allowed photography inside the house. Thompson had so many rare artifacts and decorative items on display!
I made several trips to Bangkok. Some were solo, some were with friends (like in this trip). Hope this answers your question!
Sep 12, 2010
5
Hi Veron, thanx for the quick response, and please also accept my apologies: that was pretty clumsy of me wasn’t it? I see someone has already asked the photography not permitted question and you have already responded to it. This is what happens when one accesses your wonderful page at work, and is really enjoying the photography and the nostalgia, but is always looking over his shoulder to make sure no one is coming! I vaguely remember the log coffin, but it didn’t register in my brain at that time.
I also see that your Minolta has given way to your Canon Ixus, judging from one of your photos on another of the pages in this series.