Visiting The Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok

Welcome to the home of Thailand’s silk king, the Jim Thompson House museum in Bangkok is one of the best things to do in the city and cannot be missed. If you need a sense of calm in this metropolis, you’ll find it here.

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Not far from the enormous shopping malls of Siam Paragon and MKB Center, you’ll find sanctuary and silence in the former home of Jim Thompson. Now converted into a museum, this is one of the best things to do in Bangkok as you’ll be transported, almost immediately, back to the 1960’s and be able to wander around traditional Thai-houses built with teak wood admiring Mr Thompson’s collection of south-east Asian art. Plus, there’s a huge mystery to uncover too; Jim Thompson completely disappeared in 1967 and has never been found since.

If you’re looking for a real-life guide to visiting the Jim Thompson House Museum or simply some inspiration for things to do in Bangkok, this post is for you!

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JIM THOMPSON HOUSE MUSEUM

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WHO IS JIM THOMPSON

A former secret service agent, Jim Thompson was an American businessman who, following WWII, remained in Thailand aiming to revive the Thai silk industry. This luxurious product soon was the envy of the world and it made Jim Thompson an extremely wealthy man.

In 1959, Jim Thompson commenced building work on his new home alongside one of Bangkok’s many canals, or khlongs, which he planned to fill with his collection of south-east Asian antiques, artwork and artifacts. The home, that has been immaculately preserved as though the owner simply walked out one morning never to return, is made up of six teak houses in their traditional Thai style (all moved from Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand).

On Easter Sunday 1967, Jim Thompson mysteriously disappeared in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia never to be seen again. Rewards of $25,000 were offered but, to this day, Jim Thompson has never been found and no-one knows what happened that day. Maybe his past caught up with him, maybe he was eaten by a leopard or maybe he simply wanted to disappear. Who knows?

THE TOUR

To be able to explore the home, you have to join one of the mandatory tours that are offered in a range of different languages. You’ll be taken from room to room with a guide who will explain the history of the building, Jim Thompson himself as well as his collection of artwork. The tour was brilliant and actually really interesting given that I’d never heard of Jim Thompson previously. One of the facts of the whole tour that seemed to stick with me was that the entire structure was built without nails. I know that doesn’t sound too exciting now that I’ve written it down but I was a little in awe of the craftsmanship that had gone into not only the building itself but every little detail too.

The tour takes around 35 minutes in total so, following that, you’re free to explore the shop and admire extremely high quality silk products (some with a healthy price tag too) or grab some food at the on-site restaurant with a drink on the terrace. There’s the Jim Thompson Art Center next door showcases more modern and contemporary art with entry costing 50 baht.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

OPENING HOURS

Open daily 10am to 5pm with the last tour commencing at 5pm.

HOW TO GET TO THE JIM THOMPSON HOUSE MUSEUM

If using public transport, the nearest metro station is National Stadium on the Silom Line and, from there, it’s only a four minute walk. Of course, the oldest part of Bangkok isn’t serviced by the metro system so you could easily jump into a taxi or on a tuk-tuk straight to the entrance. A boat will take you all the way too along the canal, head to the Hua Chang Pier.

Google Maps

TICKETS

Adult: 250 baht
Ages 10-21: 150 baht (ID required)
Under 10: Free (accompanied by an adult)

Please note that you cannot buy tickets for the Jim Thompson Museum anywhere online, they have to be purchased in person at the ticket office. We had no issue with simply turning up when it suited us and getting straight in; thankfully you don’t need a reservation.

SCAM WARNING

Ok, so I’ve never really done this before but I thought it would be sensible to just add a warning generally about scams in Bangkok. I can tell you this from absolute experience as, despite doing much research and thinking myself as a pretty wise traveller with my wits about me, I fell for a scam in Bangkok! One of the main scams it seems, is that someone will spark up a conversation with you seemingly out of nowhere but not out of the ordinary. Low and behold, the place that you wanted to visit is ‘closed today’ and suddenly a tuk-tuk stops and whisks you away to somewhere better to see! This is what happened to us and we had to keep asking the tuk-tuk to stop and let us off before we were shepherd into another random temple or a suit factory.

When visiting the Jim Thompson House Museum therefore always check the official website yourself for opening hours and remember that no tickets are available to purchase online. Keep you wits about you, and then some, and you should have no issues!

That wraps up my guide to visiting the Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok and I hope you enjoyed the post as well as the photos. I really enjoyed our visit and would love to return one day; I honestly think a trip to the museum is a must-do for any visitor to Bangkok.

If you have any thoughts or have your own experiences, let me know in the comments below.

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