Jim Thompson began his collection shortly after World War II, when the value of Thai antiques was still unknown. His assemblage includes precious Buddha image, porcelain, traditional paintings, and finely carved furniture and panels collected from old homes and temples throughout Thailand. The traditional Thai house where his collection is contained is painted with the red-brown hue characteristic of Thailand. The house features a dramatic outward-sweeping roof covered with rare tiles designed and fired in Ayutthaya. curving gracefully in ngo, the wide roof allows the airy rooms to remain open all year long, sheltered from the downpours of the rainy season. The entire struture, enveloped by lush tropical greenery, stand elevated a full storey above the ground as protection against flooding.
THE KING OF THAI SILK
One Easter day in 1967 Jim Thompson went for a walk in the jungles of the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia and never came back. After year of speculation the mystery of his disappearance is still unsolved. Born in Delaware, USA, in 1906, Thompson worked as an architect before joining the army in 1939. He fought in Europe and Asia during World War II, and when the war ended, he served in Bangkok in the Office of Strategic Service (the forerunner of the CIA). Thompson later returned to Bangkok, where inspired by swatches of silk he had collected during his trips in Thailand, decided to track down traditional silk weavers. He found one lone community of Muslim weavers at the canal side Ban Khrua (he eventually built his own house just opposite the canal).
Utilising new techniques and dyes that raised the silk's quality to unrivalled standards, he set up the Thai Silk Company, later exporting his creations around the world. Thompson is one of the most celebrated farang (Westerner) in Thailand and his silks remain a treasured part of Thailand's culture
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