Day 6 – Jim Thompson House and Chiang Mai

Saturday, July 8, 2023 – Today we were preparing to fly to Chiang Mai. Our flight was not until the afternoon so we spent the morning taking a tour of the Jim Thompson House Museum. Jim Thompson was an American who visited Bangkok in the late 1940s while in the military and saw a tremendous opportunity to organize the production of silk. He is credited with tremendously growing the silk trade and is also known as the “Thai Silk King.”

The house was built in 1958-1959. It is a design by Mr. Thompson, a trained architect, himself. He purchased several small Thai teak houses that were disassembled, transported to Bangkok and then reassembled into his house. The grounds include some beautiful gardens and additional small homes for his wait staff.

As the silk business grew and expanded, Mr. Thompson used some of his wealth to acquire and accumulate a unique collection of artwork and sculpture that is still displayed at the House and Museum today.

Mr. Thompson also enjoyed adventures. His last trip was to Cameroon where he disappeared in 1967. Despite a large search and reward for him, he was never found. The house and the silk business is now held and run by a foundation.

The tour was very interesting and a great way to spend the morning. Off to our next adventure in Chiang Mai via a quick flight on Scoot (Singapore Airlines low cost alternative).

We arrived in Chiang Mai and easily checked into our next hotel. We were encouraged to experience the Saturday night market in the old city, so after a quick tuk tuk ride we found ourselves in the midst of a lot of activity. Streets were lined with food stalls and small tents of souvenirs and various other items. It was fun to walk around and sample a few yummy things while getting our bearings in a new city. Karen sampled the local Thai rolled ice cream and Greg thoroughly savored a mango smoothie.