Why Visit Jim Thompson House Museum and BACC
We knew we would still be tired from our early morning flight from Manila on our first day in Bangkok so we intentionally made our first day itinerary to have a relaxed and slow pace. And so we chose only two tourist spots that were near our hotel, Jim Thompson House Museum and Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC), both of which were located in Siam district. If you’re wondering why visit Jim Thompson House Museum and BACC, there are plenty of compelling reasons for these choices.
I was honestly reluctant to include these two places as I felt that both would be too boring to see so why visit Jim Thompson House Museum and BACC? Surprisingly that impression changed after we spent the afternoon in those two places.
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Why Visit Jim Thompson House Museum
This house museum tour is interesting as it was the home of Jim Thompson, the “Thai Silk King”, the man behind the development of the silk industry in Thailand. When he visited Bangkok, he saw Thai Silk’s potential as an industry. When he returned to the US, he ignited a demand for Thai silk on a global scale and in the process he moved to Bangkok to focus on this new venture.
Uniqueness of Jim Thompson’s House
Jim Thompson’s house is unique for many reasons. One of those reasons is that the entirety of his home is made of several house teaks with some rooms having adjoining doors that leads on to other rooms. You could easily get lost and stuck if you are not familiar with your way around the house.
Another unique feature of the house was that it was built along a canal, which is the house’s main attraction. From the canal, you will see his spacious and airy reception area, designed to welcome and accommodate different guests of varied social backgrounds, from locals to foreigners, and workers to affluent guests.
Overall the house is simple and practical in design yet it still gives off a laidback and artistic impression, some qualities that you would not usually expect from a wealthy man who lived in the 1950’s and built the Thai silk industry.
Nowadays the house continues to display many precious and antique decorations from expensive Chinaware to large imported vases, paintings, Buddhist relics, sculptures, potteries, and beautifully designed furnitures made of quality and sturdy woods– most of which are collections of Jim Thompson.
The House Tour
An English-speaking guide toured us around the house of Jim Thompson. The guide shared facts and stories about the house, its art collections, and Jim Thompson’s life and lifestyle. And as in most Thai homes, here too, we were asked to take off our shoes and tour the house barefoot.
Thai Silk from Jim Thompson
Just across Jim Thompson’s House teak, and still within its compound, is a store that features and sells Thai silk of many different elegant and vibrant designs and sets. The prices are a bit more expensive than the ones you would find in ordinary stores but buying from there assures you of quality and brand. If you intend to buy a special souvenir for yourself or a special gift for a friend or someone back home then this is the place I recommend to buy it from.
Surrounding the house is a small garden and a cafe-restaurant. The cafe-restaurant has an open air and laidback ambience where one can order mostly snacks. In our case, we had some fresh coconut juice which we drank straight from chilled coconuts. It was a good way to relieve us of the heat after the house tour.
To find out more about Jim Thompson’s House Museum tour, you can visit this link to their official website:
From Jim Thompson House Museum, we headed next to Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC), just 5 minutes walk away and still within the Siam district.
Why Visit Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC)
Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre features varied forms of arts — from paintings to photography, to sculptures and even paper cut structures— all these expressing and evoking different artists’ point of views and opinions on the local and global current events, issues, and cultures of the Thais in the modern days.
Below are some of the few arts that I found striking or interesting during our visit:
BACC’s Design
The building has a spiralling design going up to its floors. As you walk up, you would see the featured paintings and photos displayed on the walls along the way. In some floors you can stop by to see rooms or spaces where you will find some featured sculptures and paper cut structures.
Books and Bookshops in BACC
Beside those rooms are cafes and bookshops that sells different Thai literary books. Most of the books were written in Thai alphabet though there were a few written in romanized and in English.
The Regret
I honestly regret not having researched Thai literature before our trip as this visit in BACC would have been a great chance to buy a classic and a contemporary Thai literary books. If I had done my research earlier, I would have known what to find and buy. While I cannot confidently say that this is the best place to find Thai literary books, as there may be other better stores to check, I would still say that this is one place where you could reliably source your quality Thai literary books from.
Two Hours to Appreciate Thai Arts
I highly recommend visiting Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre as it offers a place for tourists who are interested in arts and literature to learn more about Thailand with more depth. My tip is to spend two hours in BACC to give time to appreciate Thai arts.
To find out more about Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre, you can visit this link to their official website:
Not Boring After all
So, why visit Jim Thompson House Museum and Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC)?
My answer: while it’s undeniable that Thailand is popular for being a tourist destination and for its pop culture; there are definitely plenty of other more exciting things to experience. But beyond these things, it hurts to admit that we know very little about it as a society. So if you want to have a deeper understanding of Thailand and its people in the current times, then I would say a visit to Jim Thompson House Museum and Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre is quick way to learn more about Thailand.
You can read Highlights of Our Trip in Bangkok to know more about the other places we saw in Bangkok.
