Galerie Jean Desert: Jim Thompson: An American in Bangkok

"You have not only beautiful things, but what is rare

you have arranged them with faultless taste."

SOMERSET MAUGHAM (written in Jim Thompson’s guest book, 1959)

Jim's Dream in charcoal, from the new House on the Klong wallpaper collection

Jim Thompson was an American architect who first traveled to Thailand as an officer of the U.S. Army during WWII. Enchanted with the place, he relocated to Bangkok after the war, where he practiced architecture briefly before becoming deeply involved in the Thai silk trade. He played a major role in reinvigorating the industry (indeed, he is known in Thailand as the “Silk King”). Thompson established The Thai Silk Company in 1951, a company which has grown into an international empire today, encompassing a designer fabric line and a chain of retail stores and restaurants.

Jim Thompson, 1906-1967

Thompson built an elaborate, traditional Thai house on the bank of the Klong Maha Nag (a canal off the Chao Phraya River), where over time he amassed an outstanding collection of Buddhist statuary, traditional Thai paintings and Chinese export porcelain. In 1967, Jim Thompson disappeared on a hiking trip in the Malaysian jungle, and what became of him remains a mystery to this day. Leaving everything to the people of Thailand, his incredible property is now a museum housing his vast art collection, a must-see for style tourists in Bangkok.

The Jim Thompson House, Bangkok

Recent developments at Jim Thompson include forays into wallpaper (see image from House on the Klong collection, above) and last year's launch of the Tony Duquette Collection (Duquette was a Hollywood design icon...and the subject of a future post). And restaurants! This one is definitely on my hit list for the next time I’m in Singapore. Housed in a “Black & White”(traditional colonial house, also known as a conservation house), it features authentic thai cuisine and décor (perhaps some JT fabrics??)