Off to Bangkok & Jim Thompson’s House

Bangkok, Thailand

Today was our first “Up at 6, bags out at 6:30, breakfast at 7, bus at 8” day. This is a common occurrence on trips like this, and the numbers change depending on the situation. You cannot be late for anything, so you have to figure out how long it takes to get your stuff ready, whether you do it the night before, and in my case (JB), do I want to shave in the morning?

In this case, we were leaving Siem Reap, Cambodia and flying to Bangkok. Siem Reap is a small city, almost a rural town, of only 170,000. Bangkok is the capital and most populous city in Thailand, with over 8-14 million inhabitants, depending on the area you include. This is like a large city in the US, and it feels like it, but there are tiny side streets everywhere, and the traffic has a lot of mopeds, tuk-tuks (motorcycle-pulled taxis) and a much looser sense of rules of the road. Heck, it’s really crowded!

But, the airport has free Internet, and nice toilets. Note to self: They have really got it together here in Cambodia in terms of toilets for the tourists. Whereas in France or Italy in tourist areas you can still find one-holer squat toilets and no TP, in Cambodia, anywhere we went had nice bathrooms, and in fact most had Toto or American Standard (ha-ha) toilets. (If I remember, there will be a later complaint about going into the facilities in Bangkok at a main temple, and you needed 2 baht (6 cents) for a vending machine to get TP. Hey, I do not have any Thai money…) Also, at the Bangkok Airport, each restroom has a computer screen where you can ‘rate’ the restroom in real time (see picture included here). Carol was impressed!

We flew Silk Air to Bangkok; their moniker is “Asia’s most awarded regional airline”. In 45 minutes they took off, served us a very nice warm pea-carrot-noodle and coffee snack, and landed safely. Ok, they get a sticky gold star. Nice airline. We have now moved into the area where the safety rules are not explained in English first, and I have no idea what language they are using.

Arriving in Bangkok, we discover one of the most efficient passport checkpoints we have ever seen. There are enough agents that no one was more than one person deep in line to get out. However, the baggage claim time was really slow. Nuff said.

Wow, now we are in Thailand, and if we thought Cambodia had good food, oh my! The Thais really have it together. You will see more on this subject. We had the buffet lunch at the hotel! Spectacular!

The main attraction for the afternoon after lunch is “Jim Thompson’s House.” Jim Thompson was a WW2 soldier and “charismatic American silk millionaire” who came back to Thailand after the war to trade silk and accumulate antiques in his Bangkok house. Actually it was six houses that he acquired and connected together into a teak complex of great beauty. This is a standard stop for tourists in Bangkok.

The house is near Baan Krua, a Muslim (“Cham Muslim” for those of you familiar with details) village or neighborhood where artisans used to do Mr. Thompson’s hand-weaving. We viewed three workers making silk fabrics on semi-automated hand looms in what most people would call a “sweat shop”.

Though we had taken our shoes off in temples in Cambodia, here was the first of what would become a succession of shoe-removal rituals in Thailand. My take on it is that they want to keep the shiny wood floors clean. This might be a good idea for all of us.

Jim Thompson’s House was really a very nice place, though getting close to being a tourist trap. However, apparently he had quite a bit to do with encouraging the silk trade in the area, and collecting and preserving Asian art, which was not a common activity in the 50’s. He vanished without a trace at age 61 and was never seen again. A mystery!