Visit to the Jim Thompson Museum

Jim Thompson was an American that moved to Thailand after he was stationed there during WWII.  He was the guy that made Thai silk what it is today.  It was a dying art, but he brought it back.  One of my favorite part of this story is that he hired stay at home moms to make the silk but he made it so that they could do their work at home and still have time to be a wife and mother.  These women also became the bread winner of the family and in doing this, Jim Thompson brought a lot of families out of poverty.  Jim Thompson loved Thai culture and loved antiques.  His house is filled with the things he had bought at markets to help preserve Thai Culture.

One day on a trip to the jungles of Malaysia, Mr. Thompson went for an afternoon walk and disappeared without a trace.  After that, they kept Jim Thompson's house exactly how he had it and turned it into a museum.

This is not a small child-friendly tour.  My kids were super bored and very loud so that other guests could not hear the tour guide.  My 3 year old, Will, actually jumped onto one of the beds in the house and laid down because it is a bed and he was tired and what else would a 3 year old do around a bed?!?  Everyone gasped and I thought it was pretty funny although I was pretty embarrassed. ☺ The tour guides were very nice and a few of them made my kids a handful each of origami animals.