Jim Thompson House Museum, Thailand

The former home of James H.W. Thompson, an American entrepreneur who founded the Jim Thompson Thai Silk Company after arriving in Bangkok following WWII. Passionate about Southeast Asian art, he assembled his house from six old teak houses relocated from around Thailand to display his growing collection. After his mysterious disappearance in Malaysia in 1967, his nephew Henry B. Thompson III donated the house and collection to the people of Thailand. The James H W Thompson Foundation now operates it, largely preserved as Thompson left it, with guided tours in English, Japanese, French and Thai; two former staff buildings now serve as extra display space.

The adjoining Jim Thompson Art Center hosts special exhibitions (Asian topics and textiles, traditional to modern), educational programs, publications, and includes the William Warren Library.

Collection size: 1,600 objects — Asian and Southeast Asian paintings, ceramics, sculpture and objets d'art. Paintings are mostly on cotton, depicting the life of Buddha or Jataka tales (notably Prince Vessantara). Ceramics include Chinese export blue-and-white porcelain, Benjarong ware made to order for Thai nobility, and Sukhothai, Sawankalok, Lopburi and Khmer wares. Sculpture is mainly Thai and Cambodian (stone Khmer statues, Buddha images) with some Burmese wooden figures. Furniture includes an extensive antique Thai-Chinese collection plus Thompson's own contemporary furniture.