Teak houses
Six traditional houses by a canal.
Don Ramey Logan — CC BY-SA 3.0 · BrokenSphere — CC BY 3.0 · Clay Gilliland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Clay Gilliland — CC BY-SA 2.0
A museum in a beautiful traditional wooden house in central Bangkok, built in 1959 by the American businessman Jim Thompson, who revived the Thai silk industry after the Second World War and founded a famous silk company that still bears his name. He then vanished mysteriously in 1967 in the jungles of Malaysia's Cameron Highlands and was never found. The house is a group of six traditional teak houses gathered from around Thailand and reassembled beside a canal, in a lush tropical garden. Inside is his art collection of Thai statues and traditional paintings and pieces from Burma, Cambodia and Laos, with furniture and old Chinese porcelain. Tickets are about two hundred and fifty baht for adults and one hundred and fifty for under-twenty-twos, with under-tens free, including a guided tour. It opens daily from ten to six, with last entry at five. The guided tour takes about an hour and is the best part of the visit, for the mysterious story. The complex has a silk shop and a cafe, and it is close to the Siam shopping area.
Six traditional houses by a canal.
He revived Thai silk.
He vanished in Malaysia in 1967.
Soi Kasem San 2, near National Stadium Skytrain station
Bangkok Art and Culture CentreBangkok's leading contemporary art centre, opened in 2008 at the Pathumwan inter5 minutes walk
MBK CenterBangkok's best-known popular shopping centre since it opened in 1985: eight crow6 minutes walk
Siam ParagonBangkok's best-known luxury mall, opened in 2005 in the heart of Siam, drawing A10 minutes walk
SEA LIFE Bangkok Ocean WorldOne of the largest aquariums in South-East Asia, opened in 2005 on the two basem11 minutes walk
Wat Pathum WanaramA quiet royal temple squeezed between Bangkok's biggest malls, Siam Paragon and 13 minutes walkYes: it is a quiet oasis in the city, the wooden houses are lovely and its owner's story is gripping. It is near the malls, so it fits easily into a shopping day.