Day 18 : Bangkok, Tuesday 25th June 2024
Cloudy/Rain, 31°
NZ$1 = THB22
THB1 = NZ$0.04
Up at 8:30am, down for breakfast at 9am, back to the room, got organised and out the door at 10:30am heading for Jim Thompson House Museum. After consulting Google Maps we walked to Nana BTS then west on the BTS to Ratchathewi Station, got out and walked south. After trying to follow Google Maps, which had us crossing the canal on a bridge that didn’t exist and walking through someones shop we made our own way to Jim Thompsons along the main road, past a closer BTS station ( National Stadium ). We arrived at 11:30am. We bought 2 tickets (THB200 / $9 each ) for entry and a tour in English, starting at 11:50am.
Jim Thompson was a US army officer and architect, who lived in Bangkok after leaving the army and helped revive the cottage silk printing industry in Thailand ( his father had been a cloth manufacturer ). He did very well and bought this land and built ( using existing buildings which were moved to the site ) a house for himself, in a Thai style but with western touches. He was also a great collector of art and sculptures. He then went missing in 1957 in Malaysia and has never been seen since. The house is now a museum.
We sat and waited for our tour then had a tour of the 6 buildings on the site by our guide “Amy”. I think we were the only native English speakers on the tour of 20, but the other option was a tour in French so the Malay, German and Chinese speakers in the group probably thought the English would the be the easier one to follow, but there was a lot of sub-translating going on during the tour.
The collection of buildings is really interesting and is an oasis amongst the confined housing / towers in this part of Bangkok and the site also borders the canal .
We finished our tour at 12:50pm, went through the museum ( with a lot of information about Jim Thompson and his life ) and the gift shop, and went had lunch at the café on site ( THB600/$30 for 2 drinks and a couple of sandwiches ).
Left at 1:30pm, walked along the canal next to the house and caught a boat bus along the canal from Sapan Hua Chang Jetty. These are scheduled boat services with jettys to get on and off at, there is a timetable but you just wait for a boat to arrive going in the right direction, jump on ( hopefully they stop first ) and buy a ticket from the people on board. We bought 2 tickets for about 6 stops ( with a boat change part way as the routes along the canal are split into smaller loops ) and it cost THB12/$0.50 each. After switching boats at Pratunum Pier ( our boat turned and headed back west ), we got off at Nana Chard Pier, and walked back to our hotel via a 7Eleven, which took about 10 minutes through a nice area with international schools and apartments. All and all a nice cheap, simple way to travel ( with a breeze thrown in for free ).
Relaxed for a bit then up to the pool for a swim, then back to the room. Booked a hotel ( the last thing to book ) for when we return from Hua Hin on 28th June, before flying to Cambodia on the 29th. We like the area we are currently in but not the street itself so booked the Taipan ( $100 for 1 night with breakfast ) a couple of blocks away nearTerminal21 Mall.
Out at 5pm, walked down to the BTS and caught the train to Siam then changed and then to Chong Nonsi station (THB40 each ). Got out and walked across the walkway and into the King Power Mahanakhon Building ( the second tallest building in Thailand ) at 5:45pm, and bought tickets up to the viewing floow ( 74th floor ) for THB530 each / $25 each. The top deck was closed due to the threat of rain/thunder, which when got to the 74th floor we could see coming in from the west.
We stayed up there until 6:10pm then down again. It was raining heavily now so we went back on the BTS ( thankfully without going out from undercover due to the elevated walkways), and then back to Asoke Station and back to the Terminal 21 mall for tea at the food court. This time 2 dishes, 2 drinks, 2 deserts = THB125/$6. And again very tasty and filling. Back out at 7:30pm and walked part of the way back to our hotel undercover but then got wet the rest of the way. Back to the hotel at 8pm