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On Monday we had lunch with Phil and Chantal, two of Brenda's ex-colleagues from Foreign Affairs, at the Jim Thompson House. These are two of the nicest people you'll ever meet and we spent a delightful two hours chowing down on some very good Thai food and catching up. Phil is the Canadian Ambassador to Thailand, but he is as down to earth as they come. He had some great stories to tell about his diplomatic position, which sound very glamorous, but in the end, I don't think I'd want his job. I'm pretty sure I'd be unable to entertain up to 300 people a week at my home without losing my cool from time to time. OK, that's it! Party's over - everybody get out!! Anyway, we had a really nice lunch and then, on their recommendation, took a tour of the Jim Thompson House.
Thompson was an American soldier who was eventually recruited by the OSS (now the CIA) to work in Asia. He fell in love with Thailand and decided to move there. He also discovered the beauty of the silk treasures created by the Thai tribal people and, using his connections in the States, formed an industry for the Thai people based on the production of silk and silk goods.
He had six traditional Thai wooden houses moved from the North of Thailand to Bangkok and connected them together to make his home. One day in 1969 he went for a walk in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia and was never seen again. His disappearance remains, to this day, one of the great mysteries of Southeast Asia.
The house is furnished with stunning Asian antique furniture and art, all of which has been donated to the Thai people by Thompson's foundation.
As you enter the grounds, there is a weaver making Thai silk from silkworm cocoons that are boiling in water to soften the gum that holds them together. The end of each extremely fine filament from about 2 dozen cocoons is located and passed through a machine where they are twisted together to form a single strand of silk. When the worms are forming the cocoons, should the filament break before they are finished, they abandon the cocoon and start over again. Each cocoon requires a filament about a mile long to complete.
Good company, good food some interesting history, a mystery and some new knowledge. What more could could you ask for in a single afternoon?
- comments
Betty disappeared eh? creepy.