Jim Thompson House, Chatachuk Market and Saying Good-Bye

Photos: Thailand: Jim Thompson House and Chatachuk Market

Needless to say, this was a sleep-in-Saturday for both Jeff and me. We did eventually get out of the hotel around 11am or so, but even that was pushing it a bit. It was perfect, though, giving us the sleep we needed and the relaxing beginning to Jeff’s last day in Thailand. Our first stop was Starbucks, which Jeff adores in any country. We looked at a copy of The Bangkok Times, which had been left on our table by a previous coffee-junkie. We took our time and, much refreshed and revived, began the day’s sight-seeing: first stop, Jim Thompson’s House.

Jim Thompson had been a US architect before going into the Army. He visited Thailand briefly as part of a tour during WW2, and fell in love. In 1945 he came back for good, a bachelor who collected Thai art and, realizing that Thai silk should be noticed by the world, introduced some samples to Vogue magazine. That began a world recognition of Thai silk which continues to this day. His home was primarily Thai-inspired, with houses on stilts and gardens, but with some Western influences, like an indoor bathroom and rooms connected by a corridor. Jim Thompson disappeared in 1967 in Cambodia and no one knows what happened to him.

Our tour (visitors have to do a guided tour) was about thirty five minutes long. Jim Thompson was quite the collector and his house is full of statues, tapestries, paintings, ceramics and other antiques which make up an incredible collection. And then, of course, is the gift shop. I agonized for awhile, thinking of several people who would really like and appreciate Jim Thompson labeled Thai silk products, but the prices were completely out of my range. I couldn’t leave without something, though, so I bought myself a beautiful gauzy scarf for around $50USD. Sorry, everyone, but that was the cheapest, useful but still beautiful thing I could spend my money on! You’ll have to come yourself to browse the selection, which is wonderful. Jeff had a harder time resisting than me, but he did get some magnificent things.

On our way back to the sky train,we passed a little shop selling rubbings of Buddha engravings from Wat Pho, which we’d been to several days before, and so I bought two of them. I almost bought several other things but refrained. Thailand makes shopping far too easy!

Our next stop was Chatachuk Weekend market, renowned for being the world’s largest open-air market. Somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand booths sell all sorts of things – food, clothes, trinkets, etc – to an estimated quarter million people each day. Whoa! We found our way there easily enough, and got a map from the tourist information center. Then we were awash with smells and crowds and sights. There were covered areas with stalls crammed one next to another, and then we broke out to a main outdoor corridor. This is where we stayed, both feeling a bit overwhelmed by the cramped alleys. Our first objective was food, and I zeroed in on a Turkish kebab place pretty quickly. We each got one and gobbled it down quickly. We wandered a bit further and separated. Jeff was off to get a frozen, chocolate and nut covered banana, and I got in line for small meatballs on a stick with a sweet and spicy sauce. We found a patch of curbside to sit on and gnawed away on the foods.

At one point, a man with a long wooden pole across his shoulders was standing in front of us, facing away from us and towards the crowds, selling some kind of flatbread in bags. He had a little boy with him, who held a bag in each hand and shouted something in Thai to passersby. Everyone once in awhile, the boy’s big, dark eyes would turn to Jeff, who was attempting to eat the frozen banana gracefully. I watched as the eyes became forlorn and desperate, darting back to Jeff every few minutes before he would determinedly turn away and shout out his sales cry. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore; we’d seen so much suffering so far, from flood victims to poverty to likely prostitution, and I was tired of feeling like I couldn’t do anything for anyone. I went and bought another banana, this one with sprinkles, and gave it to the father, pointing at the little boy. He looked slightly confused at first, but that passed quickly. I wasn’t sure if it would be considered rude to do this, but I passed the point of caring. The kid wanted a sweet and so I got him one. It was fun to watch as the father held out the banana and the kid tried to figure out how take a bite from it. There was no acknowledgement, or thanks after the initial handover, but that was fine with me.

Maybe it happens a lot, but I felt a little better. Sometimes it’s nice to just do something. Maybe the man and the boy weren’t destitute or wanting for food, but in that moment of time, that little boy wanted something that he didn’t have and I desperately wanted to give it to him, and so I did.

After an hour and a half at Chatachuk, Jeff and I were completely done with shopping. I ended buying a shirt and a little wooden elephant, and Jeff didn’t buy a single thing! So, we wangled our way out of the market and back onto the sky train, heading for the silk  store where my two-piece suit awaited me. I was pretty tired by this time, but when I tried on the finished product, I felt great! It is such a beautiful blue and in a Thai style. The sand-washed silk felt so nice on my skin. I paid the second installment on it (the entire price was about $238) and then the lady gave me my choice of a silk scarf. I think I was supposed to pick something to go with the suit, but I wasn’t sure how a scarf would go with it, since it’s a high-neck garment, so I just picked the prettiest color, which was a jewel-green. On reflection, the dark purple one would have been a better choice, but seeing as it was a freebie, I’m not complaining. It was really nice of the woman to give it to me!

I was getting hungry, so we headed for the next stop on the sky train. Jeff had looked at several options for dinner his last night in Thailand, and picked the Blue Elephant, a mid- priced restaurant. We showed up and were promptly received and fitted out with appropriate skirt and pants (we were both in shorts), then seated. At the promptings of the hostess and since we were too tired to protest, we accepted a promotion where we got unlimited Australian bubbly champagne. It ended up doubling the price for our dinner, but oh well – we had a good time! The restaurant was beautiful, the wait staff very attentive and polite, and the food was to die for. I got lamb massaman and Jeff got a chicken curry. Both were exceptional! They were served with two different kinds of jasmine rice, one white and one brown, which were also really tasty. We each got a dessert, too: lychee and another exotic flavor of sorbet for me, and a coconut creme brule for Jeff.

Partway through our dinner two guys sat at the table next to us. Of course, we got to talking, and found out they were friends from Australia who were taking a holiday in Thailand. They’d been once before, back in February, and liked it so much they came back. It turned out they were planning to go to Chiang Mai the next day, and so I exchanged e-mail addresses with them, since I’m planning to head that way in the next few days. Later that night I got an e-mail from one of them, so it should be fun to see some semi-familiar faces when I get to Chiang Mai!

Neither Jeff nor I have any idea how many glasses of bubbly we enjoyed, but it was enough to make us giggly and giddy once we left. We headed for Body Tune and got one last Thai massage, this time opting for the hour-long aromatherapy massage. My fatigue and the champagne joined forces, because I fell asleep and apparently amused my masseuse greatly with soft snores. I quite literally stumbled on the way back to the hotel and both Jeff and I fell asleep within an hour of getting back to the room.

Jeff had a flight out quite early on Sunday, so just four hours later we were up again, him packing and me trying not to fall back asleep before saying good-bye. At about 4:45am, he was out the door with many hugs and a last, “I still think you’re nuts!” in reference to my year of backpacking, and then he was gone. I won’t lie: I went directly back to sleep.

--Z