"EARCOS" in Bangkok

"EARCOS," the annual SE Asia conference for international school teachers, was held in Bangkok during ISKL's spring vacation. Nancy was making a presentation to librarians, so I decided to go along. While Nancy was in sessions, I decided to take the Skytrain out to see the Jim Thompson House. Thompson, born in 1906, served in military intelligence during WW2 and ended-up being posted in Bangkok right at the end of the war. He fell in love with Thailand and Thai culture and settled in Bangkok permanently after his discharge from the army. His primary claim-to-fame is that he "discovered" some Muslim silk weavers working with hand-operated looms and developed the trade into a popular international export business. With some of the money he made, he purchased 6 small, traditional teak houses from various parts of the country and had them moved to Bangkok where he, an architect by trade, amalgamated them for his own house and quarters for servants.

The Jim Thompson House is located right on a canal (khlong), just opposite Baan Krua, the Muslim community where the silk weavers operated. The woman working at the loom was in a home/shop just across the canal.
Part of the fun of being in Bangkok was being able to spend time with good friends from Salem, John and Donna Phillips and Gary and Kathy Haney. The group is pictured below at a delightful French restaurant where we ate during our last night in the city. - rw