Thailand forum

It's funny that you say that because I also had written it off as a tourist trap, and never bothered going. But a recent thread on this site also had favourable comments from people that kind of surprised me. Will be interested to follow this discussion!

most of the regular contributors here are old enough to be the parents of your average backpacker, and most of us are either currently expats or have been long-term SEA residents. our views are going to be different that most backpackers. that's fine, but at least try to keep that in mind.

as for jim thompson's house? i guess by definition is it a tourist trap, because it is designed to attract tourists. but all the people i saw at the puppet museum in jakarta and the j.e.a.t.h. museum in kanchanburi were tourists too. you could say the same about the gateway arch in st. louis, chitchen itza, and the eiffel tower. exit through the gift shop. but they are still worth visiting, don't you think?

maybe it is mostly older folks who enjoy jim thompson's house because of their interest in history. nice link to tripadvisor by the way. i noticed that well over 90 percent of the reviewers said the experience was very good or excellent. tourist trap and all. regards.

OP:
As issues of age and comments regarding posts have come up recently

which thread is this referring to? (not been on Tfish much of late, too many 'please plan my entire itinerary & everything else for me' type of queries )

not old enough to be a parent of any backpacker yet anyway i visited Jim Thompson House in my early 20s (typical backpacker age?) with my younger sis & both of us liked it.

some scattered thoughts:
we come from a big sterile city filled with concrete high rise housing, so we like looking at wooden houses in a garden setting with interiors full of beautiful traditional art objects, the more intricate/ornate the better...stuff we can only dream of in our country & look at in the pages of architecture/interior design magazines.

found the idea of a guided tour rather restrictive, though it did give some useful info, the guide was good & we didn't feel hurried (we were afraid that we'd be rushed through with 'automated parrot' style commentary, given the no. of times the guides have to repeat the same thing day in day out), & turns out that we were free to explore on our own after the tour was over.

i like textiles & didn't come away feeling disappointed even though have seen more amazing stuff elsewhere in Thailand & Laos. but the only thing i could afford from the souvenir shop were 10-baht a piece postcards overall you feel that it's a place targeted at those with pockets deeper than a backpacker's.

somehow, JT House doesn't seem to be a place that registers on Thai peoples' radar? been going to Thailand since i was 6 & my Thai folks had brought me along to Muang Boran, Bang Pa-in, Phu Ping, Grand Palace (several times), etc, but they'd never mention JT House. & i don't recall seeing many (or any?) Thai visitors at JT House when i was there. maybe the JT story is more well-known among foreigners? & maybe Thai people are more into visiting places associated with Thai royalty, so no Thai school groups here? so i got to step into JT House only when i was old enough to wander around Thailand on my own without my Thai folks getting paranoid, even though i've been to that part of Bangkok countless times.

not that i would return for a second visit, it's the 'once is enough' kinda place. but i wouldn't advise others against visiting the place, especially if it's their first time to Thailand. though i found JT House rather crowded, so maybe Suan Pakkad or M.R. Kukrit Pramoj's House would be better for those who want a quieter experience?

Are the poor old timers starting to feel their age? Come on, there's surely life in the old dog yet...

As SBE says, it is strangely quiet and pleasant, even though you are right downtown. I never thought of it, but now that she writes it, it has occurred to me that that's an amazinginteresting fact.

"I've never been to the Damnoen Saduak floating market (another touristy "must see") "

I've never been to any floating market. I'd rather walk around a normal Thai market in the suburbs than visit some overpriced tourist trap.