Thanks for your post Richard. Connie was indeed a
very interesting woman. She and Jim Thompson metat the end of WWII. She worked for the O.S.S. and he,
an O.S.S. officer was sent to liberate Siam (Thailand).
Kindred spirits, they became fast friends until Jim's
disappearance. Connie invited Jim to Cameron
Highlands on that fateful Easter weekend. He had
just opened the Thai Silk Company's new shop
on Surawong Road and was exhausted. She suggested
he join her and Dr. and Mrs. Ling in the cool hill
station,Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, and she made the
arrangements.
Years earlier, Jim, a trained architect, fell in love
with old teak houses. He and Connie would travel to
Ayuddhya every weekend to look at houses which
they purchased. Jim put huge letters in chalk on each
wall and numbers to designate which house they belonged
to and shipped them on a rice barge down the river to
Bangkok. He assembled his first and then went to work
on Connie's. I was a small child at that time and my
brother, cousins and I were delighted to romp and play
in a giant puzzle that Jim was constructing.
He often said that he resolved all the problems he
encountered in his house, in Connie's. It became the
blue print for many houses that were being constructed
in Bangkok. It was commonplace to find contractors
and architects measuring the house during the day.
As the sun set, they were gone, and heads of state and
movie stars enjoyed the evening air on the large
balcony that overlooked the lush garden. On special
occasions, classical dancers entertained the guests.
I have Connie's guest book which is a tribute to her
from the rich and famous of her time.
Jim's house was built on a klong which has guarded
it safely from being overtaken by modern Bangkok.
Sadly, Connie's house, once in a quiet residential area of
Bangkok, became overshadowed by tall condominium
towers. The house was moved and it sits at the edge
of a lake outside of Bangkok, in retirement from its
heady social life at the helm of Bangkok Society.
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