A Call for Photos

If you knew Connie and have photographs you would like to share photos of her and her house with me - Please email me: Maryanne@mstanislaw.com

MaryAnne

Connie and The Siam Hotel!

Recently I was in Thailand visiting my family and interviewing family and friends. As I continue to work on the book, I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I also visited a brand new hotel under construction called The Siam. It is a small very exclusive all suite hotel on the river. Connie's Thai house is being incorporated into the hotel. Part of the house will become a superior Thai restaurant and part of it will become Connie's Pool Villa. Check it out of Facebook -- The Siam Hotel.

I visited the construction site and was thrilled to see it come together. I had been looking through old photographs for days and I found one of Connie and Jim Thompson in the house while it was being built. Connie was sitting on a teak log with a huge smile! The photo is old but I think you might be able to make out the smile! When I looked at the houses being rebuilt again, I'm sure I could see Connie sitting up there smiling!

Update Juy 2010

Connie's Thai House is going to become part of an exclusive hotel on the Chao Phraya River, with a planned opening date of June 2011. (www.thesiamhotel.com) Take a look. It sounds very exciting.

So many interesting things are happening around Connie's website. Through the site, I was contacted by two women who knew my cousins (different ones) and was able to re-connect each of them. I was contacted by cousins who had lost touch with the family and people who were just interested to know more about Connie and her time. I am putting together a list of books about that era that I will post on the website.

During her lifetime, Connie was always working behind the scenes, putting people together. Her years as a spy put her in the graces of many people, Thai, American and Norwiegan. She was the person to contact if you needed help and she helped all who asked. It isn't strange at all that she is still the center of it! I am happy to do what I can to carry on her legacy.

In the early 80's I lived in Bangkok and spent almost every weekend at the Beach with Connie. She told me many stories about her life, I was young. I was learning how to windsurf with some friends one weekend. I climbed up the hill and came into the house to get ready for dinner. "It's wonderful to be young, dear, enjoy it while you can." Connie said with a smile. We sat on the balcony with some guests for drinks and to watch a beautiful sunset, then we went downstairs for dinner. Later that evening, when we were alone, she told me her story of the young man she loved, who was killed during World War II. It was one of many stories she shared with me about her life.

MaryAnne

More About Connie from MaryAnne

Thanks for your post Richard. Connie was indeed a

very interesting woman. She and Jim Thompson met
at 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.