“Jim Thompson aims to preserve and convey the valuable cultural heritage of Thai people, living in the Northeastern region, to both Thai and foreign visitors in order to generate a sense of appreciation towards the ancient and beautiful Isaan customs and traditions.”
What is Jim Thompson Farm?
Jim Thompson Farm was established in 1988 as a silk egg production facility, where farmers could purchase fresh cocoons for silk thread manufacture. In 2001, Jim Thompson Farm has been welcoming nature-lovers to view the scenic environment, learn about the life cycle of silkworms, and stroll through the organic vegetable garden and colorful flower fields every year in December only.
Later years, the farm brought the unique Isaan architectural design to Isaan Village, a collection of traditional Isaan houses. In order to create awareness of the value of ancient and beautiful northeastern culture and tradition, Jim Thompson Farm has designed its event format by creating a show concept that will change every year within three settings, culture, agriculture, and fabric, but the main structures still remain the same.
For example:
- In 2012 – “Sud Sanan Dan Isaan”, telling the story of Isan traditional music or Mor Lam
- In 2019 – “Tam Hook Tam Pa”, telling the story of Isan memories on textiles.
- In 2020 – “Isan Flowers Fest”, telling the story of positive energy from the field of flowers
With more than 600 rai of land (240,000 sqm) in Pak Thong Chai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, The farm provides many check-in spots for unique photographic experiences.
Jim Thompson Farm Tour opens for visitors every day but only 1 month a year from December to the beginning of January.
How to get to Jim Thompson Farm?
First of all, you need a private vehicle to get here. It takes about 3.5 hours from Bangkok to Jim Thompson Farm. It’s a little far but not too far so you can do a day trip because I did it before.
Let's start the tour 🙂
When you arrive, you can park opposite the Jim Thompson Farm. There is a huge parking area, well managed by the farm.
The admission fee is
- Weekend: 220 baht/adult, 160 baht/child
- Weekday:180 baht/adult, 130 baht/child
When you pass through the gate, there is a shuttle tram taking people inside the farm. The first stop is at the vast field of sunflower and sulfur cosmos.
It’s a beautiful landscape, so of course, everyone gets off the tram here, trying to find the right spots to photograph.
I spent quite a bit of time in the sunflower field because my girl didn’t get satisfied easily with her portrait haha.
Keep walking on the path and you will get to the next section, which is a colorful flower garden, and the pumpkin yard. The pumpkin yard has become the farm’s landmark is full of glittering golden pumpkins. A nice spot for taking pictures, but it is overcrowding.
So I decided to walk a little further to another zone first and will come back for it later, but I didn’t lol. So, I got no shot of the pumpkin this year.
However, I had visited Jim Thompson Farm in 2016, here are the pictures of the pumpkin 5 years ago.
Pumpkin Yard, Jim Thompson Farm 2016
Another huge field of sulfur cosmos, I think this location is more beautiful than the first stop where we got off the tram. Nice to walk around and find your best shot. The farm has some gimmicks to attract attention in this enormous yellow garden.
The only disappointment was it was such a cloudy day, making it harder for me to capture great images, but the good thing was it wasn’t that hot.
After that, heading to another section called Isan Village. Jim Thompson Farm has collected old houses, home interior designs, tools and materials to maintain the Isan people’s lifestyle and show visitors the value of this culture, architecture and traditions, all of which are becoming harder to find.
Time for lunch and take a rest. There are many food stalls that provide Isan dishes such as Som Tam (papaya salad), Kai Yang (grilled chicken), Kor Moo Yang (grilled pork neck) and some Thai desserts.
Good foods, fair price, nice shady atmosphere.
Not far from that dining area, it’s a playground for kids.
Taking a ride to a river house. This zone is kind of different, no flower garden, just a peaceful wooden house standing in a pond. Not a lot of things to do, so I didn’t spend much time here. I took a few photos, walking around a little bit and waiting to catch the next bus.
Next is another large field of cosmos but this time it’s in pink. And nearby is Jim Thompson’s Shop selling silk products. Good to stop by and get some local souvenirs which I think the products are handmade because I saw a traditional Thai silk weaving machine. Or maybe the machine is just a decoration …
After leaving the shop, many people (perhaps almost everyone) waited for a tram to take them to the exit, which was a huge mistake!!! Why? because I chose to walk and captured many beautiful views that most people did not.
I spent a day on this excursion, walked thousands of meters, shot hundreds of pictures. However, it turned out to be that my most favorite landscapes are located just a few hundred meters from the exit.
Save the Best for Last.
Our Jim Thompson Farm Trip in 2016
