I love spending time with my kids exploring fun places in Thailand. After spending most of the October mid-term break at the beach, I am looking ahead to how we will spend the December school break taking in different attractions. At the top of my list is Jim Thompson Farm.
Last year, my friend Karen and I took our combined four kids (then aged 3, 5, 6, and 8 ) there for the first time and it was quite a hit with all of them (and us). “When can we go back?”, my son has been asking me ever since. The answer is that the Jim Thompson Farm is only open to the public three weeks per year during the peak of cool season. In 2010 it luckily coincides with the school break for most international schools- Dec. 18, 2010 – Jan. 9, 2011 During this limited time, the farm will be open 9 am to 5 pm. As the website summarizes, “This is the best time of the year to enjoy the picturesque rural landscape. Set against a scenic backdrop of gently rolling hills covered with impenetrable thickets of bamboo, the farm features large tracts of mulberry plantations, orchards, nurseries and gardens full of colorful flowering and ornamental plants, as well as hydroponic vegetable production.” The farm was started as a mulberry plantation and silkworm egg production center to ensure a reliable supply of raw materials for silk production. Opened to the public for the first time in 2001, the Farm has since evolved into one of Isaan’s most popular agrotourism and ecotourism attractions.
At a three-hour drive from Bangkok, this makes for a great day or overnight trip into the countryside north of Saraburi into Nakhon Ratchasima province off several small country roads. Check the website for excellent directions in English and in Thai. I encourage a stop at the Lam Takhong Reservoir off Highway 2 en route. There is a lovely park overlooking the water which provides clean bathrooms and an excellent opportunity to stretch legs and get fresh air or even picnic (if you bring your own food).
Shortly after this stop you will begin to see the signs for Jim Thompson Farm turnoff. Don’t be misled into thinking you are just minutes away at this point, as you will be following the signs down smaller country highways for another 45 minutes before you reach the farm. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see a giant pumpkin out front. There is parking in a field across the street from the entrance.
On our trip last December, we arrived at the farm just in time for lunch, which was excellent because there’s a great food court of Isaan dishes made with fresh farm grown ingredients just inside the entrance to the farm. Once you get your tickets (adults 60 baht and children 40 baht according to the website), just hop on the next tram to tour the farm. The trams circle the farm regularly on twenty-minute intervals if I remember correctly. There are four stops on the tour. The first takes you to the giant pumpkin patch and beautiful flower fields. The second is an Isaan village. The third is the nursery of ornamental plants and organic vegetables (with a shop to purchase fresh foods as well). We spent most of our time at the first two stops and ran out of time and energy before we hit the third, so I can’t really comment on that section. The final stop takes you back to the entrance and restaurant.
Of what we saw, the whole place is full of photo opportunities. At the first stop, our kids enjoyed climbing on hay bales, exploring the variety of pumpkins in the enormous pumpkin patch, and weaving in and out of fields of sunflowers and other bright blooms.
[As an aside I should note that Jim Thompson Farm is not the only place to see fields of sunflowers at this time of year-- you will also find them at Chokchai Farm and many other commercial fields in and around Saraburi and Lopburi. You may want to plan your itinerary to take in other sunflower fields in en route as November - January is sunflower season in this area of Thailand].
The kids tried to see if they could lift large pumpkins, picked small pumpkins to take home as souvenirs, and pretended to drive the tractor parked in the middle of them all. The fields of flowers also have great vistas of the traditional farm houses which are part of the Isaan village which is the next stop on the tour.
“The village project is an effort to conserve as well as preserve, the fast disappearing architecture, crafts, and style of living in northeastern Thailand.” In addition to seeing the houses up-close, the village also has rice fields and a sturdy and sedate buffalo “Boonlai” that children (and adults) can sit on. For more photo ops, climb on a variety of transport objects from an old Vietnam-era US army jeep to a bicycle rickshaw and traditional wooden Thai wagons. There’s also a station to teach you to try threshing rice Isaan style and another to demonstrate the silkworm life-cycle with live worms from egg to caterpillar to cocoon and processed silk. While you are exploring, enjoy the live Isaan music.
We finished up our tour just as the Farm was closing for the day and probably could have made it back to Bangkok the same evening, but we decided to stay the night instead to see other sights in the province which I had been wanting to see. That afternoon we drove a bit further North to Nakhon Ratchasima where we stayed at the comfortable and very reasonably priced Chayada Resort (booked via latestays.com). The next morning we drove another half hour north to see the amazing Khmer-style ruins at Phimai that were built before Angkor Wat (but on a much smaller scale). My kids love visiting ruins because they provide wide open spaces to run in and allow for some climbing as well. On the way we stopped off at Sai Ngam, the largest single banyan tree in Thailand. In retrospect, we should have gone on to Phimai first and gone back to Sai Ngam for lunch as Sai Ngam is a popular picnic area for locals and has dozens of foodstalls as opposed to the two we found outside the gates of the Phimai historical park.
This additional excursion added an hour to our return trip, making the ride home a long four-hour drive after lunch, but it was well worth it. I am not sure yet if we’ll make the farm visit a day trip this year or decide on another way to turn it into an overnight trip exploring other parts of the region. If you have any ideas let me know!
Details
Jim Thompson Farm
Tambol Takob, Amphur Pak Thong Chai, Nakhon Ratchasima, (Korat) Province
Open from: Dec. 18, 2010 – Jan. 9, 2011 (dates vary from year to year)
Opening hours: 9 am to 5 pm
Bangkok office: 085-660-7336
Pak Thong Chai Farm: 044-373-116 (Mon-Sat, 8am-5pm, Thai language only)
E-mail: farmtour@jimthompson.com
www.jimthompson.com/farm/english/
Note: The map location below is approximate only – consult the map on the farm website for more detail and directions in Thai.
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