The Jim Thompson Farm Tour in Pak Thong Chai, Korat, is back after the challenges of Covid lockdowns and economic slowdowns, with a leaner, more focused tour which this year runs from now until Friday.
Farm Manager Tong Butsricha was a key part of the team that created the 600 rai farm in 1999. After the farm was officially opened this year by Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Siam Sirimongkol, Tong explained its history: “We started with an agricultural focus, selling produce like melons and cantaloupes, as well as jam made from mulberry leaves [the food of silkworms],” he said.
At the time, Bill Booth was CEO of the Thai Silk Company but when his son Eric Bunnag Booth joined, he shifted the focus to Isan culture, and floated the idea of creating an Isan Village. “We started to look for old houses in the region, which we could buy and reassemble on the site.”
The site now…
