M.R. Kukrit's Heritage Home

M.R. Kukrit’s Heritage Home is the house that Kukrit Pramoj (1911-1995) built for himself in a quiet lane off South Sathon Road. Kukrit was one of the towering figures of 20th-century Thailand: a great-grandson of King Rama II, an Oxford graduate, newspaper founder, novelist, champion of classical dance and, from 1975 to 1976, prime minister. He even played a prime minister on screen, opposite Marlon Brando in The Ugly American (1963).

The home is a group of five traditional central Thai teak houses that were taken apart and reassembled around a landscaped garden, a project that took about two decades. The Fine Arts Department lists it as the home of an important person, and it is now a museum. Think of it as a smaller, more personal counterpart to the Jim Thompson House, and a calm escape from the office towers of Silom and Sathorn. Opening days have been limited, so check before you go.

The houses stand on stilts and are joined by raised verandas. At the front, the reception hall was used for banquets, receptions and Buddhist ceremonies; a raised platform at its centre served as a stage for khon, the masked dance-drama that Kukrit championed (he founded a khon troupe at Thammasat University), and masks line the shelves around it. On one side are his living, reading and music rooms, and on the other a room kept as a Buddhist shrine.

The collection mixes Buddhist scriptures, ceramics and sculpture with souvenirs of his political life, among them a Chinese altar presented by Deng Xiaoping and two vases from Mao Zedong in the dining area; as prime minister, Kukrit opened diplomatic relations with China in 1975. Paintings and keepsakes record his well-known love of dogs. The garden is part of the design, with low walls on either side linking the front hall to the houses behind.

BTS Chong Nonsi station is about 10 minutes’ walk. The house is at 19 Soi Phra Phinit, a lane south of South Sathon Road.