Three dramatically different designs, one overriding sense of beauty

Text and Photo by Mark Parren Taylor Translation by Amanda Mao

Visitors to the delightful Jim Thompson House in Bangkok are often so intrigued by the man’s life story – culminating in his mysterious disappearance in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands some 40 years ago – and his home’s stylish interior that seem straight off the pages of Vogue, that they overlook the enchanting garden that cossets the house from the clamour and commotion of the city beyond.

Jim Thompson wanted his garden to be as exotic as his home: in other words, a glamorous interpretation that appeals to the farang – or non-Thai – idea of ‘Thai-ness’. He wasn’t disappointed, and proudly organised regular cocktail parties in what he called his ‘jungle’. it’s lushly overplanted, with layered canopies that reach over visitors, allowing small sprays of foliage to be highlighted and dappled sunlight to pool on the winding paths. The garden surrounds the house (and even extends under the stilted structure in places)

with the trunks of towering palms contrasting with the house’s teak walls and gables. At the same time, the interior of this delightful home doesn’t ignore the garden: large glassless windows provide enticing views of the shrubs beyond, presenting a section of leaves and bark and the occasional flower as if they are framed still-life paintings.

Jim Thompson’s garden succeeds because, at first sight, it charms, and then later it recaptures your interest as you discover areas that were initially unseen – while you walk along its paths and look out from the house – with new and remarkable fragrances, leaf-softened light and vibrant colour.

One secret of all great gardens, it seems, is the ‘big–small’ concept: to initially present a lovely all-encompassing view and then entice the visitor’s curiosity with smaller, more intimate areas. The same is true of the Tuisi Garden in Tongli (a ‘Water Town’ on the Grand Canal close to Hangzhou and Shanghai). it’s one of China’s great gardens and, though very different to the Jim Thompson garden in style and concept, it’s equally enchanting. Tuisi means ‘retreat and meditate’, and the Ming dynasty government official who created this World Heritage site understood how to build a garden that would have life-long appeal and yet would satisfy the first-time visitor as well.

As you stroll around the central pond, filled with golden carp, the pavilions and corridors lead down to the water’s edge then up high to give grand overviews of this compact garden with inspiring landscape-sized vistas. Whereas the Jim Thompson garden relies on the sculptural splendour of tropical plants and shrubs, the Tuisi Garden is at the mercy of eastern China’s seasons: leaves fall, winds blow, buds burst. So, for year-long consistency, this garden explores the historic Chinese interest in texture and form: large irregular rocks invite as much admiration as the elegant ginkgo and willow trees that overhang the lake and dip the tips of their branches in the gently rippling waters.

Despite initial appearances, trees also play an important role in Ryoan-ji temple’s ‘zen garden’ in the hills west of central Kyoto in Japan. The dry landscape – or kare sansui – garden is a formal expanse of raked gravel interspersed with 15 part-submerged rocks. Despite the apparent harshness of the materials – hard-edged stones, earthen walls, bare wood – this is a delicate garden. At any one time only fourteen of the rocks are visible: as the visitor shifts position, the unseen rock comes into view only for another to move out of sight.

But this is more than an intellectual exercise, it’s a beautiful, pure garden that explores the senses of touch, sight, smell and sound. This is especially noticeable on a wet day when the gentle patter of falling raindrops reverberates with the staccato drips of water from the overhanging foliage of the maple trees. As people gather on the viewing verandah, their hushed murmurs add softer notes that combine with the water percussion and start to form a natural, earthy rhythm. it’s then you realise that this garden – like those in Bangkok and Tongli – is an achievement comparable with the greatest paintings or music, a masterpiece that satisfies the emotions as much as it pleases the senses.

Jim Thompson House
Address: 6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Thanon Phra Rama i, Bangkok
Admission: adult 100 baht, student/ child 50 baht
Getting there: BTS national Stadium (8 min walk); buses Thanon Phra Rama i (5-10 min walk); khlong taxi-boat Thanon Ratchathewi (30 minute walk) opening hours: 9am-5pm daily

www.jimthompsonhouse.com

Tuisi Garden
Address: Zhongchuan Bei Lu, Tongli
Admission: ¥80 (general ticket for all sights within the town)
Getting there: Shanghai daily tourist buses from Shanghai City Sightseeing Buses office (Shanghai Stadium, Gate 5, 666 Tianyao Qiao Lu; nearest metro Shanghai Stadium) make day-trips for around ¥120 including entry to the sights (departs from 8am, returns from 4pm); day-trip tourist buses, or a combination of train/bus or boat/bus are also available from Hangzhou, enquire at your hotel; speedboat trips are available from Zhouzhuang at around ¥180 oneway/¥250-¥300 return opening hours: 7.45am-5.30pm

www.china-tongli.com

Ryoan-ji Dry Garden
Address: 13 Goryoshita-machi, Ryoan-ji, Ukyo-ku
Admission: adult ¥500, child ¥300
Getting there: From Kyoto Station (JR/ Kintetsu) take bus 50 to Ritsumeikan daigaku-mae stop (7 min walk); other buses with nearby routes include the 55 and 59. Keifuku Kitano Railway Ryoanjimichi station is a 10-minute walk away opening hours: March-november 8am-5pm daily; December-February  
8.30am-4.30pm daily

www.ryoanji.jp