Jim Thompson is back. No, he hasn't stumbled in tatters from the Malaysian jungle, where he vanished 40 years ago. The American silk tycoon would be 100 years old now anyway, so it's unlikely he's going to be found alive and brought back to his Bangkok home.

But the spirit of Thompson was warmly welcomed by hundreds of guests at a recent "birthday party" at Jim Thompson House. Thompson the man would have been delighted to see that his beloved teak home remains in the good condition and has been converted into Thompson the house, a tourist-friendly museum.

Bangkok, 40 years on, might be a bit of a shock for him, though.

He would in fact be "Lost in the City", thinks Navin Rawanchaikul, who's transformed the Jim Thompson House gallery into a city street, complete with carts selling khao man gai (steamed chicken with rice) and T-shirts, tote bags, board games, postcards and pins specially designed for Mr Jim's centenary.

The exhibition, continuing for another four months, also has a telephone booth papered with advertising leaflets and a long mural depicting the dynamic capital, past and present.

Thompson the man shows up in the form of a life-size fibreglass sculpture - dressed in a silk shirt and pha khao maa at his waist - sitting on a bench with his pet cockatoo.

He's holding a map and has a suitcase and walking stick, and he's got to be wondering about the billboard in front of him that shows him riding something called a "Skytrain" with Navin.

The James HW Thompson Foundation didn't want a "run-of-the-mill, conventional autobiographical tribute", says the 35-year-old artist. "They wanted an exciting, contemporary show that the public could get involved with."

Thus Navin has shunned narration - as well as the endless curiosity about Thompson's famously mysterious disappearance.

"My aim was to project his bonds with Bangkok and Thai culture, so the exhibition bridges the city's traditions and its contemporary vitality."

Stealing the show is an old-fashioned movie poster that sets a whimsical "Lost in the City" tone for an animation Navin and his collaborators have made to speculate about what Thompson might get up to in the metropolis after a four-decade absence.

The film merges old footage of Bangkok - trams nearly outnumbering cars - with recent clips of bullet subway trains and glacial traffic jams. Thompson, in puppet form and looking every one of his 100 years, emerges from a peaceful past and finds his way via the chaotic present to his house, now bustling with tourists.

An elaborate annex to the exhibition is a four-volume set of comic books that relate the whole Thompson saga in Thai, English, French and Japanese. The comics, wonderfully drawn at Nikorn Tha-Pra Studio, look just like the 10-satang novels of yesteryear.

Uncle Jim turns up after all these years at Bangkok's southern bus terminal and is immediately buffaloed by the fact that all the buffalo have been replaced by massive mass transit. How is he supposed to get home through this maze of modern marvels and strange and hectic behaviour?

At least he remembers that his traditional house is on a canal someplace, and with the judicious use of his cane he prods a young tuk-tuk driver and his pal to help him find it. En route he treats them to the story of his life and Bangkok's.

Navin has often used old-style posters and comic books to get more people looking at contemporary art.

"I'm interested in 'public art', and I try to use the media that are closest to the average person and accessible to all."

His mission to take art to the people included Taxi Gallery in the mid-'90s. He and a taxi driver drove around more than 20 cities across the planet, picking up paying passengers who got to admire the art lining the interior while being taken to their destinations.

The centenary exhibition continues until March 31, plenty of time to drop by and wish Jim a happy birthday. The Kae Dum Dum troupe presents a puppet show illustrating Thompson's life from 1 to 4pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Jim Thompson House is on Soi Kasemsan 2, opposite the National Stadium on Rama I Road. It's open daily from 9am to 5pm. Call (02) 216 7368 or visit JimThompsonHouse.com.

Khetsirin Pholdhampalit

The Nation