Surrounded by art at a young age, Eric Bunnag Booth keeps both the legacy of Jim Thompson and his family’s personal art collection alive and thriving. Born to Patsri Bunnag and Bill Booth, and raised in France by stepfather Jean Michel Beurdeley, Eric is also co- founder of the MAIIAM and Maielie Contemporary Art Museums. Eric has worked to regenerate the Jim Thompson brand, making it modern and relevant. In keeping with his family’s history in art collecting, Eric outfitted the Jim Thompson House with an art gallery and continues to preserve local art and culture at the Jim Thompson Farm. He is also most recently overseeing an expansion of Bangkok’s Jim Thompson Art Center. With his stepfather Jean Michel Beurdeley in 2016, Eric opened MAIIAM in Chiang Mai to showcase his family’s art collection as well as host exhibits to showcase art from handicrafts to contemporary works. Eric was awarded the Knight grade of the Order of Arts and Letters from the Ministry of Culture of France in 2019.