Contemporary Thai. Wongvipa Devahastin Na Ayudhya

designed by Teerapoj Kaenchan who was also responsible for the interior.

      Several Burmese pieces are a nod to the importance of Myanmar in northern Thai culture. A chest-reconstructed from panels from a Burmese temple-supports Burmese gong carriers at the entrance to the house. Framed Burmese scriptures enhance the formality of the Gold Room. A British bed from colonial Burma, also covered with Thai cotton, occupies the Silver Room.

      In this-luxurious case, as in the royal chambers of old, lacquer and metallic leaf have been applied lavishly and lovingly with stunning results.

      Old architectural ink drawings of Lanna temples and a series of traditional zodiac signs in pewter are highlights in the Silver Room. The pewter-topped celadon containers are from Living Space, Chiang Mai.

      Burmese gong carriers offer a whimsical welcome. Chiang-Mai architect Chulathat Kitibutr incorporated slanting walls and the traditional flame-motif galae (crests) typical of Lanna homes in his design.

      The dining room. Chairs are upholstered in silk from Jim Thompson, while the side console is constructed from panels taken from an old northern Thai building.

      Regal room. The lacquered teak bed by interior designer Teerapoj Kaenchan has the inward-turning legs typical of much Thai furniture. The gilded bedside cabinet is from Gong Dee Gallery, Chiang Mai, while the lacquered boxes and lamp are from Living Space, Chiang Mai.

      Celestial sight. Painstakingly painted classical Thai devas (guardian divinities) in the entrance lobby herald the heavenly visions-and view-beyond the heavily carved and gilded teak doors.

      Height of Taste

      Given its gloriously gilded surfaces and magnificent murals, it is appropriate that this penthouse suite is closer to heaven than most. Drawing on classical temple motifs and the exquisite art of lai kham (gold-leaf stencilling), designer M.R. Powari Suchiva fulfilled the owner's brief to create a sumptuous palace in the sky.

      These lofty pretensions are certainly justified. At

       5,000 sq m, the Thai section of the uptown Bangkok apartment can cater to a court of 1,500. (European and Indian sections, also solely for entertaining rather than residential purposes, occupy other floors.)

      A panoply of devas (temple divinities), remniscent of those guarding ancient royal chambers, greets guests in the lift lobby. These gold-leaf and gold-paint wall murals by Cong Dee Gallery's Vichit Chaiwong continue in the drawing-room where they segue into more sensual and surreal forms, indicative of a modern approach to an art once reserved for Buddhist temples. Chaiwong took more than one year to complete all the murals, many of which were inspired by 1950s' master painter Angkarn Kalayanapongsa.

      The interplay of contemporary and classical is matched by a daring dynamic between European and Eastern furnishings and accents. An antique Thai palace screen, positioned for feng shui purposes to encourage energy to flow slowly through to the drawing room, is a backdrop for two bulky Victorian armchairs. In the dining-room, the custom-made, 30-seat table is close to the floor as per Thai tradition but cleverly conceals a leg recess to permit Western-style sitting.

      In the ceilings, handcarved teak panels with silver leaf finish in floral motifs, similar to the ham yon wooden lintels placed above the doorways of northern houses to protect against evil spirits, lure the eye upwards. No expense has been spared to ensure that these expansive premises, like their owner, exude power and privilege.

      Screen play. A gilded reproduction Ayudhaya screen, originally used as a dressing mirror, catches the eye immediately upon entry to the apartment. It rests on an antique Ayudhaya sitting platform.

      Inner sanctum. Occidental meets Oriental in a provocative pairing of two Victorian armchairs with a reproduction Laotian bronze frog drum from Art Resources, Bangkok.

      A Ratanakosin-style Buddhist scripture cabinet near a modern charcoal-grey sofa is a study in contrasts. The gilded lacquer screen is from Cong Dee Gallery. A coconut coir mat and a bronze bird-leg side table from Art Resources, Bangkok, are other eclectic elements.

      Ornate Italian Neo-Rococo chairs upholstered in Thai silk complement the gilded delicate carvings on a Ratanakosin-era manuscript cabinet. Lamp bases fashioned from Burmese-style kinnara and kinnari (half-bird, half human figures from Buddhist cosmology) in lacquered wood continue the classic Thai theme. A bencharong stem vase is on the table.

      High table. The much-used dining room is dominated by a sunken teak table with a cleverly concealed leg recess. The gold Thai silk mon kwang (triangular cushions) are from Jim Thompson. Sunset shimmers on the Chao Phraya River 36 storeys below.

      Doorways shaped like those in a Thai temple lead from the dining room to a glass-and-chrome staircase which seems to float above the town of Nonthaburi, about 20km north of Bangkok.

      A teak dining table at Chairat Kamonorathep's home glitters with lai kham work by Gong Dee Gallery, Chiang Mai, which also produced the bedside cabinet, right.

      Northern nuances, reviving Lanna Kingdom techniques and styles in distinctly modern applications, reflect the new confidence of Chiang Mai artisans, once overshadowed by their Bangkok counterparts.

      Contemporary Furniture

      The furniture, as well as the architecture, of today's affluent Southeast Asia can be divided broadly into two movements: one with direct references to vernacular styles; the other revealing a more abstracted language built on lines, edges and planes. Such is the division among the home furnishings at Jim Thompson which include both an exclusive collection by Ou Baholyodhin and a more recognisably Thai line by Prinya.

      Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld and Joseph are all clients of the award-winning Ou whose work is in The Conran Shops in London, Paris and Tokyo; Corso Como 10 in Milan; Troy in New York; Abode in Tokyo; Ipuri in Hamburg and his own studio in London's East End. His success indicates a global demand for furnishings which, while Asian, blend seamlessly with other pieces and styles in the home.

      Within the idiomatic movement, the Thai furniture connoisseur would further distinguish regional styles. Perhaps the most popular is that emanating from the former capital of the Lanna Kingdom, Chiang Mai, the base for much of this new furniture-making industry.

      Something old, something new. The slick angles of a teak scroll altar table by Ou Baholyodhin accentuate the coarse texture of this 17th-century Mon Buddha triptych from the Kaw Gun Cave.