Guest Author - Taisha Turner

March 26, 2007 marks the forty-year disappearance of the Thai Silk King, H. W. (Jim) Thompson. On vacation in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, he exited his bungalow and was never seen again. His disappearance has been a mystery ever since.

No body was ever found. No ransom demand was received. Many feared he had lost his footing on the slippery jungle floor or mauled by a tiger. A ten-day search by police and volunteers in the surrounding jungle produced no discoveries. Jim Thompson had vanished.

Another possibility was under consideration. Was his ties to the American CIA, the reason for his disappearance? He was a former member of the OSS, the precursor to the CIA The architect joined the organization during World War II. He was assigned to the China-Burma-India sector. It is rumored that he was still an active agent at the time of his disappearance. Many wondered, if his OSS duties or CIA contacts factored in his disappearance.

Jim Thompson was a millionaire. He had no financial problems. His Thai Silk Company was smoothly operating. There was no problem with material or labor supplies. People expected a ransom demand due to his wealth, but there was none.

Jim Thompson is credited with reviving the Thai Silk trade. After World War II, he settled in Bangkok, Thailand. As was the habit of wealthy colonials, he spent time in the Cameron Highlands. The temperature is cooler than the lowlands. The resort is a verdant escape from congestion and heat in the cities. It was in this paradise, the Thai Silk King’s mystery began.

In 1970, William Warner, a Thai-based journalist wrote a book on the incidence. Jim Thompson - The Unsolved Mystery delves intensely on the subject. William Warner was a friend of Thompson at the time of the disappearance.

World Temperatures

Read William Warner's analysis of Jim Thompson's disappearance.


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