Disappearance of Jim Thompson
| Jim Thompson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Harrison Wilson Thompson 21 March 1906 Greenville, Delaware, United States of America |
| Disappeared | 26 March 1967 (aged 61) Cameron Highlands, Pahang, West Malaysia |
| Status | Declared dead in absentia by a Thai court in 1974 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater |
Princeton University University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Co-founder of the Thai Silk Company Limited |
| Known for |
|
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Maury Thraves (1943-1946; divorced) |
| Parent(s) | Henry Burling Thompson (father) Mary Wilson Thompson (mother) |
James Harrison Wilson "Jim" Thompson (born 21 March 1906) was an American businessman who helped revitalise the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s.
The son of a prominent Delaware family, Thompson graduated from Princeton University (1928) and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1931 to 1940, he worked as an architect in New York City designing homes for the East Coast rich. In 1941, he quit his job and enlisted with the Delaware National Guard regiment. During World War II, he served as an operative in the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. He fought in North Africa, Europe and the China-Burma-India war zone. After the war, he was assigned to the US legation in Bangkok, Thailand. He left the army in 1946 and became interested in silk weaving. He co-founded the Thai Silk Company in 1948. The firm achieved a coup in 1951 when its fabrics were used for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. From then on, the company prospered.
Thompson disappeared from Malaysia's Cameron Highlands while going for a walk on Sunday, 26 March 1967. Prior to his disappearance, he flew out of Bangkok to spend a day in Penang with Mrs. Constance (Connie) Mangskau, his long-time acquaintance. On Friday, 24 March they left the island for the Highlands. They stayed at the ”Moonlight” bungalow (now the Jim Thompson cottage) with Dr. Ling Tien Gi, a Singaporean-Chinese chemist and Mrs. Helen Ling (née Dalling), his Caucasian American-born wife.
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