Jim thompson biography thailand lottery

Jim Thompson (designer)

American fashion designer (–)

Not to be confused with James Thompson (designer).

James Harrison Wilson Thompson (March 21, – disappeared March 26, ; declared dead ) was an American businessman who helped revitalize the Thai silk industry in the s and s.

At the time of his disappearance he was one of the most famous Americans living in Asia. Time magazine claimed he "almost singlehanded(ly) saved Thailand's vital silk industry from extinction".[1]

Early life

Jim Thompson was born in Greenville, Delaware in [2] He was the youngest of five children of Henry and Mary Wilson Thompson.

His father was a wealthy textile manufacturer; his mother was the daughter of James Harrison Wilson (–), a noted Union general during the American Civil War.[3]

Thompson spent his early years of education at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He graduated from Princeton University in ,[4] and represented the United States in the 6-Metre Sailing event at the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.[5] Post-graduate studies followed at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Architecture, but he did not complete his degree at this institution due to his weakness in calculus.[4][6]

From to , he practiced in New York City with Holden, McLaughlin & Associates,[7] designing homes for the East Coast rich.

During this period, he led an active social life and sat on the board of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.[3][8]

In , he quit his job and enlisted with the Delaware National Guard.[4] Before the outbreak of the Second World War, he was transferred to a military outpost in Fort Monroe, Virginia.[9] While he was here, he got to know Second Lieutenant Edwin Fahey Black, a fresh graduate from the US Military Academy, West Point.[9] It was Black who encouraged him to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.[10]

World War II activities

At the height of the Second World War, Thompson was recruited by Major GeneralWilliam Joseph Donovan (–) to serve as an operative in the OSS.

His first assignment was with the French Resistance in North Africa. He was then sent to Europe.

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    • After Victory in Europe Day (May 7–8, ), he was transferred to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to work with the pro-Allied Free Thai Movement (Seri Thai). Their mission was to help liberate Thailand from the occupying Japanese Army. The group had the support of Pridi Panomyong, the regent to King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand, and Seni Pramoj, the Thai ambassador to the United States.

    In August , Thompson was about to be sent into Thailand, when the surrender of Japan officially ended World War II. He arrived in Thailand shortly after Victory over Japan Day and organized the Bangkok OSS office. It was here he got to know Constance (Connie) Mangskau, an Allied Services translator, who later became one of his closest friends.[8]

    In the spring of , Thompson went to work as a military attaché at the United States legation for his former Princeton classmate Charles Woodruff Yost, the US Minister to Thailand.

    It was the start of Thompson's eleven year affair with Yost's wife, Irena. In , she had a child, but neither Thompson nor Yost could establish paternity prior to DNA testing.

    Thompson used his contacts with the Free Thai and Free Laos (Lao Issara) groups to gather information and defuse conflicts on Thailand's borders. Working with him in the legation was Kenneth Landon, an American missionary whose wife, Margaret Landon, was the author of Anna and the King of Siam, which was the inspiration for the film of the same name, and the film The King and I.[11][12]

    Return to private industry

    In late , Thompson headed for home to seek his discharge from the army.

    After his divorce from Patricia Thraves (–), he returned to Thailand to join a group of investors to buy the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. While working on its restoration, he had some differences with his associates and this resulted in him giving up his shares in the company. He subsequently switched his focus to silk trade.

    In , he partnered with George Barrie to found the Thai Silk Company Limited.[13] It was capitalized at $25, They each owned 18% of the shares, and the remaining 64% were sold to Thai and foreign investors.

    The firm achieved a coup in when designer Irene Sharaff made use of Thai silk fabrics for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I.[14] From then on, the company prospered.

    Besides inventing the bright jewel tones and dramatic color combinations today associated with Thai silk, Thompson raised thousands of Thailand's poorest people out of poverty. His determination to keep his company cottage-based was significant for the women who made up the bulk of his work force. By allowing them to work at home, they retained their position in the household while becoming breadwinners.[14] It was only after Thompson's disappearance that the Thai Silk Company relocated its weaving operations to Korat, a city which serves as a base of operations for the Royal Thai Army.

    Although it abandoned home-based weaving in favor of factories in the early s, the Thai Silk Company's facility in Amphoe Pak Thong Chai, Korat, presents itself more as a beautifully landscaped campus than a typical factory.

    Thompson's "House on the Klong"

    Main article: Jim Thompson House

    Thompson was unlike any other figure in Southeast Asia.

    He was an American, an ex-architect, a retired army officer, a one-time spy, a silk merchant and a collector of antiques. Most of Thompson's treasures, if not all, were amassed after he came to Thailand.[15]

    In , Thompson began what was to be the pinnacle of his architectural achievement – the construction of a new home to showcase his objets d'art.

    Using parts of old up-country houses – some as old as a hundred years – Thompson succeeded in constructing a masterpiece that involved the reassembling of six Thai dwellings on his estate. Most of the units were dismantled and brought over by river from Ayutthaya, but the largest – a weaver's house (now the living room) – came from Bangkrua.

    On arrival, the woodwork was offloaded and pieced together.[15][16][17]

    In his quest for authenticity, Thompson saw to it that some of the structures were elevated a full floor above the ground. During the construction stage, he added his own touches to the buildings by positioning, for instance, a central staircase indoors rather than having it outside.

    Along the way, Thompson also reversed the wall panels of his quarters so that it now faced inside instead of it having an external orientation.[18][15]

    After Thompson was through with its creation, he filled his home with the items he had collected in the past. Decorating his rooms were Chinese blue-and-white Ming pieces, Belgian glass, Cambodian carvings, Victorian-era chandeliers, Benjarong earthenware, Thai stone images, Burmese statues, and a dining table which was once used by King Rama V of Thailand.

    Thompson dedicated nearly a year to the meticulous creation of his opulent mansion. Today, transformed into a museum, the Jim Thompson House is conveniently accessible via public or private transportation. Known for its architecture and historical significance, the site is popular for tourists, featuring in the top 5 must-visit places in Bangkok according to TripAdvisor's rankings.[citation needed]

    Disappearance

    Main article: Disappearance of Jim Thompson

    Thompson disappeared from Malaysia's Cameron Highlands after going for a walk on March 26, His disappearance from the hill station generated one of the largest land searches in Southeast Asian history and remains one of the most famous mysteries in the region.[19][20][21] Over the years, many theories have been advanced to explain his disappearance, but no definitive answer has ever emerged.

    Thompson was declared dead in absentia by a Thai court in [citation needed]

    See also

    References

    1. ^"Business Abroad: The Silk King". Time. April 21,
    2. ^"Jim Thompson: A legend is born". Jim Thompson Fabrics. Archived from the original on January 11, Retrieved October 7,
    3. ^ ab"A brief history of Jim Thompson".

      Jim Thompson. The Thai Silk Company.

    4. ^ abcAlioto, Daisy (May 9, ). "The Architect Who Changed the Thai Silk Industry and Then Disappeared". Time. Retrieved June 24,
    5. ^"Jim Thompson Bio, Stats, and Results".

      Olympic Sports. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 23, Retrieved March 18,

    6. ^Pezzati, Alessandro (). "Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King"(PDF). Expedition. 53 (1). Penn Museum. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 8, Retrieved October 7,
    7. ^"HOLDEN New York Stories/Jim Thompson".

      Jim Thompson Fabrics.

    8. ^ abJenkins, Mark (May 6, ). "The Saga of the Thai Silk King: Twenty years later, James Thompson '28's disappearance remains a mystery". Princeton Alumni Weekly.

      Jim thompson biography thailand lottery winner The Communist Guerrillas Theory It is theorized that Jim Thompson may have been kidnapped by communist guerrillas due to his connections with the US government and the Thai monarchy. Early days Thompson grew up as the son of a textile manufacturer in Delaware. ISBN Today there are 13 Jim Thompson retail shops and one factory outlet in Bangkok, 14 retail shops and one factory outlet in the rest of Thailand with a retail shop each in Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA.

      Retrieved June 24,

    9. ^ abWarren, William (). Jim Thompson – The unsolved mystery. Archipelago Press. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
    10. ^De Souza, Edward Roy (). SOLVED! The "Mysterious" Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (2nd ed).

      Word Association Publishers. p.&#;3. ISBN&#;. LCCN&#;

    11. ^The American largely responsible for bringing about this relationship was Dr. Kenneth Landon, a former Presbyterian minister who had spent ten years in Thailand as a ed October 23, , at the Wayback Machine
    12. ^Morgan, Susan ().

      ""Shall We Dance?": Anna and U.S.-Thai Relations". Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the King and I Governess. Univ of California Press. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;.

    13. ^"The Thai Silk Company Founded in ". The Jim Thompson House. Archived from the original on March 6, Retrieved June 19,
    14. ^ abMcMurray, Clem (January–February ).

      "Jim Thompson – Thai Silk King"(PDF). Passage.

    15. Jim Thompson (designer) - Wikipedia
    16. The Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Man Who Saved Silk
    17. Jim Thompson: Thai Silk and a Mysterious Disappearance - TIME
    18. Settings
    19. Carousel

      20. Friends of the Museums (Singapore). Archived from the original(PDF) on February 17,

    20. ^ abcWallace, Lary (April 15, ). "Silk Thread: The Strange Mystery of Jim Thompson". The Paris Review. Retrieved June 24,
    21. ^Jotisalikorn, Chami; Bhumadhon, Phuthorn ().

      "The Jim Thompson House". Classic Thai: Designs, Interiors, Architecture. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN&#;.

    22. ^Datta, Ranga (November 23, ).

      Jim thompson biography thailand lottery news: It is unclear whether Chalermsak provided any useful information to the police or the search parties that were looking for him. Furthermore, his disappearance occurred during a time of heightened political tension and instability in the region. It is theorized that Jim Thompson may have been kidnapped by communist guerrillas due to his connections with the US government and the Thai monarchy. Along the way, Thompson also reversed the wall panels of his quarters so that it now faced inside instead of it having an external orientation.

      "Silk, secrets and splendour: Explore the enchanting Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok". The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved December 4,

    23. ^De Souza, Edward Roy (). SOLVED! The "Mysterious" Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (2nd ed). Word Association Publishers.

      pp.&#;13– ISBN&#;. LCCN&#;

    24. ^Kent, Jonathan (March 25, ). "Mystery of missing Thai Silk King". BBC News. Kuala Lumpur. Retrieved June 24,
    25. ^"Thailand: A Walk in the Jungle". Time. April 7, Retrieved June 24,
    26. ^Toulmin, Llewellyn (May 7, ). "The exotic life and death of Thailand's 'Silk King'".

      The Montgomery County Sentinel. Retrieved June 24, [permanent dead link&#;]

    Books

    Video

    News articles

    • "Business Abroad: The Silk King". Time. April 21, Archived from the original on September 30, Retrieved January 4,
    • "Millions from the Mulberry Bush".

      Time. July 16, Archived from the original on October 18, Retrieved March 25,

    • "American 'Silk King of Thailand' Disappears in Malaysian Jungle". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. March 28, pp.&#;A Archived from the original on October 1, Retrieved March 25,
    • "American 'Silk King' Vanishes on Stroll in Malaysian Jungle".

      Los Angeles Times. March 28, p.&#;1. Archived from the original on September 30, Retrieved March 25,

    • "A Walk in the Jungle". Time. April 7, Archived from the original on September 30, Retrieved March 15,
    • "Air of Intrigue". Time. May 5, Archived from the original on October 18, Retrieved March 25,
    • "Mystery of missing Thai Silk King".

      Jim thompson biography thailand lottery results Someone out there knows something, that's for sure. Greenville, Delaware , U. About the author. How interesting.

      BBC News. March 25, Retrieved March 25,

    • "Looking for the Silk King". The Star. March 23, Archived from the original on October 30, Retrieved September 23,
    • "Bones May Cast Some Light to Jim Thompson's Mystery". Ipoh Echo. April 1, Archived from the original on February 21, Retrieved September 28,
    • "Re-living the day Jim Thompson went missing".

      The Star. March 26, Archived from the original on April 13, Retrieved March 24,

    • "Cameron Highlands: Malaysia's enduring 'Little England'". CNN. June 27, Retrieved July 3,
    • "Cloaked in mist and mystery". New Straits Times. December 4, Retrieved December 7,
    • Toulmin, Llewellyn (May 7, ).

      "The Exotic Life and Death of Thailand's 'Silk King'". The Montgomery Sentinel. Montgomery County, Maryland. p.&#; Archived from the original on March 4, Retrieved August 11, (part 1 of a 4-part series).

    • Toulmin, Llewellyn (June 4, ). "The Mysterious Disappearance and Search for Jim Thompson".

      Jim thompson biography thailand lottery External links [ edit ]. Then Don't worry — your e-mail address is totally secure. While in Bangkok, Thompson became enamored with the beauty and craftsmanship of Thai silk, and began to explore ways to help revive the struggling silk industry in the country. His commitment to quality and tradition helped to elevate Thai silk to a new level of prominence, and his work laid the foundation for the vibrant silk industry that exists in Thailand today.

      The Montgomery Sentinel. Montgomery County, Maryland. p.&#; (part 2 of a 4-part series).

    • Toulmin, Llewellyn (July 2, ). "Continuing the Search for the 'Silk King'". The Montgomery Sentinel. Montgomery County, Maryland. p.&#; (part 3 of a 4-part series).
    • Toulmin, Llewellyn (August 6, ).

      "The Last Stop in the Search for Jim Thompson". The Montgomery Sentinel. Montgomery County, Maryland. p.&#; (part 4 of a 4-part series).

    • "The Architect Who Changed the Thai Silk Industry and Then Disappeared". Time. May 9, Retrieved June 2,
    • "New film sheds light on Jim Thompson mystery".

      Bangkok Post. October 21, Retrieved October 22,

    • "New film 'solves' Jim Thompson mystery". The Australian. October 21, Retrieved October 22,
    • "New film claims to have solved Jim Thompson mystery". Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

      Jim thompson disappearance This was to be the birth of another brilliant idea, as we shall see later. Thompson used his contacts with the Free Thai and Free Laos Lao Issara groups to gather information and defuse conflicts on Thailand's borders. Jim Thompson Fabrics. However, the exact details of how and when the authorities were notified remain unclear.

      October 21, Archived from the original on October 21, Retrieved October 22,

    • "Jim Thompson was killed by Malay communists, sources say". The Nation (online). December 5, Archived from the original on December 6, Retrieved December 6,
    • "Theory Jim Thompson was killed by communists plausible, but not new".

      The Nation (online). December 6, Archived from the original on December 5, Retrieved December 6,

    External links