Robert Rochlen
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King - 2005/08/10 02:36
Hi-
You know, in March 1967 I was only 10 and slightly out of it. Jim was very thirsty and drank a lot of soda. I do remember my dad telling me that Jim never drank a lot of soda. That night Lisa Lyons and my parents had dinner at his house. My dad died in March of 1999, and I don't believe my mom rembers what was discussed at the dinner. I don't know if Lisa Lyons is still alive, and if she is, where.
Robert
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Robert Rochlen
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King - 2005/08/10 05:57
Edward-
Just a few more notes. Just got out of the hospital. I say this because there was a verb agreement issue in the last paragraph of the first piece I submitted. ("Was soon to unfold" should have been "were soon to unfold.") But I can always blame it on the brain tumor that they took out, and since I just came home Sunday I can blame the spelling error of "rembers" on that event as well.
E-mail me and I'll E-mail picture I have of Jim in the 50's and 60's in Thailand.
Best-
Robert
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Robert Rochlen
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King - 2005/08/10 11:44
Edward-
It seems that those last few weeks were filled with things that were not typical of Jim's actions. The barbar shop episode. His walking on ahead of the group on my trip 3 weeks earlier. And others. I think these are suggestive of something weighing on Jim's mind. Exactly what we will probably never know.
Robert
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Robert Rochlen
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King - 2005/08/11 02:35
Edward-
This is a funny site. I posted 4 replies, but only see two. Anyway, if you want me to E-mail any pictures, let me know.
Robert
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King - 2005/08/14 00:19
Dear Robert Rochlen,
Thanks for your replies.
My e-mail address is roysouza@singnet.com.sg.
I do look forward to hearing from you.
Regards and best wishes.
Edward Roy De Souza
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Greg Orsi
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/08/14 06:44
I ordered your book of Amazon.com a few weeks ago and found it a fascinating read. The addition of maps, the glossary, bios, and index are an appreciated touch, making it much more than a linear telling of Jim Thompson's story.
I was struck when I first saw the cover, on which the illustration of Jim makes him look like an Asian man! And after seeing other illustrations of the principal charcters, I found it intriguing (though, not surprising) that the illustrator is Asian. As an artist myself, I know that an artist unconsciously paints himself into any portrait he does, but found this partiuclarly amusing since I'd never seen those results cross a racial line.
I'm curious, what is your relationship to the illustrator, Pak Ah Bee? Were these drawings done specifically for your book?
Regards,
Greg Orsi
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/08/15 23:05
Dear Greg Orsi,
Thanks for purchasing a copy of my book via Amazon.com.
I am indeed pleased that you found my book to be "a fascinating read".
With regard to your query on my "relationship" with Pak Ah Bee, all I can say is this: he has been a full-time artist/sculptor for more than 25 years. I got to know him in 1995 when I approached him to work on the principle characters of my book. I have to admit that the drawings were "done specifically" for my earlier work which was published in the United Kingdom in 1996. The same set of drawings were used again when I opted to have my book published in the United States in the middle of last year.
Regards and best wishes.
Edward Roy De Souza
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Karl Head
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/08/16 13:22
Mr De Souza
The reference to Lisa Lyons and the cave trip three weeks prior to Jim's disappearance caused me to do a quick Google. There are several references to Lisa and I believe that she is the same Lisa Lyons who is or was a consultant to the John Paul Getty Museum: http://www.getty.edu/museum/
You may consider it worthwhile to email the Getty Museum for contact details?
Regards
Karl Head
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Robert Rochlen
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/08/17 15:50
Karl-
Thanx for the tip. I contacted the Getty Museum. She did do a stint there as a guest curator when the museum. I E-mailed the museum, and they told me that the lady who knows how to contact her would be back in a week. I forwarded a copy of the reply to Edward. I know our Lisa at one time worked for the Boston Museum. We should know in about a weeks time, and if it's the right Lisa Lyons, she should be able to confirm the location of the trip and perhaps a few other details.
Robert
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/08/17 22:02
Dear Karl Head & Robert Rochlen,
Thanks for the replies.
I do hope that the lead which was brought to light would gradually bring us to the right person in question.
In the meantime, let's see how things develop from here...
Regards and best wishes.
Edward Roy De Souza
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/08/30 22:10
Instalment No. 12 (b)
The search for Jim continues
With the dwindling of the police field force, the casting about for Jim took on an entirely different twist -- the seekers narrowed down to two categories: the first were experts who knew the jungle like the back of their hands; the second were those who delved into the supernatural. Both parties were just as confident of success. Put simply, they were more than eager to go out of their way to track Jim down.
Excerpts from Chapter Eleven, pages 37-38, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/09/08 21:39
Instalment No. 12 (c)
Richard Noone joins in the hunt
On Sunday, April 23, Richard Noone, 49, a British planning officer with the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) came onto the scene. He was no stranger to the jungles of the area. At one stage, he served as head of the Malayan Department of Aborigines.
After two days of careful planning, Richard, a Cambridge-trained anthropologist, went into the woods with two assistants. Both helpers were equally at home in any tropical rainforest: one was a border scout from Sarawak; the other was an aborigine witch doctor.
For three days, the trio went to great lengths to look for Jim. While moving around in thick jungle, they came into contact with a few aborigines but they were unable to provide the threesome with leads as to where Jim could be found. Undiscouraged, the group carried on exploring in the hope of meeting up with him from where the field force had earlier left off.
Excerpts from Chapter Eleven, page 38, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6.
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/09/20 22:40
Instalment No. 12 (d)
Peter Hurkos springs a surprise
While Richard and his two partners were still in the wilderness, a controversial figure showed up at Tanah Rata. He was none other than Peter Hurkos, a private investigator from the United States. He came to the area on Tuesday, April 25 with his personal secretary, Miss Stephany Farb and lieutenant Dennis Horgan, the aide to brigadier general Edwin Black.
While the three of them were at the Cameronian town, Peter quickly took the opportunity to make his extrasensory powers known. He told some members of the police force interesting things about their lives. A young officer, for instance, was told that prior to his reporting for duty, he made love to his wife on a kitchen table. Peter's assessment turned out to be correct.
As for the circumstances that Jim was in, Peter was sure he had an appropriate answer. While he was at the chateau, the first thing he did was to pace the garden in a very unusual manner. Then he stopped to feel a chair which was left at the veranda. After a short pause, he gave out a loud yell, "This is the chair! Yes, this is the chair that Jim sat on just before he disappeared!" A brief silence followed. A few minutes later, he sat down on the floor just outside the house. A photograph of Jim and two maps were laid out. The first drawing highlighted the countries which made up the continent of Asia; the second featured the details of the resort. While shifting his eyes at Jim's photograph and the two charts, his face grew tensed. Seconds later he broke out into a strange stammer.
" ...aagh, Prebi, ooogh... Thompson... Prebi, Pridi... fourteen people... fourteen people took him... orah blah-lun-dah Bebe... he is not in the jungle... I see truck... ah, truck, about from here on the road... he walks down the road... somebody woke him up... he was sitting outside and somebody came in here... a friend of his... Bebe or Prebie... truck on the road... fourteen people... one person here, one person picked him up... he knows him... he was sitting on the veranda and the men came in... asked for something, I don't know... he went down the road... got chloroform... chloroform... sleep in truck..."
Excerpts from Chapter Eleven, pages 38-39, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/10/03 22:17
Instalment No. 12 (e)
Peter Hurkos drops a hint
After returning to his normal self, Peter did state, "it is ridiculous to look for Jim at the Highlands or even within a-hundred-and-sixty kilometre radius of it".
"There is no way that you'll find him there," he said. "It's just that he had been abducted to another country. You can take it from me that he is not being held for ransom. I am prepared to stake my neck on this!"
Excerpts from Chapter Eleven, page 39, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).
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Edward Roy De Souza
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Re:SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the - 2005/10/11 22:26
Instalment No. 13
Richard Noone comes up with a different view
On Wednesday, April 26, Richard Noone and his two assistants, Rahim bin Kamman and Toh Pawang Angah Sidek, emerged from the forest. In all, they spent a total of thirty-six hours looking for Jim.
"I am fully convinced," Richard told a group of reporters, "that neither Jim nor his body are in the jungle. We went further into the jungle, starting off from where the police field force men had earlier left off. But we could not find any clue which could be of use in leading us to him.
"During our search, we came across a steep cliff. We had to turn back. I don't think it would have been possible for Jim at his age to have scaled that cliff. Furthermore, I don't think he would have gone as far as we went if he did go into the woods."
Excerpts from Chapter Twelve, page 45, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).
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