Instalment No. 9 (a)

Jim's disappearance causes concern


The sudden eclipse of Jim certainly came as a shock to many; this was especially so for those who knew him reasonably well. But they were not put off by the news that came their way. Put simply, they were quite confident that Jim would somehow surface again. One such person was Constance. According to her, they had known each other for more than twenty-two years. When queried about his character, she remembered a trip which they made to the Himalayas a few years back.

'During the trip,' she said, 'Jim went missing... for almost four weeks. We spent a lot of our time looking for him in the mountains. The other members of our team and I were surprised when he showed up at the end of our heartbreaking search. He was certainly weak and exhausted on his return.'

'Jim,' she noted, 'was in the habit of losing himself. He would turn up when least expected. I have a funny feeling he was in one of his unpredictable moods when he ventured on his latest jaunt into the jungle.'

In Malaysia, the outlook amongst some of his close friends was a lot dimmer. As the days passed, they began to doubt as to whether he was still alive. One can go on walking, they noted, without meeting another human being in the thick of the jungle. Based on this reasoning, they were resigned to the fact that his chances of being alive were indeed slim.


Excerpts from Chapter Eight, pages 25 and 26, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Instalment No. 9 (b)

US$10,000 reward for the finder of Jim


In Bangkok, the Thai Silk Company took the news of his disappearance more seriously. The officials of the company were positive that something amiss could have happened to him while he was on leave at the hideaway. Charles U. Sheffield, 40, who was appointed acting manager, announced that 'a generous reward (of US$10,000) will be paid by the Thai Silk Company to any person or persons' who succeeded in finding Jim. The offer was made on Wednesday, March 29, that is, three days after he was declared as lost. This incentive was a close follow-up to the strong rumours in the Thai capital that he could have been kidnapped and taken to another country.


Excerpts from Chapter Eight, page 26, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Instalment No. 9 (c)

Jim seen in the jungle


The day after the Thai Silk Company announced their reward, a young lady showed up at the company's premises and informed the staff that she knew something about Jim's predicament. Determined to give anything a try, they ushered her into a dimly lit room. A collection of candles and joss sticks were lit and placed under a white piece of cloth. While she was concentrating on her prayers, the anxious employees kept their focus on the fabric which was hung on the wall. They were confident that the 'screen' would somehow show them something about the situation that Jim was in. To their great disappointment, they saw nothing. But their guest swore she saw something. When asked what it was, she said she saw Jim being held captive by two gunmen. All three were in the jungle.


Excerpts from Chapter Eight, page 26, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Instalment No. 9 (d)

Medium predicts Jim would return on his own


Over at Tanah Rata, a ton-kee (medium)... came up with a vastly different interpretation. Thong Weng, 29 a part-time house painter from Brinchang, proclaimed to two of his followers that Jim was 'alive but possessed by evil spirits'. Prior to his declaring this..., he reportedly went into a number of trances. His first was on Wednesday, March 29. After coming out of his trance, he predicted that Jim would return to the chateau 'on his own'. He also mentioned that this would take place 'at about 9am the next day'. But nothing of that sort came to pass. Not to be outdone, he spent the later part of the morning working himself into a double trance. He pleaded with the spirit world for a positive hint as to where Jim could be traced. In all, it took him more than an hour to come out of his spell.

After regaining his normal senses, he confidently declared that 'Jim is still being possessed by evil spirits'. He went on to say that Jim could be found 'in a hole under a large tree which is not far from the bungalow.' He said, 'During their search, a few police parties did pass by this spot without noticing him. He tried to call out to them but, being weak, his calls went unheard.'


Excerpts from Chapter Eight, page 27, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Instalment No. 9 (e)

The hunt for Jim continues


Whatever the mystic predicted, the police generally took no notice of it. Their attention was more focused on empirical evidence of the likely areas where Jim could be found. During their air and ground mission on March 29, the pilot of an RMAF helicopter enquired of the aboriginal settlers as to whether they had come into contact with the missing man. They informed him that they did not. Before leaving, the pilot left word with them to keep the police informed if they encountered Jim. He also reminded them not to harm him.


Excerpts from Chapter Eight, pages 27-28, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Edward,

When I checked with MPH Bookstores, they give me another ISBN? According to MPH, the ISBN is 1858638208 and distribute by Horizon Books Ptd Ltd. Is that the same book?

Dear Potteryman,

Thanks for making an enquiry of my book at MPH Bookstores.

The ISBN which was given to you i.e., 1 85863 820 8 is in reference to my earlier work which was published in the United Kingdom in 1996. This edition is now out of print.

If you're keen in getting hold of a copy of my book, please quote ISBN 1-932205-89-6. This publication is now available in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

Regards and best wishes.

Edward Roy De Souza

Instalment No. 9 (f)

Dr Ling departs the Cameron Highlands


Later in the afternoon there was a slight change in events: Dr Ling left the district for Singapore; at Moonlight, Helen and Constance continued to wait for Jim's return. They wanted to take care of him in the event that he showed up. Helen informed the media that she took the view that, 'despite the dim prospects, everything must be all right with him. We will remain here to see the end of this search. We will be here for as long as we know and believe he will come through safe.'


Excerpts from Chapter Eight, page 28, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

MPH Bookstores informed me that the new edition is coming in two weeks time. If anyone is interested, may be able to book through MPH at Mid Valley or MPH at 1U2?

Dear Potteryman,

Thanks for promoting my book on this web site.

I do hope that you would enjoy reading the contents of my work when you get hold of it in due course.

Regards and best wishes.

Edward Roy De Souza

I was able to order this book (i live in california) by going to Amazon.com

On another note, my dad was editor of the straits times and we used to go to Cameron's a lot in the mid to late 60's. This story has always fascinated me. Hoping to get the book soon.

Dear Mel Siebel,

Thanks for ordering a copy of my book via Amazon.com.

I do hope that you would enjoy reading the contents of my work when it comes your way over the next couple of days.

Regards and best wishes.

Edward Roy De Souza

Instalment No. 10

Dr Ling meets a shady character


Dr Ling got back to Singapore the following day. Just after he arrived at his home, he received a call from a man who identified himself as Michael Ian Vermont. He told Dr Ling he had some information with regards to Jim's whereabouts. He asked if he could meet up with Dr Ling to see if they could discuss the subject a little further. Without any hesitation, Dr Ling agreed.

When he arrived at Dr Ling's residence, the visitor seemed a bit nervous. After gaining his composure, he informed Dr Ling that Jim was being kept at a house in Tapah. He added that if Dr Ling was prepared to accompany him to the municipality, the two of them could look into Jim's possible release.


Excerpts from Chapter Nine, page 29, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Instalment No. 11 (a)

General Black joins in the hunt


Over at Tanah Rata, there was a noticeable change in mood as far as the scouting for Jim was concerned. The operation, which was now in its seventh day, began to gain momentum when it became obvious that brigadier general Edwin Black, the chief of the American support forces in Thailand, would be joining in the hunt.

Before coming over to the resort, the military leader kept in touch with a religious figure to ascertain if he could provide useful insights as to where Jim could be found.

To make it a lot easier for him, the army officer handed him a detailed map of the region. After taking a good look at it, the mystic pointed to a particular spot and encouraged the commander to concentrate his probe on the area which he had highlighted. Equipped with this information, general Black came to the territory with his aide, lieutenant Dennis Horgan and his long-time friend, Dean Frasche. The first thing they did was to visit the address where Jim had stayed. While they were at the double-storied house, Helen and Constance were repeatedly asked about the developments which unfolded prior to the unexplained absence of their friend. Of the two, Constance certainly had a lot more to say.


Excerpts from Chapter Ten, pages 31-32, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).

Instalment No. 11 (b)

Jim's trip to Moonlight


The threesome were told that just before their coming over to stay with the Lings, Jim and Constance had spent a day in Penang. Since Jim was especially tied up with a lot of last-minute details, it was Constance who took the trouble to finalise their travel arrangements.

When they met up at the airport on Thursday, it became evident to the two of them that Jim was not in line with two statutory requirements. In the first instance, he had failed to get his compulsory cholera inoculation. Apart from this, he had also forgotten to obtain his clearance certificate to show he had no outstanding tax payments with the country's Inland Revenue department. By right, he was not at all supposed to leave the country. Fortunately, Constance knew some of the officials rather well and this helped to smoothen out the irregularities.

The couple left Bangkok as planned and got in to Penang in the afternoon. She recollected that 'neither of us had been there before and we were anxious to see the island (for ourselves)'. She added: 'We hired a car and (while we) were driving around the island... Jim became anxious to return to Georgetown to get a haircut.' Constance admitted that she was put off with Jim's unexpected request. She later dropped him off at a barbershop while they were on their way to the Ambassador Hotel where they had earlier booked two rooms for their short outing.

Later that day, the two of them had a quiet dinner at an Indian restaurant, after which they went for an evening stroll. The following morning they got up early, booked a taxi and made their way to the province. While they were on their way to the mainland, the driver of the taxi suddenly stopped his vehicle and left them for about five minutes. He later returned with a relief driver who took over the driving from him.

Apart from this development, they also encountered another change just before they got over to the prefecture. This happened at Tapah where they not only had to deal with a change of drivers but a change of vehicles as well. The next taxi which they were told to board had two Chinese passengers waiting in it. Jim and Constance were totally against the idea of sharing the ride with the other two commuters. After some deliberation, the other two travellers were asked to get off and the driver saw to it that they driven on their own to the outpost.

Excerpts from Chapter Ten, pages 32-33, SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (ISBN: 1-932205-89-6).