NEW DOCU CLAIMS CPM KILLED ‘KING OF SILK’
Communists may have believed Thompson was a US spy
ON March 26, 1967, Thailand’s “King of Silk” Jim Thompson went for an afternoon walk in Cameron Highlands and was never seen again, leaving behind one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in the region.
Theories abound over what happened to the famous American, who, prior to carving a name as a successful silk merchant in Thailand, was a decorated secret agent with the United States Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the present-day Central Intelligence Agency.
After serving with distinction during World War 2, Thompson turned his attention to reviving Thailand’s lagging silk industry, where he made it famous, counting Hollywood’s biggest stars as among his clients.
So what happened to Thompson, who was 61 years old then? Speculation is rife about his fate, ranging from being eaten by a roaming tiger, lost in the confusing forest trail, fallen into a ravine or kidnapped.
Now, a new documentary, titled
Who Killed Jim Thompson, which premiered in Thailand recently, has made an explosive revelation, claiming to finally have answers to what happened to the man.
“Thompson was executed by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM),” claimed the documentary’s producer, Barry Broman, from Adventure Film Productions, here recently.
Speaking during the documentary’s premiere, he claimed that new information linking CPM to Thompson’s disappearance was discovered by his friend, Xuwicha “Noi” Hiranpruek, about five years ago.
He recalled that Xuwicha contacted him and relayed the information, which he thought could put to rest Thompson’s mysterious disappearance.
Xuwicha, who was at the premiere, said the information implicating CPM in Thompson’s disappearance came about following his conversation with a Singaporean friend, Teo Pin, who now lived in Shanghai.
Teo was also at the premiere. Teo, a surveyor, learnt about CPM’s involvement in Thompson’s disappearance through deathbed confessions of his late uncle, Teo Pok Hwa, who was a senior CPM cadre.
According to the confessions, Thompson, during his stay at Cameron Highlands’ Moonlight Cottage (now Jim Thompson Cottage), told Teo’s uncle that he wanted to meet Chin Peng, who was then CPM secretary-general, for reasons that remain unknown.
“Thompson wanted to meet Chin Peng, who was then the most wanted man in Malaya,” Teo said, adding that a request from the American sparked suspicion in Cameron Highlands, which was then a hotbed for communist activities.
He claimed that Moonlight Cottage once served as CPM’s headquarters.
He said Thompson’s request to meet Malaya’s most wanted man forced CPM and its sympathisers in Cameron Highlands to dig for more information about the man, eventually unravelling his past as a secret agent with the US.
Broman said it was not a good time for a Westerner with a past as an intelligence agent to ask to meet Chin Peng, adding that CPM determined that Thompson was a spy and decided to end his life.
“Jim (Thompson) should have known better than to ask for Chin Peng. He took a big chance, which could have cost him his life.”
He said this new piece of information linking CPM with Thompson’s disappearance was corroborated by new findings from Willis Bird Jr, better known as Billy among friends.
He said Bird’s late father, Willis Bird Sr, was Thompson’s colleague in the US Office of Strategic Services, where both men developed a close relationship with Thailand’s then prime minister Pridi Banomyong, who was later ousted and exiled to China.
According to Bird Jr, who was at the premiere, Pridi wanted his father to meet him in China, but Bird Sr declined the invitation. However, Thompson decided to go and travelled to Cameron Highlands for that purpose.
Bird Jr said his father told him that Thompson was killed by CPM at the behest of the Communist Party of China to impede his effort to meet Pridi in the country. Bernama