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.As he and his comrades were flying to Thailand, wordreached them that Japan had surrendered.The plane continued on toBangkok, however, where Thompson took on the role of OSS stationchief.He also set up a temporary American consulate until a permanentone could be established.After being discharged from the army in 1946,he decided to stay in Thailand because he had fallen in love with thecountry and its people.It was not long before Thompson discovered his true calling in life.The northeast region of Thailand produced some raw silk, but competi-tion from cheaper, machine-made fabrics produced in Europe andJapan had significantly diminished the demand for Thailand s raw silk.Thompson saw potential in the tiny industry, which was on the verge ofextinction.He showed samples to designers, decorators, and fashioneditors in New York.They raved about the product.Then he hired200 silk weavers in Thailand to create finished products from raw silkand dyes.The brightly colored, hand-woven silk gained popularity,and silk shops began springing up around Bangkok; by 1965 there were156.The growing Thai silk industry began garnering internationalattention and media coverage in Reader s Digest, Time, Life, News-week, and the New York Times.Fashion designers such as Balmain alsobegan using the material.The cast of the musical The King and I woreThai silk that Thompson had developed. Material Man: The Disappearance of Jim Thompson (1967) 237By 1958, the industry had expanded to the point that Thompson sThai Silk Company was selling its products to more than 17 countries.Sales had grown from $36,000 in 1948 to $650,000 in 1957.By 1967,national and international sales had grown to $1.5 million.The numberof Thais earning their living from silk weaving rose from a few in 1945to 20,000 by 1967.Along the way, Thompson became known as the Thai Silk King, andby then he had also assembled an enviable art collection and built ahome that still stands today as a landmark in Bangkok.He seamlesslywove together six traditional Thai teak houses into one, placing themon stilts to protect his home from storms and flooding.He was a soft-spoken man of medium height, with blue eyes, and he was a heavysmoker.He worked hard for his success, waking up early to visit silkweavers and often not getting to sleep until 11 PM or midnight.Thiseligible bachelor s personal fortune was estimated to be worth about$1 million.The first few months of 1967 were particularly busy for Thompson.On March 17, 1967, the new two-story building that was to house hissilk business in Bangkok finally had its grand opening.A few days later,Thompson celebrated his sixty-first birthday with friends on March 21before packing his bags and boarding a flight to Malaysia on March 23.He had accepted an invitation from friends Dr.T.G.and Helen Ling tovisit the Cameron Highlands.This pretty resort area was located morethan 5,000 feet above sea level and about 140 miles north of KualaLumpur.It was surrounded by wild jungle terrain and deep, hiddenravines.The Lings lived in Singapore.Dr.Ling was Chinese, and his Americanwife ran her own antiques store.It would be a short visit, however.On Easter Monday Thompson was planning to go to Singapore toattend business meetings with an American businessman who wasconsidering starting up a fabric industry there and was seeking advice.He was to dine with the businessman and the American ambassador inthe evening.HOLIDAY IN THE CAMERON HIGHLANDSThompson was travelling to the Cameron Highlands withConnie Mangskau, a half-English, half-Thai friend whom he had metin 1945 when he worked for the army and she was an interpreter for 238 Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in AmericaAllied forces.When they arrived at Bangkok Airport to fly to Penang,Thompson realized that he had failed to get his cholera shot, whichwas required to enter Malaysia.He also had not brought a Thai taxclearance certificate.A health official at the airport agreed to give himthe cholera shot and backdate the certificate to meet Malaysia s six-day requirement.For her part, Mangskau signed a form promising topay any outstanding taxes that Thompson owed should he fail to returnhome from the trip.When Thompson and Mangskau arrived in Penang, they stayed over-night in George Town, the island s main city.The day of their arrival,they checked into the Ambassador Hotel and had a taxi take them ona sightseeing tour around the island.They returned to the hotel after-wards in time for Thompson to get a haircut another task that hehad neglected to do in the busy months leading up to this trip
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