Digging for Gold

When I was 15, my family and I took a trip across the US.  In our overcrowded minivan of two ambitious parents and three rambunctious teenage boys, we headed out to see those iconic  sights that every American should see at least once in his life:  the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Alcatraz, Old Faithful, and more.

The elusive gold nuggets

As we rambled through the Black Hills of South Dakota, we stopped to pan for gold along one of its picturesque streams.  Being the overconfident boys that we were, we knew we'd strike it rich in minutes.  Little did we know that we would end up spending hours bent over a rushing ice bath, swishing through pans of gravel only to come up empty-handed.  Well, not totally empty-handed.  There were a few flecks that shimmered at the bottom of the pan, and with the end of a matchstick, we carefully dabbed them up and dropped them into a vile of water.

To me, researching is a lot like digging for gold.  At first you dive in with the greatest of hopes to strike it rich quick.  You can see that massive nugget in your mind's eye, and you swear it'll come up in the next pan.  Unfortunately it doesn't happen that way.

Real researchers know that finding good sources takes patience and persistence.  There's no way you can predict the size and shape of the nugget, you just have to be open to anything that comes.  And those tiny flecks that look like nothing at first can turn out to be the most valuable of all; they are the ones that will lead you other hidden treasures in your search for great wealth.


Here are the flecks of gold that I discovered at the William Warren Library:

Image from:  Reed Gold Mine (flickr creative commons)

On Location in Bangkok

I began my process by reading a couple of biographies on Jim Thompson.  I read them with two purposes in mind.  First, I wanted to find out what each writer's take was on Jim Thompson and his life.  I also read them carefully keeping a list of possible primary sources, places to visit, people to contact, and related topics I'd need to research.  For me to write my own young adult biography, I knew that I had to access as many primary sources as possible so that I could find my own angle on Jim Thompson's story.

William Warren Library

Soon after I began reading, I knew that had to head to Bangkok.  I needed to see his house where he hosted all of those dinner parties and housed his exquisite art collection.  I also wanted to see what possible resources are there as well.



While preparing for my trip, I found out that there is a branch of the Bangkok Public Library called the William Warren Library.  William Warren was one of Jim Thompson's dear friends in Bangkok, and he also happened to be the author of one of the biographies I read, Jim Thompson, The Unsolved Mystery.  Needless to say, I was heading to this library too.  


After weeks of planning, I finally made it to my first destination:

Image from:  www.libraryhub.in.th

An American Legend

Jim Thompson.  You may not have heard of his name before.  Why would you?  He hasn't  been around for the last forty years.  And before that, he hadn't even lived in America since the '40s.  But just like anything from long ago, his story is worth revisiting.  If not only for a good story, but also to discover its relevance in our own lives.  In this day and age where the world seems smaller and the borders appear limitless, we feel interconnected yet alone more than ever before.  We find it difficult to find our own place in this fast-paced and continually shifting world.  Ironically enough, this is exactly what Thompson was grappling with nearly a half a century ago.

Thompson at work in his study 1967

Thompson led a seemingly ordinary life in the US as an architect in New York until he decided to join the National Guard in 1940.  Despite America's isolationist ideals at the time, the drumbeats of war were beginning to crescendo.  Soon after, he was sent overseas never to return, just like thousands of other young patriots.  But Thompson's story was different.  

This endearing, gentle man became an agent for the Office of Strategic Services (the precursor to the CIA), and participated in campaigns in North Africa and southern Europe.  Towards the end of the war, he trained alongside freedom fighters to work behind enemy lines in Japanese occupied Indochina.  With the dropping of the nuclear bombs though, Thompson's mission quickly changed from infiltration to mediation.  

Thompson parachuted into Thailand two days after the Japanese surrender and set up shop with other OSS agents in a dilapitated Thai palace.  On his frequent visits upcountry to Northern Thailand and Laos, Thompson became enamored with the local silk industry.  Known as  a domestic, "cottage" industry, the silk that the weavers produced was used for daily and ceremonial purposes, but being the true designer that he was, Thompson saw something more.

For those who knew Thompson, it may not have been any surprise that he immersed himself in this new venture.  Commissioning local weavers and selling their wares at tourist locales in Bangkok and then eventually overseas, Thompson and his Thai Silk Company was instrumental in adding a new dimension to the fashion industry. 

Soon known as the "silk king," Thompson became the go-to expat in Bangkok.  After completing his classic teak Thai-style bungalow and filling it with one of the finest collections of Southeast Asian art of the time, he invited guests almost nightly to come dine with him on his terrace overlooking the klong in front of his house.  It was at these magical parties that the "silk king" was holding court, often regaling his guests of his adventures upcountry or simply exchanging the news of the day.

Arguably the most compelling aspect of Thompson's story is its abrupt ending.  While on a long Easter weekend with friends in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia in 1967, Thompson simply disappeared.  After returning from a picnic, his friends decided to take a rest while he went out for a walk, never to be seen again.  A massive manhunt, a company reward, and  interventions from a string of mystics yielded no clues to his whereabouts.  There have been a number of theories about what happened to him, but to this day, nobody knows what exactly took place on that fateful Sunday afternoon.

Gold Pavilion at Jim Thompson's House

What's more intriguing than any one of the many events in Thompson's life is the nature of the man himself.  He had a way about him that his closest confidants and brief acquaintances all noted.  As one friend put it, whether you were a prince or a pauper, a movie star or a local weaver, Thompson always made you feel as though that moment he was spending with you was the most important moment in his life.   

Through his love of the Thai culture, Thompson not only  introduced one of this region's treasured people to the greater world, he also instilled a sense of creative appreciation and cultural identity in the Thais, known for their quiet, reserved nature, themselves.

With the Thai silk industry stronger than ever, the countless Thai Silk Company outlets across the world, his home that has become a necessary stop for tourists in Bangkok, and the stories that continue to be passed down through family members and dear friends, Jim Thompson's legacy still lives on after all these years.





Images from: 
Jim Thompson:   www.jimthompsonhouse.com
Gold Pavilion:  ryanjamesanderson (flickr creative commons)