In 1967, Jim Thompson left his silk business in Thailand for a Malaysian holiday with three friends. On the last day, he disappeared from the cottage in which they were staying. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll review the many theories behind Thompson’s disappearance, which has never been explained.

We’ll also borrow John Barrymore’s corpse and puzzle over a teddy bear’s significance.

Intro:

A 1969 contributor to NPL News suggested that orchestras were wasting effort.

Robert Wood cleaned a 40-foot spectrograph by sending his cat through it.

Sources for our feature on Jim Thompson:

William Warren, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery, 2014.

Joshua Kurlantzick, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War, 2011.

Matthew Phillips, Thailand in the Cold War, 2015.

Taveepong Limapornvanich and William Warren, Thailand Sketchbook: Portrait of a Kingdom, 2003.

Jeffery Sng, “The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War by Joshua Kurlantzick,” Journal of the Siam Society 102 (2014), 296-299.

Tim McKeough, “Jim Thompson,” Architectural Digest 71:4 (April 2014).

Alessandro Pezzati, “Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King,” Expedition Magazine 53:1 (Spring 2011), 4-6.

Daisy Alioto, “The Architect Who Changed the Thai Silk Industry and Then Disappeared,” Time, May 9, 2016.

Anis Ramli, “Jim Thompson Found, 40 Years On,” Malaysian Business, May 1, 2009, 58.

“Thailand: Jim Thompson’s Legacy Lives On,” Asia News Monitor, Feb. 8, 2010.

Peter A. Jackson, “An American Death in Bangkok: The Murder of Darrell Berrigan and the Hybrid Origins of Gay Identity in 1960s Thailand,” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 5:3 (1999), 361-411.

Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa, “Documentary Claims CPM Responsible for Jim Thompson’s Disappearance in Cameron Highland,” Malaysian National News Agency, Dec. 10, 2017.

Barry Broman, “Jim Thompson Was Killed by Malay Communists, Sources Say,” The Nation [Bangkok], Dec. 4, 2017.

Grant Peck, “New Film Sheds Light on Jim Thompson Mystery,” Associated Press, Oct. 21, 2017.

“A 50-Year Mystery: The Curious Case of Silk Tycoon Jim Thompson,” dpa International, March 22, 2017.

George Fetherling, “The Man Who Vanished,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 29, 2013, B.7.

“Trends: The Mystery of Jim Thompson,” [Hamilton, New Zealand] Waikato Times, May 8, 2013, T.13.

“Bangkok: Remembering Jim Thompson,” The Nation [Bangkok], Oct. 3, 2012.

Bernd Kubisch, “The Riddle of Jim Thompson Continues to Fascinate Bangkok Visitors,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Feb. 21, 2012.

Joshua Kurlantzick, “Into the Jungle,” [Don Mills, Ont.] National Post, Dec. 7, 2011, A.16.

Joshua Kurlantzick, “Our Man in Bangkok,” [Don Mills, Ont.] National Post, Dec. 6, 2011, A.14.

Yap Yok Foo, “Mystery of Jim Thompson’s Disappearance,” [Kuala Lumpur] New Straits Times, Feb. 1, 2004, 30.

Robert Frank, “Recipe for a Fashion Brand?”, Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001, B.1.

Jonathan Napack, “Will Jim Thompson’s House Disappear, Too?”, International Herald Tribune, Aug. 30, 2000.

Michael Richardson, “The Disappearance of Jim Thompson,” International Herald Tribune, March 26, 1997, 2.

Hisham Harun, “Jim Thompson’s Legacy,” [Kuala Lumpur] New Straits Times, Aug. 12, 1996, 09.

Philp Shenon, “What’s Doing In: Bangkok,” New York Times, Jan. 31, 1993.

William Warren, “Is Jim Thompson Alive and Well in Asia?”, New York Times, April 21, 1968.

“Jim Thompson,” Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed Oct. 4, 2020).

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, “John Barrymore” (accessed Oct. 8, 2020).

“Drew Barrymore Has a Hard Time Processing While Eating Hot Wings,” Hot Ones, Aug. 20, 2020.

Marina Watts, “Drew Barrymore Reveals the Unique Experience Grandfather John Barrymore Had After Death,” Newsweek, Aug. 21, 2020.

Adam White, “Drew Barrymore Says Her Grandfather’s Corpse Was Stolen From the Morgue for ‘One Last Party,'” Independent, Aug. 20, 2020.

Wikipedia, “Hot Ones” (accessed Oct. 8, 2020).

“Earth Does Not Move for Science,” BBC News, Sept. 7, 2001.

Tim Radford, “Children’s Giant Jump Makes Waves for Science,” Guardian, Sept. 7, 2001.

Reuters, “Jump Kids, Jump! Shake That Earth,” Wired, Sept 7, 2001.

“Schoolkids Jump-Start a Quake in Britain,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 8, 2001.

“Newspaper Clipping of the Day,” Strange Company, Aug. 26, 2020.

This week’s lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Hanno Zulla, who sent these corroborating links (warning — these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet — you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we’ve set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!