Jim Thompson or James Harrison Wilson Thompson was
born in Greenville, Delaware in 1906. He attended public schools in Wilmington,
went on to boarding school at St. Paul's and attended Princeton University, the
family university, from 1924 to 1928.
Although Thompson had a keen interest in art, he
chose to become an architect and went on to study architecture at the
University of Pennsylvania. He was a practicing architect in New York City
until 1940.
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With the escalation of the war in Europe in the early 1940s,
Thompson volunteered for service in the United States Army, an important
turning point in his life.
During the Second World War, Thompson was assigned to the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), a move which offered him an opportunity to see more of the world.
Thompson as a member of an OSS group was assigned to work with
French forces in North Africa. His assignments also took him into Italy,
France and Asia.
To prepare for his mission, Thompson undertook rigorous training in
jungle survival. He completed the course successfully.
However the war ended abruptly as Thompson and the other OSS men
were en route to Bangkok. A few weeks later, he assumed the duties of OSS
station chief. In late 1946, he received orders to return to the States to
receive his military discharge.
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Thompson was confident that with peace restored and
the expansion of air travel, there would be a significant increase in leisure
travel to the Far East. Upon their arrival in the capital, these travelers
would need acceptable accommodation.
Few hotels in Bangkok could then even be considered
of international standard. Only one had an ideal location -- the old Oriental,
a former palace overlooking the Chao Phraya River that flowed through the
capital.
It was a meeting place for travelers and a social
center for the foreign community. Charlie Chaplin, Noel Coward and Somerset
Maugham were just a few of its famous patrons. Excited by the prospects
presented, Thompson became actively involved in the reorganization of the
Oriental Hotel.
By this time, Thompson had developed a certain
fondness for the country and its people. He began to seriously contemplate
settling down and going into business in Thailand. He foresaw a promising
future for the country and wanted to be a part of this process. He decided that
upon leaving the service, he would return and take up residence in Thailand
permanently.
http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/index.asp
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