Would You UNDERTAKE This Dangerous Job?

Who are some famous expats?

Tahiti had Paul Gauguin in the 1890s.

Paris in the 1920s had Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

And Bangkok in the 1950s had Jim Thompson.

But he wasn’t a painter or a drunk writer.

He was far more interesting.

I read a biography about him last month.

Yesterday, I took a tour of his beautiful home here in Bangkok.

Today, I’ll tell you the first part of his story.

THE ORIGIN

Rich and smart.

That’s how Jim started life.

He came from a wealthy family.

He studied at Yale.

And although work was hard to get during the Great Depression, he managed to land a high-paying job as a Manhattan architect right after college.

His twenties were all about parties and girls.

But by the time he was in his thirties, Jim was bored.

He wanted more from life; he wanted adventure.

But this was 1941.

You couldn’t go online and get a TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate, hop on a plane and find a job teaching English.

So he joined the army.

While in the army, he was recruited and trained by the Office of Strategic Services, OSS, (which later became the CIA).

The job of the OSS was to work behind enemy lines to gather intelligence (information) and conduct espionage (spy on the enemy).

Jim was sent to North Africa, Italy, France and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

As an intelligence officer, he undertook dangerous missions behind enemy lines.

His last dangerous undertaking was to parachute into Thailand.

During the war, Thailand was occupied by the Japanese.

His job was to train the Thais to fight the Japanese.

But while he was flying over Thailand, the pilot announced that the war was over!

And the plane turned around.

So how did he end up as a famous expat in Thailand?

And how did he get rich there?

That’s for tomorrow…

Cheers,
Mr. Vig

P.S.

Readers who want to become members and improve their English faster can go here to join.

P.P.S.

Vig Village will be open again THIS FRIDAY.