BrownFox77 Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 Don't recall seeing a post on this board about the new Jim Thompson book written up in the Asia Sentinel: An Ideal Man: the Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War I pre-ordered the book and Amazon sent it soon as it came out, just finsihed reading it. While largely about Jim Thompson, it's also a great contemporary history book on Thailand and SE Asia from the 40's onward, where it tells a story going thru Roosevelt's Atlantic Charter, the Laotian war, the Hmong, Pridi and Philbol, the Cold War and the Americanization of Thailand (and military buildup) thru the 50's and 60's, up to the current time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave32 Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 Read the link, just ordered it on Amazon. Xmas gift to self. ha. A couple of my friends, who were with me in LoS last month - and as a matter of fact who encouraged me to go the first time, came to the US as toddlers when their family fled Vietnam in the 70s. Refugee camps in Malaysia first, the whole nine yards. The families won't talk about it much and the parents refuse to go back -- but every now and then you pick up a grudging respect for Ho Chi Minh, and they talk about how he believed in American ideals and appealed to the West, only to be rejected. And then ultimately turning to Mao. Now, I profess ignorance in all these things --> but even the review sucked me in. I had no idea that Thompson was such a controversial figure and of his fallout with Washington. Anyway, look forward to reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 HCM was a Marxist from early on. Some OSS officers who met him described him as a fantastic actor - no matter whom he was meeting, he was "their man". In reality, he believed in the "dictatorship of the proletariat" as much as any communist political figure. he had contacts with Mao going back to WWII. I find it fascinating that whenever anything bad seems to have happened involving the communists in Vietnam, they quickly point out how HCM "knew nothing about it". If true, he must have been like Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes. Can anyone seriously believed the leader of the Viet Minh did not know exactly what was going on? Yeah, right ... we must preserve the legend. To be honest, FDR was determined the French would not be allowed to reclaim their Indo-China colonies (VN, Cambodia, Laos) after the war. But FDR had snuffed it and Truman and the Brits wanted DeGaulle's cooperation. The the French were allowed to return, with the Brits actually arriving first and holding VN for them against the Viet Minh forces of HCM. That was before the Cold War had kicked in and the west was determined to fight the spread of communism anywhere, any time. I'll have to get the book. The postwar period in SE Asia has long been something that interested me. I arrived here as the last participants were expiring and was able to talk to some of them about it. I even got Jorges Orgibet's feelings on Thompson's disappearance. (They arrived together in 1945 and worked together for some time.) If I ever get over my lazies, I'll have to write about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave32 Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 To be honest, FDR was determined the French would not be allowed to reclaim their Indo-China colonies (VN, Cambodia, Laos) after the war. But FDR had snuffed it and Truman and the Brits wanted DeGaulle's cooperation. The the French were allowed to return, with the Brits actually arriving first and holding VN for them against the Viet Minh forces of HCM. That was before the Cold War had kicked in and the west was determined to fight the spread of communism anywhere, any time. My understanding is there was pressure from Churchill also -- ie, if the French lost their colonization of Vietnam it could adversely impact/influence British colonies around the world. And yes, regardless we know that HCM was wrapped up in atrocity. Of course so were some Americans (eg, William Calley)- who were never indicted, in spite of testimony of men on the ground. The you have guys like Hugh Thompson doing heroic things and being treated in a way that's shameful. And from the Review it sounds as if Jim Thompson's experience is even moreso a story of betrayal by your own folks. A great contemporary irony now is that China is still Communist, but nobody talks about it or sees that (spread of Communism) as a threat. Hey - if you wait till July I'll give you the book. btw - I now have a 'Flash' t-shirt (Flash Gordon), was gonna drop it off on this last trip but forgot to take it. It fucking rocks, might keep it for myself. ----- Delivery estimate: Dec. 30, 2011 - Jan. 4, 2012 1 "The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War" Kurlantzick, Joshua; Hardcover; $17.13 In Stock Sold by: Amazon.com LLC 1 "Rage" Video Game; $19.11 In Stock Sold by: Amazon.com LLC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Hi, Quick reminder, when buying things on Amazon, please go their by clicking the Amazon banner in the right column of the board. No extra charge for you, but I make a small commission to help support the board upkeep. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Be interesting to see if the author mentions Orgibet and his ideas. Jorges (pronounced just plain George) didn't hold with the conspiracy theories and all. I asked him when he thought had happened. He said Thompson was a scrapper. He figured it was a robbery or kidnap attempt. Thompson resisted ... and was killed (maybe accidentally). Orgibet said he figured some day somebody would find Thompson's grave in the jungle. Still, who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Nice little book ... From Siam to Thailand Jorges Orgibet Kofco (Thailand) Ltd, 1982 Some copies may be available from the FCCT. Jorges Orgibet arrived in Bangkok just after WWII as a member of the US War Information Service. A friend and colleague of the legendary Jim Thompson, he became later a foreign correspondent, and a co-founder of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. His account of Thailand just after the Second World War is witty and informative, as are his accounts of trips up-country in home made rail vehicles. My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Thompson has done very well for a man who died over 40 years ago - sad that it took a Malaysian truck driver so long to come forward and finally put the mystery to rest. Unless, of course, the CIA *paid* him to put the mystery to rest ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Hi, Quick reminder, when buying things on Amazon, please go their by clicking the Amazon banner in the right column of the board. No extra charge for you, but I make a small commission to help support the board upkeep. Sanuk! I did try that a year or two back, but I don't believe it worked. I think perhaps it was because the items were already in my shopping cart before I made the link to Thai360. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted December 25, 2011 Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 I'll be looking for an e-copy for my Kindle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.