THERE have been countless explanations for Jim Thompson’s disappearance over the years, some mundane, some ludicrous, and some that should have been made into an episode of The X-Files. Here are some of our favourites:

> Fell to his death in a ravine.

> Eaten by a tiger/leopard/wild boar/python.

> Swallowed by quicksand. > Murdered in a botched robbery.

> Accidentally killed by orang asli with a dart from a blow pipe.

> Fallen into an animal trap.

> Kidnapped by rival businessmen.

> Kidnapped for his previous involvement in spying activities.

> Nabbed by enemy agents for his involvement in the US Operation Special Service (OSS) during World War II.

> Staged his own disappearance after his cover was blown while working for the CIA.

> The main course in a cannibal feast.

> Kept by a tribal princess as a love slave.

> Struck by a vegetable farmer’s truck and buried in the outskirts of a vegetable patch.

> Struck by a timber lorry and body disposed of at a sawmill. > Captured by the Malayan Communist Party, as Cameron Highlands was one of the communist hotspots then.

> According to a psychic, he was drugged unconscious, abducted and flown off to Cambodia. (When it was pointed out to the psychic that there was no landing strip in Cameron Highlands, he amended the story to a boat ride to a neighbouring state where he caught the plane).

Related Stories:
Never-ending trail

• Thyroid disease
• The Angelina effect
• If we could turn back time
• A healthy state of affairs
• Playing futsal safely
• Healthy and responsible lives
• An unpredictable disease
• Empowered against gut cancer
• Medical fraternity treated to updates on tocotrienols
• Shadows on canvas