Former Del Mar resident and Thai royal is among tsunami dead

By: Staff and Wire reports | Tuesday, December 28, 2004 11:01 PM PST ∞

DEL MAR ---- A young man who once attended Torrey Pines High School and was a grandson of the king of Thailand is among the more than 58,000 victims of a tsunami in South Asia, according to wire reports.

Khun Poom Jensen, 21, formerly of Del Mar, had just finished riding a Jet Ski at a beach resort in southern Thailand when the tsunami struck, the Bangkok Post reported. He was found dead the next morning, about 100 meters away from the hotel, the Post reported.

The young man was the only son of Thai Princess Ubolratana Mahidol.

As a teen, "Poomi" attended Torrey Pines High and Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach, some of his classmates told the North County Times on Tuesday.

John Dale, a UC Davis student who grew up in Solana Beach, said he met Poomi when he was a middle school student.

Dale said their friendship was limited because Poomi suffered from severe autism, yet Dale described him as "one of my favorite people in the world."

Katie Donahoe, who graduated from Torrey Pines in 2000, said Poomi was not listed in the index of the 1999-2000 Torrey Pines yearbook, though his younger sister, Mai Jensen, appeared as a member of the school's freshman class.

A small photograph of Poomi appeared in the 1998-99 Torrey Pines yearbook, Donahoe said.

Attempts to contact the young man's father, Peter L. Jensen, were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Danai "Paul" Ngowjeenanant, who owns Thai Pan Express in Encinitas, said he was friends with the princess before she moved back to Thailand. The restaurateur said he met her when she and Poomi would visit a Solana Beach doughnut shop that he used to own, and developed a strong friendship with the royal family.

Poomi was a "really nice boy," and the princess was a "really good mom," Ngowjeenanant said.

According to court documents, Jensen married Mahidol, the Thai princess, in 1972. Mahidol, who also used the name Julie Jensen, petitioned for divorce in 1998.

The couple had three children: Ploypailin, born in 1981, Poomi, born in August 1983, and Sirikittiya Mai, born in 1985.

Poomi had autism and was severely disabled, court papers state.

Under a settlement, the mother was awarded custody of the children, and moved back to Thailand with Poomi in July 2001, after Poomi graduated from Torrey Pines.

Mai stayed with her father in the United States.

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