by Dr. Iain
Corness
One
of the stalwarts of the Jesters Motorcycle Club and its supporting of
charities on the Eastern Seaboard is a laconic English ‘biker’ often
seen at the ‘Superstar’ table in Shenanigans Irish Pub. This is Neil
Sandilands, a man who began riding motorcycles when he was 10 years old,
and will be riding them for a few years yet, even though he does admit to
getting a little saddle-sore on rides to Bangkok these days! However, he
was once a professional motorcycle racer - “I was in the Sunday
Telegraph twice and my total prize money was 30 shillings!”
Neil was born in Slough in the UK, the eldest son of a
panel beater. “A proper panel beater,” said Neil quickly, his father
working in the days before two part epoxy filler. At school he enjoyed
taking things apart and putting them back together, so it was a natural
progression for him to go to an apprenticeship college to study mechanical
engineering.
In those days in England, the advice to sons from
parents was always, “Get a trade, son!” However, young Neil also had a
mind-set that incorporated social rights and wrongs. “I dropped out half
way through because they were using us as cheap labour.”
He returned to the family fold and went to work in the
family business, where he was gainfully employed for the next seven years,
but like all young bucks, he needed to do something on his own. He also
wanted to travel - to Saudi Arabia!
The reason for this strange wish was a young girl in
his class at school, but this was not the usual story of excess
circulating male hormones. “This girl, she had everything, new clothes,
a new bike, everything - and her father worked in Saudi!” For schoolboy
Neil, Saudi seemed to be the next best thing to Eldorado.
After leaving the family business he undertook training
in non-destructive testing and inspection and then joined a UK inspection
company that had contracts in Saudi. “My first job was on a desert
pipeline. I was there for six and a half months. It was just sand. I saw
Riyadh twice and Alkhobar once.”
The lack of tourist attractions in the desert did not
deter Neil in any way. “Once you start traveling you don’t stop,” he
said. “It’s just different. Some people have tunnel vision, but
they’re happy in their own little corner, but not me, I’ve always
enjoyed traveling.” Neil certainly did not stop. He had been back in the
UK for five days after Saudi, whereupon he was off to Spain for a month
and then back to the Saudi sand.
To show the peripatetic nature of the construction
workers, after three months in Saudi, he returned again to the UK, to be
shipped to South America 47 hours later! That is correct - 47 hours, not
days!
For the next few years it was work and travel, travel
and work, taking him all over the world including India, Egypt, Libya, New
Zealand and Abu Dhabi. The itinerant lifestyle, however, was not one that
was conducive for marital bliss, Neil being reminded of the fact that when
he came back from Abu Dhabi, his life changed. “That’s when my house
was stolen,” he said whimsically. “I had a white wife who took
everything, though I still have the carry-on bag that I left with!”
The next stop for Neil and his carry-on bag was Pattaya.
A friend had been coming over on holidays and suggested Neil come too.
“I came to Pattaya for that holiday and never got around to leaving,”
was Neil’s simple explanation as to why he was here.
Initially he was again commuting to Abu Dhabi, but with
the oil refineries being built in Maptaput there was local work for Neil
for the next five years. However, even that ceased and Neil was ‘on the
road again’, but retained Pattaya as his home base.
It was during this period of relative geographical
stability that Neil bought his first Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It was no
whim, but something he had always wanted, ever since seeing the film
‘Easy Rider’ as a young boy in the UK. “One day I’ll buy a
Harley-Davidson,” said Neil to himself way back then. In 1994 he did!
That Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper movie classic probably did more for the
fortunes of Harley-Davidson than anything else!
It is natural that enthusiasts of anything will
gravitate together, and so in 1996 the Jesters Motorcycle Club was formed.
It was also almost inevitable that the Jesters would gravitate towards
charity fund-raising. Neil was no stranger to this aspect of life, having
been in Rotoract (a branch of Rotary International) for 11 years in the
UK. It just needed a catalyst, and that was Alice Poulsen who was a
volunteer at the Fountain of Life School, asking if the Jesters could
help. This they did, with the first event being a Pub Night at
Shenanigans, that raised over one million baht! “It was started by two
drunks,” mused Neil, “me and Kim (Fletcher) and now it is 14.5 million
baht later.” Those Pub Nights have not ended either, now being a Pattaya
institution, with one this weekend (September 18) at Shenanigans as usual.
These days, the world traveler has again put down some
roots, having bought a house in Jomtien and recently marrying his lovely
Thai lady, Pen. “It must be old age creeping up on me,” said Neil. Of
course, those roots do include his prized Harley-Davidson, parked under
cover outside, while in the lounge room is a full-size working replica of
one of the first motorcycles built by William Harley and Walter, Arthur
and William Davidson in 1903. “Pen can’t understand why I would spend
money on a bicycle,” said Neil - but any real enthusiast would
understand.
Neil Sandilands has truly settled down here, and while his job may take
him around the world, his heart and his Harleys are here!
