by Dr. Iain
Corness
Vagn Christensen, a retired Scandinavian Airlines
System (SAS) pilot from Denmark is an average sized man with a larger than
life heart. He has been instrumental in bringing over 80 million baht of
charity contributions to this country, yet has done so without fanfare or
looking for personal kudos. In fact, most people in Pattaya would never
have heard of him. This article will hopefully redress this situation.
People such as Vagn Christensen deserve to be recognized by the rank and
file as well as by those in “high places” already in the know.
He
was born in Aalborg in Denmark, the home of Danish Schnapps. His father
was an electrician and when Vagn was 16 years old he was apprenticed into
the trade. “It was natural,” he said. He embarked on the 4 year
apprenticeship.
However, the young Vagn’s teacher at school had been
a pilot. “He made it sound so interesting.” With this in the back of
his mind, he gave up his apprenticeship after 3 years. “I ran away to
become a fly boy,” he said mischievously.
Each year there were over 1200 aspiring pilots and only
40 pilots’ seats to be filled. His was successful and he became an air
force pilot, staying with the Danish air force for 7 years, including a
stint in Canada, but mourned the loss of many of his pilot buddies, losing
42 colleagues in that time. In those early days of jet planes, it was not
the safe profession that it is today.
Vagn Christensen then joined SAS as a pilot, and ended
up staying with them for thirty-three and a half years! He considers that
SAS was the best working place in Denmark, but also says that, “If you
pick work you enjoy, you never have a dull day in your life.” That is
probably the most sage advice that could ever be given to the youth of
today.
At SAS he rose through the ranks, finally being a
Captain Flight Instructor, passing on his knowledge and expertise to the
younger recruits. “That was the most interesting time in all of my
flying. I saw the female pilots coming in. They had to be 25% better than
the males just to get in. They studied very hard and knew the basics. They
were serious.” With his blue eyes twinkling, Vagn also added, “I
always enjoyed their company.” However, it should be pointed out that he
is still a happily married man, having married an air hostess. (I always
suspected more goes on at the flight deck than we are told about!)
With the expansion of SAS into Asia in 1976, Captain
Christensen was one of their lead pilots on the Bangkok to Manila route,
which then returned to Bangkok via India. With the schedules in those
early days, it meant that after each round trip he then had 7 days off in
Bangkok. “It was a paid vacation.”
This idyllic state lasted for 18 months, during which
time he met Father Ray Brennan of the Pattaya Orphanage. This occurred at
a Rotary International meeting Vagn attended in Bangkok. The Rotary
connection was also something that Vagn had picked up from his father, who
was not only an electrician, but also a Rotarian in Denmark.
This resulted in Vagn and his wife visiting the Pattaya
Orphanage. In those early days there were 18 children living there, all
sleeping on the bare floor. His first words to his wife were, “We have
to get some beds for these kids.” This he arranged through other
Rotarians who worked in SAS, and the Pattaya connection became
strengthened.
To raise money for the charity work he envisaged in
Pattaya, Vagn Christensen did not spend his time shaking a collection box
under people’s noses. He devised money making schemes that appealed to
people, and used his own expertise and connections. The answer was
sightseeing flights, such as over Jutland in a 747 at 1,500 feet, giving
the passengers a once in a lifetime opportunity, and the profits from
these flights were then the opportunity for life for some needy children
in Pattaya.
For one of the trips he even rented a Concorde, which
took everyone on board over Scotland and back in under an hour, flying at
more than twice the speed of sound. And how much did it cost to rent a
supersonic airliner? “1.198 million new francs. I can still remember
signing the contract,” he said. By the way, that converts to something
under 7 million baht. A tidy sum to have to put your name to and be
responsible for.
In this way he has raised enough money to build,
amongst other projects, the Deaf School for Father Ray, who acknowledged
this by making the school uniform colours the red and white of Denmark.
There is also a Danish flag which flies in the courtyard of the school.
His continuous charity work has led to the formation of
the Ronbe Rotary Club Pattaya Foundation and a strong core of supporters
of the Pattaya Orphanage who through monthly commitments send 250,000 baht
each month for food for the children. His personal commitment has been so
strong that this charity work has now gone beyond just Rotary and now
includes the Lions organization as well. This commitment has been noted
and a few years ago he was presented with a Friend of Thailand award, but
to meet this self effacing man, you would not know it.
I asked him about his own ambitions, but he said
simply, “I live from day to day. I’m satisfied with what I have.”
That in itself is surely the hallmark of success.
Now 68 years old, the retired pilot comes over three
times a year as a tour facilitator from Denmark, dispensing charity as he
sees the need. The Rotary creed includes the statement - Service Above
Self. Vagn Christensen is the embodiment of that ideal. I was humbled in
his presence.