by Dr. Iain
Corness
If you’ve never met the “self made man”, then
here he is. Many people know Carl Engel, the big bluff current president
of the Pattaya Sports Club and chairman of the fishing section for many
years, but how many of you know that he has also shaken hands with a
Japanese Emperor, worked in Patagonia or been a Deputy Sheriff? This is
the one man whose been there, done that and got the t-shirt! In fact,
several t-shirts!
Carl was born in Abilene, Texas USA. He was an only
child and his mother remarried an army colonel, so the young Carl was used
to shifting around, including a spell in Japan after the war was over. It
was there that he shook hands with Emperor Hirohito.
However,
after returning to America, Carl’s mother became ill and died.
Philosophically Carl accepted the fact that he did not fit into his
stepfather’s life and from then on he considered himself to be on his
own. It was at that tender age that he took control and responsibility for
himself. He was 15 years old and went to live with his aunt.
He went back to school and pumped gasoline in the
service stations at nights and weekends. He was not to know it at the
time, but the petro-chemical industry was to be his future. However, there
was to be a sacrifice - his right little finger, lost in an industrial
accident in the oilfield in Abilene!
He then went to work for a large company, El Paso,
where he worked as a plant operator. The bulk of this time he was in Texas
and like most young men, he married and began a family, being blessed with
two sons. This was not to be his future, though, as separation and divorce
was the end result. But Carl was also moving on through a period of
personal development too. “One of the bravest things I ever did was when
I used to work for El Paso. It was 1975 and I was with them for nineteen
and a half years and then I quit and went out on my own. In those days
with companies like that if you got fired you would commit suicide.
Everyone said how stupid I was.”
The next phase saw Carl working as a contractor,
training people to be plant operators too. “My job was to work myself
out of a job and then find myself another job!” The search for new jobs
re-lit the travel bug and he went to such interesting places as Iran, in
time to catch the revolution. “There was no law and order, it was just a
regular revolution,” said Carl in that matter-of-fact Texas drawl, as if
everyone would know what it was like to be in a “regular revolution!”
There were also times when the situation looked grim
too. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but since then I’ve been very
successful. I’ve been down to $100 to my name!”
After Iran, there were more countries to be
experienced, from the UAE to Japan, and even Argentina, where the
Patagonia connection came in. The next was Thailand, with Gas Plant Number
1 in Maptaput. It was 1985 and Carl Engel came to Pattaya. “I decided to
live here in Thailand and started my second life.” He continued with
contracting and then formed his own international company involved in
personnel placement. That “second life” was looking good.
As part of that “second life” there was marriage to
Som and Carl was further blessed with one daughter and another son.
However, three years ago, Som passed away and Carl had to adjust to being
a single parent, as well as an older parent. “I think older parents make
better parents. You have more time for the children and you are
financially more stable. I get up at five in the morning to get the kids
ready for school (they both go to the International School of the Eastern
Seaboard). It keeps me young. I ain’t got the time to get old!”
When he does have some time, Carl has his fishing.
“I’ve lived around lakes and gone fishing all of my life. I enjoy it.
I’m not an expert, I just like fishing.” He may claim that he is no
expert, but the large photo album with Carl and his fishing pals would
appear to me to indicate someone with a fairly extensive knowledge of the
sport.
As part of this “second life” he has his community
commitment. “If you’re going to live in a Buddhist country you have to
learn something about the religion.” To this end he has spent time in
the saffron robes in the wat. He also has a commitment to the more needy
in the community, which he does through the Pattaya Sports Club, one of
the biggest contributors to the welfare of needy children in Pattaya.
“People should put something back into the community where they live,”
was his simple reason for this side of his life. This does take time as
well as his family commitments, but Carl does not regret it. “If I
didn’t, I guess I’d end up like the other guys you see sitting in bars
all day.”
I asked him about what success meant to him and he
replied with the comment that when he asks for a blessing he asks to be
healthy, to be safe, to be happy and to be successful (financially).
“But to be healthy, that’s the most important,” he said.
His advice to the young was a simple, “Just be honest
with people, study, work hard, have your goals and plan for the bad
times.”
Carl Engel said at the beginning of the interview that
he was sure that if he were dropped anywhere in the world, he’d get by.
After being with him for an hour, I am confident he would. And get another
t-shirt as well! A fitting president for the Pattaya Sports Club.
