Villy Christian Sørensen, the father of the Danish-Thai woman Jane Sørensen previously interviewed by ScandAsia, has now been positively identified with the help of the Danish Maritime Authority (Søfartsstyrelsen) and the Danish Maritime Museum.
The 60 year old Thai-Danish Jane Sorensen is a living reminder of the many Danish sailors that came to Thailand during the years from after the Second World War and up until the Laem Chabang Port opened in Chonburi in the early 1990’s. Previous stories are: My name is Jane Sorensen and Further to the life of Jane Sorensen.
Villy Christian Soerensen was born on 13 November 1918 in Herstedvester, Denmark. This is also confirmed by the church record of his baptism. Later, when Denmark introduced citizen ID numbers, he received ID number 131118-xxxx – the last four digits are known to ScandAsia.
After several years of sailing around the world, Villy Christian Soerensen boarded in 1964 for the first time the EAC owned cargo ship M/S BASRA and arrived Bangkok a few months later. In the Danish designed Klong Toey harbour, he met Jane’s mother. Four month later, he came back again and met Jane’s mother again. Jane Soerensen was born 20 December 1965.
Villy’s last visit to Bangkok as a sailor on M/S BASRA was in the summer of 1973. Jane remembers her age as 10 years old when she last saw her father, but in fact she must have been only 8 years old.
Villy Christian Soerensen’s record as a Danish sailor has been found by the Danish Maritime Authority on the request of curator Mette Iversen from the Danish Maritime Museum in Helsingoer, Denmark. The museum intends to include the story of Jane in a documentary exhibition showcasing the global influence of Danish sailors and the impressions they made where they went ashore.
Villy’s last known address in Denmark was Baadsmandsstraede 15, 1.th, 1407 Kbh K. He lived here in 1981 and we know that in 1987 he participated in the 100 Year Anniversary of the Danish Seafarers’ Union.
The three images below shows his years sailing on the EAC owned cargo ship M/S BASRA .
What remains to be researched is the key point of interest from the point of view of Jane Sorensen – whether she has any siblings in Denmark who will recognize her and maybe support her a little bit financially.
Mette Iversen did not stop here, but contacted some of the crew members who over the years would have been sailing with Villy on M/S Basra. One of them responded back with the below photos of Villy – mostly from moments off work either on board or on shore. The woman seen in some of them is not Jane’s mother. The beer on the table is Tiger Beer and on the paper on the table there are Chinese characters. A good guess would be ashore in Singapore harbour.
Jane Sorensen was overwhelmed with joy when she on 3 April 2024 saw the following photos of her father that she had missed for fifty years. The one she picked to show was for her a typical situation. She quoted him with a big smile saying “Hold kaeft hvor er jeg fuld!” in a broad Copenhagen dialect.
