Bandidos Asia National Run & Phuket Bike Week 2011

Our National Run and Phuket Bike Week were only 14 days away and we still had much to organize in Phuket. Our new Phuket clubhouse was just finished and now it was hands on for everybody organizing the activities and details for all our Brothers from Asia and around the world that would very soon be descending on Patong in Phuket. Our planning and organization were going just fine at this point and with 14 days to go we were right on schedule and looking forward to the first arriving brothers.



Weather at the end of March and early April is usually one of the hottest times of the year and it would only be a few days after the Bike Week finished that we would have the Thai Songkran Water Festival. The most obvious part of the Songkran celebration is the t hrowing of water. Thais and visiting tourists alike roam the streets with containers of water or water guns (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc), or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. Due to it being the hottest time of the year this soaking was usually mixed with lots of fun and alcohol. But all of a sudden the climate started changing and storm reports started coming in. I must admit no one took it so seriously at first as tropical storms were always part of the agenda in Asia and normally we might have some fierce rain and some windy days but nothing to be very concerned about. This time we were seriously wrong and within a few days we had flooding's, landslides and thousands of people homeless across Thailand especially the Southern areas. Roads and bridges were washed away and in the Phang Nga area of Thailand which is near Phuket a large landslide had come down on a small village with sadly many people missing feared dead.



Days went past and I would be sending weather reports up to our brothers who were now very concerned about us and about being able to ride the 1000kms down from Bangkok. One week before the Bike Week should start some brothers rode over from Samui which is on the Eastern side of Thailand roughly 350kms away. They made the journey safely but came over with some shocking photographs which had been taken on the way.



Now with brothers arriving at the airport each day we had much to do and still we were unsure of how the main weekend would go. But it seemed to be that luck was on our side and just as our visitors started arriving the beautiful Thai weather came out and the searing heat that we were all accustomed to returned. It took hardly a few hours and everywhere was dry and you would have hardly noticed that

We had calculated around 150 brothers including families would be needing accommodation and as last year we put them into Phuket Palace Hotel but even before our first day which would be Wednesday 6thApril we had already used our room quota and we moved the now every arriving guests to the next Hotel round the corner to keep our Red & Gold Nation as much together as possible. Brothers were arriving from just about every Red & Gold location from around the world and it was a great time to catch up with Brothers we had not seen for so long. Wednesday evening we loaded up a few buses and ferried Brothers over from Patong area to Phuket Town where our new clubhouse was. We were very proud of the all new clubhouse and our visitors were all very impressed. We spent time until the early morning drinking and enjoying the Red & Gold Brotherhood until finally as the sun was rising we all drifted off to bed.



Thursday 7thApril was the main arrival day and we were happy to welcome all our Bangkok brothers safely to Phuket and many more from even further North. Today was a day for us as hosts to show our visitors some of Phuket's tourist attractions. We split our chapter up into various groups and headed of to lead our visiting guests to tropical island trips, shooting ranges and even elephant trekking. Many opted for a beach day and spent a few hours roasting in the Thai sun. That evening we rounded up as many willing guests as possible and went to a small but great tasting Italian restaurant in the Chalong area which was just a few kms over the mountain from Patong. That evening was not going to be so late as tomorrow was the main day for our National Run and we needed to be on the ball. But we still sat and talked over full stomachs and cups of espresso into the evening.

By Friday 7thApril 20111 our numbers were over 180 and at both hotels there was basically only Red & Gold to be seen. We were busy taking brothers over to our clubhouse as some had still not seen it and directing brothers and their families to areas of interest around Phuket. In the afternoon we rounded up everyone and went back over the mountain to the beach area of Chalong to a gorgeous seafood restaurant where we had prepared a huge buffet as the welcome dinner for our guests. It was a fantastic setting with nearly 200 of the Red & Gold family having a great buffet on fine white sand in a lovely warm Thai evening looking over the water to adjacent islands and an awesome sunset. Cold beers were flowing freely and with great food and even better company we all sat around talking and enjoying the best damn fucking Brotherhood in the world. It was nights like this where I was just so proud to be a Bandido. With full stomach we all returned later that evening and a Red & Gold cloud descended on Patong. Didn't matter where you went that night everywhere was just full of Bandits.



Looking at the weather reports it was thunderstorms with heavy rain and serious flooding all over the South of Thailand up to Bangkok. But it was as if an invisible shield was over Phuket and apart from seeing the odd cloud we only had beautiful sunshine.

Saturday 8th April 2011 was the main day of the Phuket Bike Week and we had set up tents with our support and member wear and two big ice boxes with cold drinks. We had a big meeting in the afternoon all together before we set off as one entity to the Patong beach area where the event would be. It was very crowded at the beach area and there was a large stage with live bands and many stalls selling everything from Indian Biker wear to fried bugs. Bikers from all over Asia had come to the event and we spent hours walking round meeting up with old friends and enjoying good Thai Biker Culture. Most of the MC's from Asia had a presence at the event but none had anywhere near our numbers or our grand set up. Anyone passing our tent would not be mistaken that Bandidos were the strongest and best damn motorcycle club in the world. We had all come as one and later that night we packed up and left as one and returned to the hotel before everyone split up and launched themselves into Patong beaches nightlife.



Sunday 9th April 2011 wasn't an early start but at lunchtime we started rounding up our brothers and moving everything over to a park area in Phuket Town. This Park area was only 1km from our clubhouse and the local government had asked us to help them with the organization for a Tsunami Charity Event to help both the Japanese Tsunami victims and also the Southern Thai people of whom 1,000's had lost homes and livelihood. We had specially printed Tsuanami Charity T-Shirts and all sales would be going to the charity for both Thai and Japanese victims. Our European Nationals had been exceptionally generous and put a large amount in the box and within a few hours we had raised 100,000 Thai Baht. Then with our National VP, one Prospect and myself we went over to a large Hotel where they were filming live coverage of the event and the amount of money that had been collected. We were introduced to the Phuket Governor and he thanked us for our help in organizing the charity event and that we had managed to collect 100,000THB. We then went live on stage to hand over the money and be personally thanked by the Phuket Governor. This was live for National TV and I was very proud to be on stage on behalf of all our brothers. This was then our last evening all together as tomorrow morning many would start to leave for home or other locations. So we packed up and sadly started to say our goodbyes to the brothers that would soon be leaving. The last few days had felt so good within our brotherhood and I felt a little sorry in so soon having to say goodbye, but there was still many visitors staying longer and tonight would not be the last party and in a few weeks it would be over to Bali to visit our Indonesian brothers and take part in Bali Bike Week.

Love, Loyalty & Respect

Bandido Crispin 1%er

President

Phuket Prospect Chapter BMC