Thailand (2018)

Thailand 2018

วันเด็กแห่งชาติ / Wan Dek / National Children’s Day

Thailand 2018

The annual Children’s Day in Thailand was the main reason for 4Aviation to put this beautiful Asian country on the itinerary as the first destinations for 2018. We organised a tour for a full week as there is enough to see and do, and the weather wasn’t bad either.

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8 January 2018

Our second tour through Thailand started in full swing on Monday morning 8 January 2018. The majority of the group of ten had arranged their own flights to this lovely Asian country and settled into the hotel on the western outskirts of Bangkok on Sunday evening.

This Monday we headed out west for our first visit to an operational Royal Thai Air Force Base, Kamphaeng Saen. Here we were allowed to take pictures of the preserved aircraft at the gate, but could not get access to the flightline. We were told to come back the next Saturday, on Children’s Day. The southern approach, however, also gives great views of the approaching aircraft. We were treated on lots of activities with CT/4A and Es, PC-9s and DA-42 practising lots of landing/Take offs and touch & Goes.

After a great couple of hours we ventured out further west to Camp Surasri near Kanchanaburi. This is the homebase for a small army helicopter unit. There was some activity in the air and lots of activity on the ground. Some sort of training was in progress and taking pictures of the helicopters was unfortunately not possible. There were several Wrecks & Relics (W&R) in the area which we allowed to capture. We gradually headed back to our hotel via a couple of more W&R.

9 January 2018

The itinerary or Tuesday 9 January 2018, showed a couple of museums, the main one being the Jesada Technik Museum. That museum not only has an excellent aircraft collection, but also hundreds of cars. We also passed the historic site of the original Bridge over the River Kwai, which was very impressive. Another interesting find was the Nakhon Pathom Aircraft Market and the brand new Hangar Café and Hangar Ball in the same town. After that we paid the police academy at Sam Phran for their DHC-4. That evening we transitioned to another hotel near Don Mueang airport. Our home base for the next four nights.

10 January 2018

On Wednesday 10 January 2018 the alarms went early as we had to catch a flight to Chiang Mai. The flight with Air Asia went smoothly, as did picking up our rental cars. We had pre-arranged a visit with the Tango Squadron at the local airbase. This volunteer run unit owns many historic Air Force aircraft, several of which are airworthy. The visit was at 13.00hr, so we had some time to look around. With the help of some locals we found an amazing spot on a roof in the approach. Here we saw lots of civil airliners in many different colour schemes, but the six L-39s attracted our attention.

The visit to Tango squadron was excellent. We were able to photograph all aircraft and the stories of the guides were great. After the visit we had to look for look for another spot in the approach as the sun had swung around the approach. We found another great spot and noted a similar scene as in the morning, lots of colourful airliners and four L-39 on a training mission. After enjoying a lovely meal we prepared for our flight back with Nokair.

11 January 2018

On Thursday 11 January 2018 a general rehearsal was scheduled for part of the airshow at Don Mueang. We had lined up in the approach early, but better had stayed in bed. The weather was overcast and the four F-16s were fast and far away. The weather, however, improved somewhat and we decided to visit the amazing Air Force museum to take pictures of the outdoor exhibits. Lots of construction was going on, building tents and grandstands, for Children’s day, but we were in time to take decent pictures. We now drove north to Khlong Luang. At this large heliport a KASET and MNRE unit are based, these are the agricultural ‘police’ and Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment aviation elements. We were allowed to take pictures of the latter units helicopters, five nicely lined up AS350BAs. Next door is the agricultural museum with also some W&R. The Army at Bang Khen was not cooperative, but also no helicopters were outside to take pictures of anyway.

12 January 2018

On Friday 12 January 2018 we started with the main police aviation element at Ram Inthara. Their main gate is covered with a real C-47. On the road from here to the headquarters several W&R were located but were now dispersed around the large heliport due to heavy construction works. The deputy commander gave us permission to photograph these aircraft, unfortunately not the active helicopters of which several dozen were seen. Something to try for a next visit. After that we had scheduled a couple of hours at the Air Force museum. Those interested also walked in the vicinity where several other W&R are located. The last hours of light were spent at the Don Mueang approach where we noted several VIP aircraft coming in.

13 January 2018

Saturday 13 January 2018, was the main reason for our trip to Thailand. Wan Dek, or Children’s Day is celebrated every second Saturday in January. During the week we had discussed our plans for this day and the group wanted to see as many different types of aircraft as possible. The event at Don Mueang is one of the largest, so we started there. Our hotel was close to the event and we parked our cars tactically so we could ‘escape’ the event without traffic hassle. We reported to the museum gate at about 06:30hr and the gates opened at 7:00hr. You could take a shuttle bus to the static/flight line or walk giving a few more opportunities. The static consisted of some 20 aircraft and as we were very early these could be graphed fairly ok. At 08:00hr an F-16 dashed by with high speed, followed by four F-16s doing a show. Oppose to the Thursday taking pictures was now great. A Lop Buri based H225M did a Search & Rescue display followed by three AU-23 and the four F-16 landing and parking in front of the crowds. Then it was time for us to leave as we wanted to visit other places.

We drove north to Lop Buri-Sa Pran Nak, the largest Army base. The event was not at the airfield, but near the Headquarters. Here five helicopters were on display to the public. Talking to the pilots we learned all helicopters would depart within minutes. This was great to witness! After this we drove to the museum on base and several other W&R. But no time to lose as Lop Buri-Koke Kathiem, an Air Force base, was nearby. Here the event was almost at its end, but because of that we could take clean shots of the static aircraft and the many W&R around the base.

It was time to go back south, our hotel near the international airport. Here we had our last meal and drink of the successful trip. The majority of the group went home the next Sunday. During our week we saw a large variety of aircraft of the Thai armed forces.

Thailand 2018

Thailand 2018

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Thailand (2018)

Thailand 2018

Thailand 2018

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