Thailand 2020
Yet again, in 2020 the new year was opened with a 4Aviation tour to Thailand. Early January 2020 we travelled to the country for the fourth time to witness some of the activities of the annual National Children’s Day/Wan Dek. During the week leading up to this event, we visited other locations as well.
Additional photo; Koos Heemskerk (F-5)
In recent years, the 4Aviation year starts with our tour to Thailand. Also in 2020, when the group met as Schiphol on Saturday 4 January. We had consulted all participants joining us from Amsterdam beforehand on the flights that we were planning to take. Since Jordanian offered an interesting rate we took their flight from Amsterdam to Amman and then continued to Bangkok. To compensate for the long stopover (that is why we consulted all that had booked already) the participants received a partial refund. After a long trip (the stopover at Amman was long indeed) we arrived in Bangkok on Sunday (5 January) in the afternoon. At the airport we met the majority of the other participants that had flown in earlier on the day or were in Thailand already. Because of the group size (10 in total) we chose for local transport with a driver this time, instead of renting two cars. This meant that we were met by a taxi driver at the airport that took us to our hotel for the next two nights. This is where the final participant had checked in already. That night the first meal and drinks were enjoyed in the restaurant next to the hotel. This was a real treat (setting and food), and we ended up there several times more.
On Monday (6 January) we left the hotel at 6 AM. No breakfast at the time of the day, but with 7-11s nearby that issue was tackled easily. The taxi arrived in time and we headed for Kamphaeng Saen, a Royal Thai Air Force training base. On arrival there we headed straight for the main gate to try and negotiate access on the spot. Hoping that having a Thai speaking taxi driver to assist us would help, we were hoping for access (like in 2013). Unfortunately this was not the case, but we were able to capture the gate guards nearby. We then went to the approach where we were able to photograph the many CT/4s that flew and two PC-9s. The next stop for today was the Army base in Kanchanaburi. As was the case a couple of times before, we were allowed to capture the two helicopters that were present. After taking time to capture the various wrecks & relics near this place we paid a visit to the “Bridge over the River Kwai”, where a German Alouette 2 is preserved nearby. By then the time had come to return to Bangkok and our, by now, familiar restaurant.
On Tuesday 7 January we took an early Air Asia flight to Chiang Mai. On arrival there we were met by the lady that was going to take us to the Tango Squadron. The pre-arranged visit went according to plan, with them allowing us to capture all aircraft they possess and preserve in Chiang Mai. Almost all aircraft are inside, but quite a few of them can still be captured quite OK. The one that are under the hardened shelters (T-28s, OV-10s, T-33, etc.) are more tricky. After thanking them we jumped in the taxi that was waiting for us already. The taxi driver had an easy afternoon since we asked him to take us to the approach, where we stayed for a couple of hours. Lots of civil traffic was seen, but no L-39s unfortunately. For those interested in military stuff only, the day was saved by three choppers (Army and Police) that landed late afternoon. We checked in at our hotel and asked the taxi driver to find us a nice restaurant for the evening (which he did of course).
Wednesday (8 January) started with a short delay. After breakfast we were waiting for our taxi to arrive but he didn’t show up on time. Calling him didn’t work and his boss told us “driver probably still asleep”. An Uber was called in to resolve this and when our own taxi eventually showed up the driver tried to convince us that his car had a battery problem. We first went to our favourite position with lots of shade on the first floor of a building in the approach. There, we were very happy to see an L-39 come out and take off. It did a practice run for its flying display during Wan Dek on Saturday. An H225M Caracal did the same. We then hoped for more L-39s, but got the Royal Thai Navy showing up. After a Navy ERJ135LR, and us repositioning to our position from Tuesday again (following the sun), we saw an S-70B, an MH-60S and an S-76 come in. At the end of the afternoon the taxi took us to the passenger terminal again for our flight back to Bangkok and our hotel near Don Mueang. The overall temperatures in Thailand ensured that the drinks we enjoyed that evening tasted very good.
The rehearsals for National Children’s Day/Wan Dek at Don Mueang were planned to take place on Thursday 9 January. We arrived at the spot we wanted to be in time for the first “display”. This was an F-16 that did a high-speed pass at 08.15 in the morning. The F-16 was followed by three UA-23As and a dogfight by two F-16s with a T-50 (but they were too far away for decent photos). After the arrival of three RTAF Gripens we went to the very impressive Royal Thai Air Force museum at the air base. Having spent a couple of hours there, we went to the approach again (a different spot though). The rest of the afternoon was spent there. We saw one of the Gripens fly its rehearsal and an Army ERJ135 arrived. Other than that nothing military arrived while we were there. All in all, the day was a bit slow, since we had hoped for more locals to show up for us.
Our schedule for Friday (10 January) saw us start at the KASET and MNRE heliport of Khlong Luang. Since we had been allowed in for photography there a couple of times without any problems before, we were surprised to get a ‘no’ when showing up. A bit of a disappointment, but they were not planning on changing their position. After a couple of wrecks & relics we went to Don Mueang again for approach shots. After shooting a BT-67 and a KASET C212 the police showed up (for the second time, 20 minutes earlier two police officers wished us well after informing what we were doing there). The somewhat too fanatic “boss” told us we couldn’t take photos. Although we were miles away from the actual airport and basically just “somewhere in Thailand”, he insisted that we should stop taking photos. Of course, the F-5 for the static display landed while the police was there. Apparently we didn’t respond in the way he wanted us to, since he then decided we all (almost all, one was in the museum and two had ventured off to another position) had to come to the police station. So, off we went to the police station in the back of a police pick-up and a taxi. At the police station, our “I want a promotion” chief left and we were dealt with by different people. First thing they said was not to worry and that we did nothing wrong. Long story short; we had mugshots being taken, were told that security was extra tight because of the “US-Iran” situation and were brought back to the approach. Of course, all this took quite some time and we found out that we had missed a couple of interesting aircraft coming in while we were away. We decided not to stay and tried, unsuccessfully, to get permission to enter the army base at Bang Khen. The best alternative for the rest of the afternoon was to head for the Jesada museum. So we did. Bangkok traffic made sure that the visit took the rest of the day. In the evening we concluded that our “battle plan” for the Saturday had to work, in order to make the Saturday the most successful day of the tour.
Saturday 11 January was the actual day of Wan Dek (National Children’s Day). We started early, leaving the hotel at 06.00. We were using two cars with drivers today, since we needed more room and were carrying all our luggage. First stop was Don Mueang, only a couple of kilometres away. We were in position to enter among the very first visitors from 07.00. We entered in time and were able to find a good spot for the flying display. A Police CN235 took off as an extra, before the three UA-23s took off. The display started with the high-speed pass of an F-16, followed by the three Peacemakers. After that it was time for the dogfight between the T-50 and two F-16. After a SAR demo of a H225M the T-50 and the two F-16s landed. All were parked in front of us. This all result in a number of very good shots! The first visit of today was a success. We then rushed out as quickly as we could, got back in the taxis and headed for Lop Buri. We first visited the army base there (Lop Buri – Sa Pran Nak). We arrived in time and the six choppers that made up the static display (six different types) were still there and planning to take off at 1 PM. We then visited the interesting Army museum first before getting in position for the take-off of the choppers. This went according to plan. The second visit of today was a success. The third and final stop was at the air force base in Lop Buri (Koke Kathiem). Here also we were able to capture various choppers and a CT/4 and DA-42, besides various wrecks & relics. Since the event was almost at its end, they started clearing the area, which helped us getting good clean shots. The third visit of today was a success.
By then it was time to say goodbye to three participants already. They were in the other vehicle and all had to get back to the city of Bangkok, rather than the airport. The rest was brought to the international airport for the return journey (via Amman again for some). The tour officially ended on Sunday 12 January with the arrival of a Royal Jordanian airbus at Amsterdam-Schiphol. This also ended our fourth visit to Thailand. All in all, the tour was interesting, but a bit disappointing to be honest. We had higher expectations, based on previous visits. The plus side though was that it was a tour in very good company!
