Thailand 2013
Every year, on the second Saturday of January, Thailand celebrates Children’s Day. Besides a variety of festivities the Thai Air Force has open days on all their bases. Additionally, a number of army bases are open to the public. This seemed like a good opportunity to spend a week in the sun! Therefore, on Sunday 6 January a group of eight persons left for Thailand.
Every year, on the second Saturday of January, Thailand celebrates Children’s Day. Besides a variety of festivities the Thai Air Force has open days on all their bases. Additionally, a number of army bases are open to the public. This seemed like a good opportunity to spend a week in the sun! Therefore, on Sunday 6 January a group of eight persons left for Thailand.
After a long flight we set foot on Thai soil on Monday 7 January 2013. After custom formalities and rental Car pick up, we headed for the excellent Jesada museum. This museum has, amongst others, a nice G222 and quite a lot of Bird Dogs (a type that we would see more of the coming week). Our next stop was the Police Academy in Sampran. Besides a preserved Caribou we found an operational Bell 212 here. With the help of the friendly staff we were able to photograph the helicopter during start-up and take off. Last stop of the day was the storage of the Jesada museum where we could photograph two C123s. After a long day we headed for our hotel for a well-earned rest!
On Tuesday 8 January, we started out at the (basic) training base of the Thai Air Force, Khampang Saen. This base is home to the CT/4s and PC-9s of the Air Force. We found a spot outside the base and could photograph a number of CT/4s. When we asked if we could photograph the gate-guards, the security officer got so enthusiastic that he drove us all around the base to photograph the various preserved aircraft. In the end, we even could take some pictures in and from the PC-9 hangar. Thai hospitality at its best! In the afternoon we visited the Police base in Kanchanaburu which unfortunately had no helicopters at that time. We were in more luck at the nearby Army base. Besides a number of preserved aircraft we were more than welcome to photograph the operational helicopters, such as a Bell 212, Hughes 269 and Bell 206. Our hotel for the night was near Don Muang in Bangkok.
We had an early rise on Wednesday (9 January) for our flight to Chiang Mai. This combined civil/military airfield is home to all L-39s of the Thai Air Force. Besides that, the airfield hosts a branch of the famous Tango squadron. This club preserves and maintains a sort of historic flight for the Thai Air Force and has large collection of aircraft. As with many of these initiatives, budget is tight but enthusiasm is high! We had made prior arrangements with Tango squadron to show us around. Much to our delight, an L-39 of the Air Force was present at the Tango squadron. Other interesting visitors included an Army Jetstream 41, Mi-17 and U-19 and a HS748 of the Air Force. In the afternoon we visited the nearby Army base were we saw a Mi-17 and three Bell 212s. A visit to the airfield at the end of the day resulted in a HS748 and a KASET Bell 212. We also spent the night in Chiang Mai.
On Thursday 10 January we flew back to Don Muang, but not before we saw a KASET Bell 212 and Bell 206 leave the airfield. After landing at Don Muang we visited the large and beautiful Air Force museum there and some wrecks & relics in the neighborhood.
On Friday (11 January) we visited the main branch of the Tango squadron at Don Muang. They have a large collection of aircraft. Furthermore, we could photograph two visiting F-5s and a Bell 212. After our visit there we had a pre-arranged visit at the nearby Army base we were encountered nine Bell 212s. Our host there was able to arrange a visit to the Army unit at Don Muang in the afternoon, flying some interesting types such as the C212, Jetstream and Beech 1900. At the Air Force part of the base preparations for the Children’s Day were made. Unfortunately, they were too busy to allow us in, so we were not able to capture these aircraft. Since we had a long drive to Khorat AFB ahead of us, we decided to leave Bangkok rather early.
On Saturday 12 January Children’s Day was celebrated. We had an early start at Khorat were a small static display was prepared. More interesting was the flying program, that started out with a demonstration of a Bell 212 followed by the Thai Air Force F-16 solo display. The beautifully painted aircraft showed some real skills! Photo possibilities at Khorat are excellent; sun in the back and relative short distance to the taxiway. The solo display was followed by a tactical demonstration with four F-16s and some local F-16s flew missions. At the end of the tactical demonstration, the F-16s were parked at the static enabling some great photo opportunities. The nearby Thai Army base had a Bell 212 and Hughes 269 on display that could be photograph upon departure.
The final Sunday (13 January) was used for visiting some wrecks & relics locations in and around Bangkok, while another part of the group went to the city to see some temples. Our flight home, via Doha (where we were able to capture a number of Qatar Emiri Air Force aircraft), to Brussels departed on Monday 14 January a couple of hours after midnight as scheduled.
Looking back at our trip we were very happy with the hospitality shown by the Thai people. A tour that we will certainly consider rerunning in the future!
