Hey There,
Just wondering if anyone has any information about flying in Thailand and what kind of license is required for that area.
I have searched for information and it seems like ICAO has a lot of control but they also had a local authority which publishes their websites in Thai.
Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!
Canadian to Thai conversion
Moderators: lilfssister, North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, I WAS Birddog
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
I fly in Thailand see: http://www.mpaviation.com/site.htm
You need to go to the DCA in Bangkok and write the Aviation Regulations and Human Factors exams.
You'll need to join a flying club or the SFAT in Thailand and get a recommendation to write the exam.
Thai Flying Club at Bang Phra charge 10,000 Baht for membership ($300) and you need to submit an application through them. If you give me your fax number I'll fax a copy of this application to you.
http://www.thaiflyingclub.com/
The DCA will charge you 2,000 Baht for the licence validation valid up to one year.
The Human Factors exam includes questions on TEM and SHELL, look them up on the web.... Most people fail the Human Factors exam as it's well 'out there'! I passed it first time, but some would say I'm well 'out there' too
The Aviation Regulations are based on the ICAO Chicago convention December 1945, this is only a few pages, the exam is easy.
I did a licence validation through the Sport Flying Association of Thailand and it authorised me to fly aircraft of SFAT. SFAT has no aircraft!
So I coughed up, joined the Thai Flying Club, and paid another 2,000 Baht to the DCA and got a second licence approving me to fly their aircraft... I'm going to be back in Thailand during the Olympic Security Games here.
The application requires you to provide certified photocopies of your licence medical and the last page of your logbook showing that you are current, and three photographs.
I suppose I'll have to fly this aeroplane again the next time I'm at the Thai Flying Club:
You need to go to the DCA in Bangkok and write the Aviation Regulations and Human Factors exams.
You'll need to join a flying club or the SFAT in Thailand and get a recommendation to write the exam.
Thai Flying Club at Bang Phra charge 10,000 Baht for membership ($300) and you need to submit an application through them. If you give me your fax number I'll fax a copy of this application to you.
http://www.thaiflyingclub.com/
The DCA will charge you 2,000 Baht for the licence validation valid up to one year.
The Human Factors exam includes questions on TEM and SHELL, look them up on the web.... Most people fail the Human Factors exam as it's well 'out there'! I passed it first time, but some would say I'm well 'out there' too
The Aviation Regulations are based on the ICAO Chicago convention December 1945, this is only a few pages, the exam is easy.
I did a licence validation through the Sport Flying Association of Thailand and it authorised me to fly aircraft of SFAT. SFAT has no aircraft!
So I coughed up, joined the Thai Flying Club, and paid another 2,000 Baht to the DCA and got a second licence approving me to fly their aircraft... I'm going to be back in Thailand during the Olympic Security Games here.
The application requires you to provide certified photocopies of your licence medical and the last page of your logbook showing that you are current, and three photographs.
I suppose I'll have to fly this aeroplane again the next time I'm at the Thai Flying Club:
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
Michael, was Tom Claytor still at the Bang Phra airport when you were there? Spent a few nights on the hammocks at the bushpilot lounge.
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
Wow,
thanks for all that info. That'll be really helpful. It also sounds fairly easy compared to alot of diffent countries out there. I was looking at the Phuket flying club which is afilliated with the Thailand flying club. Im imagining that would work.
Cheers
thanks for all that info. That'll be really helpful. It also sounds fairly easy compared to alot of diffent countries out there. I was looking at the Phuket flying club which is afilliated with the Thailand flying club. Im imagining that would work.
Cheers
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
I dont have a fax number but I think that I can make due with all that youve given me.
BTW great little plane you got there!!
BTW great little plane you got there!!
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
Phuket Flying Club does not have any aeroplanes to rent so far as I know.
They are still going through the approval phase with the DCA.
My introduction to flying in Thailand was by accident in a way.
I dropped in to Bang Phra in 2004... The owner of a CAP10C was having trouble looping it... I then spent six days teaching his friend, Tom Claytor, aerobatics in it.
Tom is in Argentina doing some mountain climbing in preparation for an expedition in Nepal.
I did not see him last month because of this.
They are still going through the approval phase with the DCA.
My introduction to flying in Thailand was by accident in a way.
I dropped in to Bang Phra in 2004... The owner of a CAP10C was having trouble looping it... I then spent six days teaching his friend, Tom Claytor, aerobatics in it.
Tom is in Argentina doing some mountain climbing in preparation for an expedition in Nepal.
I did not see him last month because of this.
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
Gotcha,
I guess I will have to go somewhere else. The only reason I was going to Phuket was because my wife is working in that area.
I just sent an email off and Tom was one of the contacts that was on my list.
I was asking them about flying professionally over there. Thats really what my plan is. Either instructing or preferably turbine stuff.
I imagine that they can help me with this. Unless you guys know anything about this.
I guess I will have to go somewhere else. The only reason I was going to Phuket was because my wife is working in that area.
I just sent an email off and Tom was one of the contacts that was on my list.
I was asking them about flying professionally over there. Thats really what my plan is. Either instructing or preferably turbine stuff.
I imagine that they can help me with this. Unless you guys know anything about this.
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
I took a C208B Caravan course in Bangkok a few years ago.
A Canadian trained pilot, a Belgian, and a Norwegian all got on with the airline and I was on standby.
I warned them the Norwegian would be off as soon as a jet job came up, he'd been on 737s before, and he went within a couple of weeks of going on line.
One chap went to India, and the other chap went home.
I did my best to encourage the final foreigner to stay on with flying the Caravan, but he got fed up and left.
They have hired some foreign pilots for a Saab 340 start-up in Thailand.
There were foreign pilots at Destination Air in Phuket which has gone out of business (twice I think).
The DCA are wary of foreign pilots who have shamed us all in the past, hence the need to write exams for the validation.
There have been a few accidents that have caused a lot of concern not least of which was the MD accident at Phuket where the DCA itself was (threatened with?) being sued.
A flying job in Thailand would be a dream of many and a reality of very very few foreigners.
I spent six months having fun during which I put three people through their PPL courses... One came here with the PTR I provided and did his CPL in Edmonton.
That was possible to do up until the Cessna 172F was crashed by a foreigner at Lamphun... The reprecussions from that accident put paid to any further teaching by farangs there, and ultimately to the end of the club itself. Mai dee, it was so good.
If you fly in Thailand, do it correctly and safely.
A Canadian trained pilot, a Belgian, and a Norwegian all got on with the airline and I was on standby.
I warned them the Norwegian would be off as soon as a jet job came up, he'd been on 737s before, and he went within a couple of weeks of going on line.
One chap went to India, and the other chap went home.
I did my best to encourage the final foreigner to stay on with flying the Caravan, but he got fed up and left.
They have hired some foreign pilots for a Saab 340 start-up in Thailand.
There were foreign pilots at Destination Air in Phuket which has gone out of business (twice I think).
The DCA are wary of foreign pilots who have shamed us all in the past, hence the need to write exams for the validation.
There have been a few accidents that have caused a lot of concern not least of which was the MD accident at Phuket where the DCA itself was (threatened with?) being sued.
A flying job in Thailand would be a dream of many and a reality of very very few foreigners.
I spent six months having fun during which I put three people through their PPL courses... One came here with the PTR I provided and did his CPL in Edmonton.
That was possible to do up until the Cessna 172F was crashed by a foreigner at Lamphun... The reprecussions from that accident put paid to any further teaching by farangs there, and ultimately to the end of the club itself. Mai dee, it was so good.
If you fly in Thailand, do it correctly and safely.
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
Thanks again Micheal,
I guess what youre saying is that it is possible, but potentially difficult.
I have a class 3 intrucator rating and a PPC on a B200 and a navajo. Did you do your instructor rating in Canada? were you employeed on the 208??
From what Im understanding is that so long as I can pass the exams and provide the documentation there is a chance of working there.
I guess what youre saying is that it is possible, but potentially difficult.
I have a class 3 intrucator rating and a PPC on a B200 and a navajo. Did you do your instructor rating in Canada? were you employeed on the 208??
From what Im understanding is that so long as I can pass the exams and provide the documentation there is a chance of working there.
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
I have a Canadian Class II instructor rating and Class I aerobatic.
You'll need to be either married to a Thai, be so desirable a Thai company will pull strings to get you in, or be in a position that a Thai person could not take.
One of my Thai students got on with the reincarnation of Destination Air to be sent to the USA for his float endorsement, but that incarnation died! He's gone into the retail business! IMO a Thai CPL with a float endorsement can go where only 1,500 hours float time could take a foreigner before.
I taught a few people to fly there but I could not work there... It was my pleasure
To get a work permit is very very difficult.
You could go there and own 49% of a business and get a work permit that way. There are many foreigners who work in Thailand through having a large slice of a Thai company (but not a majority).
The Thai authorities turn a blind eye to many things a foreigner might do, and then they sometimes either enforce the law or create a new one to force you out. You must be very polite to the Thais, as you should be with any people, but the difference is it can cost you a lot.
I know an American with a Cessna twin who was hoping to operate it commercially. He even got a Thai commercial licence, but I don't think he's got very far with his project over the past three years.
But Thai aviation is doing better and better... It's been horrible the past three years since the Cessna 172 crash.
I was in the DCA office last month and they were very helpful to me so there is a brightness on the horizon as long as one of our fellows doesn't do something stupid again.
Here is the accident that cost us all so very dearly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nb845lDWMk
You'll need to be either married to a Thai, be so desirable a Thai company will pull strings to get you in, or be in a position that a Thai person could not take.
One of my Thai students got on with the reincarnation of Destination Air to be sent to the USA for his float endorsement, but that incarnation died! He's gone into the retail business! IMO a Thai CPL with a float endorsement can go where only 1,500 hours float time could take a foreigner before.
You can fly there but working is a whole other matter.From what Im understanding is that so long as I can pass the exams and provide the documentation there is a chance of working there.
I taught a few people to fly there but I could not work there... It was my pleasure
To get a work permit is very very difficult.
You could go there and own 49% of a business and get a work permit that way. There are many foreigners who work in Thailand through having a large slice of a Thai company (but not a majority).
The Thai authorities turn a blind eye to many things a foreigner might do, and then they sometimes either enforce the law or create a new one to force you out. You must be very polite to the Thais, as you should be with any people, but the difference is it can cost you a lot.
I know an American with a Cessna twin who was hoping to operate it commercially. He even got a Thai commercial licence, but I don't think he's got very far with his project over the past three years.
But Thai aviation is doing better and better... It's been horrible the past three years since the Cessna 172 crash.
I was in the DCA office last month and they were very helpful to me so there is a brightness on the horizon as long as one of our fellows doesn't do something stupid again.
Here is the accident that cost us all so very dearly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nb845lDWMk
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
well all of that is something to seriously consider.
Its too bad about that crash. It seemed to take forever to get off the runway. What did the investigation turn up with??
Its too bad about that crash. It seemed to take forever to get off the runway. What did the investigation turn up with??
Re: Canadian to Thai conversion
The person flying was an ex Met Policeman with an ego to match his girth.
He and I had an argument. Me from a professional instructor point of view, he from a more "Thai way" point of view.
He would fly with a student in the C152 at 150lbs over gross from the 900 foot elevation airfield at +38C.
I went through the documents to find the weight and balance reports for all the aircraft and taught the students to do the CG calculation. He wouldn't bother and would criticise me for making it too complicated for students who just come to the field to fly. Why waste time on the ground.
He learned to fly in the same country I did, and we were taught to do our pre takeoff checks from memory as well as from the checklist, and to this day I do it both ways, one backing up the other.
If he had simply done his "Full and free movement of the controls and in the correct sense" check he would not have failed to notice he had forty degrees of flap selected.
If he had the discipline to have a Go/No Go decision point on the runway it wouldn't have happened.
If he'd retracted 20 of those degrees it wouldn't have happened.
I flew that Cessna F172F a lot, it performed absolutely to the POH, it was well maintained, and the engine produced its power, it was an excellent aeroplane. I am very very sad it was written off.
This and other incidents in Thailand commited by 'us' foreigners is why the DCA clamped down so hard.
While in Thailand I urged people again and again to be extra careful, to fly accoring to the regulations, and to not upset anyone.
If you make a mistake the Thais will understand. Apologise, and make it up to them.
Never never make the mistake of arguing with them, they will always win.
We are guests in their country, we are being allowed to do something that is impossible in most countries in the region, and we owe it to our fellow flyers who want to visit and fly in this wonderful place to preserve and perhaps improve on this privilege.
I love it there, I have had the privilege of flying across and up and down Thailand and I have met so many nice people.
I was saddened when this privilege was removed.
I am gladdened that it is looking brighter again.
I hope the discipline of my fellow visitors once again gains the trust of the Thais which was so damaged in recent years.
He and I had an argument. Me from a professional instructor point of view, he from a more "Thai way" point of view.
He would fly with a student in the C152 at 150lbs over gross from the 900 foot elevation airfield at +38C.
I went through the documents to find the weight and balance reports for all the aircraft and taught the students to do the CG calculation. He wouldn't bother and would criticise me for making it too complicated for students who just come to the field to fly. Why waste time on the ground.
He learned to fly in the same country I did, and we were taught to do our pre takeoff checks from memory as well as from the checklist, and to this day I do it both ways, one backing up the other.
If he had simply done his "Full and free movement of the controls and in the correct sense" check he would not have failed to notice he had forty degrees of flap selected.
If he had the discipline to have a Go/No Go decision point on the runway it wouldn't have happened.
If he'd retracted 20 of those degrees it wouldn't have happened.
I flew that Cessna F172F a lot, it performed absolutely to the POH, it was well maintained, and the engine produced its power, it was an excellent aeroplane. I am very very sad it was written off.
This and other incidents in Thailand commited by 'us' foreigners is why the DCA clamped down so hard.
While in Thailand I urged people again and again to be extra careful, to fly accoring to the regulations, and to not upset anyone.
If you make a mistake the Thais will understand. Apologise, and make it up to them.
Never never make the mistake of arguing with them, they will always win.
We are guests in their country, we are being allowed to do something that is impossible in most countries in the region, and we owe it to our fellow flyers who want to visit and fly in this wonderful place to preserve and perhaps improve on this privilege.
I love it there, I have had the privilege of flying across and up and down Thailand and I have met so many nice people.
I was saddened when this privilege was removed.
I am gladdened that it is looking brighter again.
I hope the discipline of my fellow visitors once again gains the trust of the Thais which was so damaged in recent years.
