BANGKOK: RTAF Museum. If you happen to be in Bangkok and want to have a break from the shopping or partying perhaps you should make your way to the National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force located adjacent to Don Muang International airport.
Actually if you fly into Bangkok using the Don Muang (on Air Asia or Malindo) it might be wise to schedule the visit as you arrive or departing the city as the museum is located next door to the airport so you can use the traffic congestion to your benefit. You need to take a cab or Grab car from the international airport as the museum is located on the military side of the airport (just like Subang airbase compared to the Subang airport) though it is a separate building from any RTAF facility so it is accessible even by tourists.
Be prepared to spend at least an hour at the museum as it is arguably one of the best in the region. The museum was opened in 1969 to replace the previous one opened in 1952.
Among the aircraft displayed are Nieuport and Brequet, pre World War One flying machines, the only examples of both types in the world.
Also on display are a Saab JAS 39C Gripen, an F-16, a number of F-5s and various helicopters that were used by RTAF since 1950s. A couple of Royal Thai Navy aircraft including an AV-8S Harrier are also displayed at the museum.
The museum is open on Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Thai public holidays) from 8am to 3pm and admission is free. It is also accessible by public buses,the BTS line and Grab cars or motorcycles.
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View Comments (20)
Hmm... isn't their F-5s still in active service?
Reply
As does the Gripen, those F5s in the museum are the As
ID and SG have their military aviation museum, not sure for PH and VN. ID museum read somewhere have WWII/ID indepence-era planes.
Oh yes, one of the best airforce museum in SEA, with the rich 100 years history of RTAF. With varied aircraft collection from WW1 aircrafts up till the latest gripen (yes really!)
If you can't go there yourself, this is a great link to see the museum online:
http://aviationspottersonline.com/royal-thai-air-force-museum-don-muang-airport-thailand/
PS.
TUDM, what are you doing with your history?
@ nimitz
Regarding ID Museum not only WWII era but it is the only museum in ASEAN where you can see close-up a TU-16 Badger bomber on display at the museum.
Indonesian airforce museum in jogja is interesting, with some 58 aircrafts there. If you are a fan of WWII then their collection of former japanese aircraft is unparalleled. The most famous is of course the japanese mitsubishi zero fighter. If the thais have the spitfire, the indonesians have the P-51 mustangs. New aircrafts are always added to the collection and the latest was a C-130 hercules.
Other than these other good air force museum around here would be the Sri Lankan air force museum
http://www.airforcemuseum.lk
and the myanmar defense service museum
http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/Blogvorm/defence-services-museum/
Reply
I am thinking of going to Yogjakarta next year if I go I will do a post about it. I may go to RSAF museum next
Nimitz - '' not sure for PH''
There is a museum in Metro Manila. Also an outdoor display which includes a Crusader and AA gun near the entrance to the airbase at Clark.
.... - ''TUDM, what are you doing with your history?''
Funds, funds, funds and the need to prioritise.
If procurement and operational funds are an issue; what do you expect the situation will be with regards to a museum. The RMAF can only do so much with the funds it gets. The situation with the RMN is different - for one there's greater state government support. At present even private funding for a museum is an issue. To be fair to the RMAF it's not as if it has no interest or plans to preserve its history.
.... - '' the indonesians have the P-51 mustangs''
Which flew circuits over Tawau at one point.
@ ...
@ Marhalim
Rare Japanese WW2 warbird is also on display at the Indonesian Air Force Museum in Yogjakarta.
Collection of Japanese warbirds at the museum:
https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com/2018/05/12/imperial-japanese-navy-mitsubishi-a6m5-zero-indonesian-air-force-museum-yogyakarta-may-2018/
Some of the soviet-era aircrafts collection including TU-16 Badger bomber at the museum:
https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com/2018/09/29/the-soviet-era-of-the-indonesian-air-force/
@ marhalim
The TNI-AU museum is at the jogja airport, but on the airforce base side.
@ azlan
"To be fair to the RMAF it’s not as if it has no interest or plans to preserve its history"
Hmm... remember 1MDB takeover of sungei besi air base and the closure of the airforce museum? Did the airforce ask for a replacement museum built? There is not even a plan or request for a new museum from 1mdb to replace the one in sungei besi. I would love to be proven wrong but where is the proof?
The navy is buying things from suppliers, who might make a contribution to the museum. The air force hasn't bought anything for a while, so no one will.