172driver, yes, the validation process does work the same way as written on their page, or so I've been told. Allow an extra week just in case. I don't remember precisely, though - you may have to sit an exam in Bangkok at the end ot the validation procedure.
Also, as I'm told, the old director of Thai CAA (or whatever it's called) was dismissed this summer, and the new one is into recreational flying himself and thus GA-friendly.
At VTBT (Bang Phra) and VTBU (Utapao), R/T was in English - and in fact better English than in some European countries.
Here is how you fly the circuit at VTBT: fly to the coast, turn crosswind, cross a little cove, turn downwind, fly inland to the middle of the lake, turn base, fly straight into the hill (a bit scary for those without mountain flying experience), turn final some 200 ft AGL, right above the roofs of the Buddhist monastery nestled on the hillside, then make a STEEEEEP descent on full flaps onto the runway that suddenly shows up at the foot of the hill.
The clubhouse is an old weathered wooden building sitting amidst the lush vegetation, a big veranda with a cafe counter and giggly girls behind it in one corner, a hammock with the sleeping chief mechanic in another, club members and their friends sitting at the tables sipping cola out of old-style tall glass bottles, hordes of thin cats accosting everyone to be fed and petted, an antique radio transceiver on one of the tables in case the operator is too lazy to climb the tower, and a big screechy electric bell to chase the local kids off the runway when a plane is approaching.
Last edited by Ultranomad; 2nd Dec 2009 at 22:39.