License Conversion

[Detana]

Hi guys,

Has anyone experienced this kind of issue like me? I’m currently holding a CPL with instrument rating (aeroplane) from Australia and I have Thai nationality. So, when I come back to Thailand, I wish to convert my license to Thai license in order to find a job over here. Then, the problem has arisen.

With current Thai laws and regulations, the requirement for CPL are :

• Fly as a pilot of the aircraft for at least 150 hours
  
• PIC at least 70 hours
  
• Cross country at least 300 NM, 2 full-stop landing, for at least 20 hours
  
• IR time at least 10 hours
  
• Night PIC at least 5 hours

But, when it comes to the conversion, they told me that the PIC requirement has changed from 70 hours to 100 hours (I have no clues why they have done this) and the flight time that I received from Australia could satisfied most of the requirements except my PIC time, and PIC at night, I only have 70.2 hours of a PIC and 1.8 hours of a PIC at night (still short of 30 and 4 hours respectively) which the rest of it will be in duals.


So, I have asked lots of my friends who have done their license conversion, most of them used the FAA license to convert to Thai license. The thing is, during their training FAA laws simply stated that they can log both their PIC time and dual time when they fly with the instructor once they have received a PPL (whereas in Australia we will log PIC time during our training whenever we fly solo in Australia). Therefore, when they convert their license in Thailand they meet the requirement of 100 hours PIC and 5 hours PIC at night. Then, Iwent back and talk to the authority about this condition, could I possibly do the same thing on my log book for purpose of the license conversion (since ours dual flights are pretty similar in every aspects except when we log the flight time in the log book) and they told me to find a reference or consult Australian authority whether I can do this or not.


Alrighty,I have to do something now. So, I went over Australian laws andregs and found something that might be useful, refer to CASR 61.505 Privileges of private pilot license:

“ Subject to Subpart 61.E and regulation 61.510, the holder of a private pilot licence is authorised to pilot an aircraft as pilot in commandor co‑pilot if: (a) the aircraft is engaged in a private operation; or (b) the holder is receiving flight training.”


I never thought about this before so please correct me if i’m wrong. Does it mean that during my dual flight training after I received a PPL I can also log my flight time as a pilot in command of an aircraft in my log book (just like what they did in the USA)? If so, would I be able to refer to this legislation with Thai authority for the purpose of license conversion in order to meet the hours requirement?


At themoment I can't say that it is, I’m still waiting for a reply from Civil Aviation Safety Australia (CASA) and my flight school in Australia. If anyone knows where I have to look for, what I have to do or any advice, It would be very appreciated. Thank you so much!

[rudestuff]

You weren't in the USA, so you can't use their system. You need to log time as per Thai regulations if you want a Thai license. The bottom line is you can log whatever you want but it's up to the person reading it to decide if it's acceptable or not. That's why a lot of people who train in the US have a second logbook of they're not from there.

Your only legal option is probably to rent a plane for 30 hours.

[Detana]

Thank you for your advice, sir, I very appreciated. Yes, I agree with you on the differential system between the countries. But, I think those who fly in the USA will have the same flight times as much as I do once they have just completed the CPL. And I don't think it's fair for other state's license holder to get refuse to convert their license just because of the way they log their flight time in the log book. CAAT told me that they're reviewing each application on a case by case basis, which means that I still have a chance to not rocking up in a plane and spend more money and time that I'm not supposed to do. Renting a plane is probably will be my last option here. I think I will try to talk to them first. Fingers crossed!

[rudestuff]

It sucks when you see other people cheating and gaining from it, but that's exactly what your FAA friends are doing. What's acceptable for gaining a pilot certificate in the US isn't necessarily acceptable in Thailand. Essentially they're logging dual as PIC and hoping the Thais don't notice.