On 11/2/2025 at 4:28 PM, BarraMarra said:

Most is common sense if its windy don't fly it or if it looks like rain. As for licensing its aimed at people who use them for work or are seriouse flyers, your bog standard fun flyer should no not fly it in a built up areas, security areas like hospitals, police stations, infantry establishments. I don't think you would get a pull flying 1 around a Village out in the sticks.

Until there is a accident.

On 11/1/2025 at 1:45 PM, BarraMarra said:

 

I also have one of these.  Highly recommended.  It's worth paying for the quality.

Can I offer the best advice you're ever going to hear about operating a drone, IMHO?

Firstly, always a do a visual recce of the area you want to fly in before you take off.  Look for cables, lamp posts, tall trees and anything else that will spoil your day, and then consciously avoid them (you will not see cables in the camera image when you are flying until it is too late).

Secondly, and even more importantly, never fly unless you have direct sight of the drone at all times.  That way, you have an even better chance of not crashing into something.  Don't rely on obstacle avoidance - it's not foolproof and beginners can be fools.

Thirdly, all drones have many functions and safety features.  Take time to read the manual cover-to-cover and learn how they work.  They are your friend and will enhance your enjoyment and safety so exploit them.

When you are a beginner, it can be very tempting to position for a shot then decide you want to move back a little to get a better composition.  Trouble is, you're typically looking at the view in front of you and not behind you where you are moving to.  It's very easy to back into a tree or other obstacle.  Follow the advice above and avoid such mistakes.

When you get your new drone (you should, they're great!), find a wide open area and practise manoevering it around you - left, right, up, down, back and forward, and combinations of all of these.  Get comfortable with the controls for a few hours before you take it anywhere near obstacles.

Lastly,  if you need any help, come back here and ask.

I've added a couple of aerial shots to show you what you can expect to achieve.
 

On 11/2/2025 at 4:28 PM, BarraMarra said:

 I don't think you would get a pull flying 1 around a Village out in the sticks.

 

1 hour ago, Deerculler said:

Until there is a accident.

 

An accident ... and what damage to think would be incurred.   IF hitting anything in the sticks of value ...

... maybe a broken roof tile, maybe

... or a dented car, cracked window

 

You'd have to be the unluckiest person in the village to be hurt by a falling drone, especially since most now try to be under 250 grams in weight.

 

At worse, maybe drop on a moving vehicle and cause an accident, and can only imagine the statistical chance of that happening, and at 'village speeds'.   

 

I had one drop out of the air, 900 grams, and didn't even crack the headlight.

 

 

6 minutes ago, IsaanT said:

I also have one of these.  Highly recommended.  It's worth paying for the quality.

Can I offer the best advice you're ever going to hear about operating a drone, IMHO?

Firstly, always a do a visual recce of the area you want to fly in before you take off.  Look for cables, lamp posts, tall trees and anything else that will spoil your day, and then consciously avoid them (you will not see cables in the camera image when you are flying until it is too late).

Secondly, and even more importantly, never fly unless you have direct sight of the drone at all times.  That way, you have an even better chance of not crashing into something.  Don't rely on obstacle avoidance - it's not foolproof and beginners can be fools.

Thirdly, all drones have many functions and safety features.  Take time to read the manual cover-to-cover and learn how they work.  They are your friend and will enhance your enjoyment and safety so exploit them.

When you are a beginner, it can be very tempting to position for a shot then decide you want to move back a little to get a better composition.  Trouble is, you're typically looking at the view in front of you and not behind you where you are moving to.  It's very easy to back into a tree or other obstacle.  Follow the advice above and avoid such mistakes.

When you get your new drone (you should, they're great!), find a wide open area and practise manoevering it around you - left, right, up, down, back and forward, and combinations of all of these.  Get comfortable with the controls for a few hours before you take it anywhere near obstacles.

Lastly,  if you need any help, come back here and ask.

I've added a couple of aerial shots to show you what you can expect to achieve.
 

 

Was actually thinking about buying one recently, Mini 2, but it's been discontinued.  Don't want the SE version.  

On 11/1/2025 at 1:35 PM, Mavideol said:

Not familiar at all with drones but curiosity took the best of me and decided to take a look at them to use as obi type toy, no other purpose rather then taking some aerial photos, any feedback would be appreciated such as price range, what should I be looking for, reliable brand, radius/distance, battery

 

thanks

You need to be licensed to operate and regardless of size, if it has a camera on board it needs to be registered with the  Thai CAA. Cannot fly within 30 metres of a building or over a village or within 9 km of an airport.

6 minutes ago, CFCol said:

You need to be licensed to operate and regardless of size, if it has a camera on board it needs to be registered with the  Thai CAA. Cannot fly within 30 metres of a building or over a village or within 9 km of an airport.

Yea, we know, but that doesn't stop us 'criminals' from enjoying our illegal operating ... responsibly, I might add.   

 

Add to the fact, unless operating in a park, most Thais, don't care, hence my comment on staying clear of foreigner ... "Karens" & tourist areas.

Whoa ... this is really tempting.  That's some fancy <deleted> right there  

2 axis gimbal but does have EIS, and looks good.

 

 

For those thinking about a DJI drone, I overlaid TH on the DJI No Fly Zone map, and you'll see where you may not be able to fly a done, (DJI won't allow craft to fly into), in TH.

 

https://fly-safe.dji.com/nfz/nfz-query

 

A lot more area than I expected ... 🤬

Our house is in a 'warning zone'  ... but ... just meters away from No Fly Zone, and can only fly NW of the house, and anything of interest, is the other direction.

I have a DJI Mavic Pro for sale if anybody is interested. Barely used and a ton of spare batteries and accessories. PM me if interested.

I bought a DJI Mini 3 and loved it so much that I bought a DJI NEO with the goggles for FPV droning.  Both of them perform very well.  Neither has any kind of collision avoidance so I stay away from trees.

 

My one issue was of my own making.  I programmed 4K video and then had issues playing them back on my 12 year old PC.  I solved that problem by changing to 1080P video, then figured out that I could play the 4K videos on my 1 year old backup PC that benchmarks 3-4x faster than my 12 year old PC.

 

Just for giggles, I bought a NEO 2 the day they hit the stores here in China, which does claim collision avoidance.  It works great, too.  Though I just bought it a week ago and haven't put it through its paces yet.  It's got a slightly better camera and gimbal, too.

 

If you do go with DJI (which I recommend, for their amazing tech), watch out for which controllers work with which units.  The Mini 3 uses a dated OS (DJI 3) so it uses different controllers than the others (and current models).  It's still a great drone.  But I can't control it through the goggles for the FPV drone experience.

 

DJI just released the NEO2 and the Mini 5 Pro in China.  I don't know if they're available yet in Thailand.  They dropped the price of the NEO and Mini 4 Pro when that happened, but not by much.

 

The NEO and NEO 2 are the most flexible of the 3 that I own.  I can control them by smartphone, by goggles (FPV), by normal controller, and they also fly by hand with no controller at all.  The biggest downsides is that they're noisy and only fly 10-15 minutes (realistic) before swapping out the batteries.

10 hours ago, KhunLA said:

For those thinking about a DJI drone, I overlaid TH on the DJI No Fly Zone map, and you'll see where you may not be able to fly a done, (DJI won't allow craft to fly into), in TH.

 

https://fly-safe.dji.com/nfz/nfz-query

 

A lot more area than I expected ... 🤬

Our house is in a 'warning zone'  ... but ... just meters away from No Fly Zone, and can only fly NW of the house, and anything of interest, is the other direction.

 

You can go into your DJI drone settings and bypass the Geo fencing if your cajones are big enough.  I don't know whether that means all limitations, because my cajones aren't big enough here in China. 

 

Keep in mind that your DJI drone is broadcasting where it is, with S/N, just as a matter of being able to control it.  So if the gub'ment decides to crack down, they can.  I doubt Thailand will, unless there's a high profile event or a border skirmish or a nosy Karen.

 

 

2 hours ago, impulse said:

 

You can go into your DJI drone settings and bypass the Geo fencing if your cajones are big enough.  I don't know whether that means all limitations, because my cajones aren't big enough here in China. 

 

Keep in mind that your DJI drone is broadcasting where it is, with S/N, just as a matter of being able to control it.  So if the gub'ment decides to crack down, they can.  I doubt Thailand will, unless there's a high profile event or a border skirmish or a nosy Karen.

 

 

That's location dependent. As USA with few exceptions, no longer has 'geo fence, no fly zone' restrictions, just warnings.   Leaving the operator to fly responsibly.

 

AI state TH still has no fly zones in the software, though can request exception to, which apparently, are rarely granted or even acknowledged.

 

Does state Neo 2 does not have any, possibly since a new release, and more for low altitude selfie market.  

 

Did send a query to DJI TH to ask if that is accurate, and if so, may even buy one.  They are also $150 USD cheaper in TH vs USA, for the 'Fly More w/remote' package 👍

On 11/1/2025 at 1:35 PM, Mavideol said:

Not familiar at all with drones but curiosity took the best of me and decided to take a look at them to use as obi type toy, no other purpose rather then taking some aerial photos, any feedback would be appreciated such as price range, what should I be looking for, reliable brand, radius/distance, battery

 

thanks

Here some regulations: https://mydronethailand.com/drone-rules-thailand/

hey guys thanks

When i'm back in Bangkok next year, if you have an old one you want to donate, i'd be interested. I'll pay for postage.

I've never owned a drone before, but interested in one .

Thanks.

On 11/14/2025 at 11:26 AM, KhunLA said:

Did send a query to DJI TH to ask if that is accurate, and if so, may even buy one.  They are also $150 USD cheaper in TH vs USA, for the 'Fly More w/remote' package 👍

 

Just to verify, the Neo 2 does have restriction software, so it will not operate in No Fly zone, or enter one.

 

So scratch that for me, as I really wouldn't get much use out of it locally.  Helped to make that decision 🙄

 

For others, if can use, pretty awesome 360° very impressive obstacle avoidance software, especially for new operators.  Should be the only drone you'll ever need to buy.   Neo 2 Fly More Combo, at great price, you get 3 batteries, remote, for 12,600 THB.   

 

4k @ 60fps & 12mp photos, and more than enough.  2 Axis gimbal w/ EIS, decent speed & wind resistance  👍👍

 

A bunch of other flight options, I'd probably never use, but 'follow me' selfie mode is really cool ... watch the above vid.