Got a US commercial pilots license, single-engine land and was wondering if anyone here knows what I would need to do to operate small aircraft and be able to rent them for personal use in the LOS.

There is some information on the net but it seems inconsistent so I thought I would ask here.

By the looks of it you need to validate your foreign license and have a background check done. The Thai Flying Club, or any other club local to where you will be staying can help you through it, and by the looks of it you have to join a club. You need to do this ahead of time as it takes a couple months to get completed.

http://www.thaiflyingclub.com/linkvalidationprocedure2.html

Thanks cdnvic.

Maybe these guys could give you some info... http://www.pattayaairpark.com/

Maybe these guys could give you some info... http://www.pattayaairpark.com/

Thanks.

My original plan for living in Thailand was to just get a retirement visa and take it easy. I can afford to do that if I live somewhat modestly. I have become a little concerned about getting bored though. I don't play golf and haven't read much about people playing tennis in the LOS. I'm wondering what I'm going to do aside from going to the gym, eating, drinking and chasing women.

Lately I've begun to wonder if I could work in Thailand. Maybe augment my retirement income and have more opportunities to meet people instead of just in bars.

I have a degree in electrical engineering, a pilots license and some financial experience working at hedge funds in the USA so I've started exploring the idea of using my background to keep working for maybe another 10 years. I'm 51 now.

If I can work as an engineer or a flight instructor or maybe teach math or science in Thailand I will probably do that instead of being a man-of-leisure lol. If I can get my pilots license validated I might be able to figure out some creative way to do visa runs, maybe even run a charter service for that purpose etc. There are probably a lot of barriers to doing that or others would already be doing it I suppose.

Anyway I do appreciate the information. My plans have really evolved since I started reading ThaiVisa.

I also have a PPL (US) but the cost of renting has stopped me from flying here - around 5000+ Baht/hour. I do miss it and wish you the best.

I also have a PPL (US) but the cost of renting has stopped me from flying here - around 5000+ Baht/hour. I do miss it and wish you the best.

Yeah, thats about twice what I pay here in SoCal. Pretty steep.

I usually fly with a group of friends up to Big Bear on Saturday morning for breakfast or out to Catalina for a buffalo burger so we split the rental and fuel cost. Hopefully I can hookup with some people in Thailand the same way.