Thailand

[Zgsnobrdr]

I am travelling to Thailand in a month and am wondering if anyone knows anything about bringing a mavic pro into the country with me. I saw some posts which were pretty old warning against bringing, but wonder if anyone has recent experience flying there. Thanks in advance

 

[Smeden]

Hi there

Drones are sold here in Thailand and I bought my Mavic Pro from a licensed shop in Bangkok. So bringing in a Mavic Pro should not be a problem. (lithium batteries are small enough to bring by hand carriage).
I dont think bringing in the drone is a problem. Problems are depending on where you wish to fly with your drone?
- Always ask locals for permission to fly. Even if you dont speak Thai, show them the drone point your finger up in the air and ask "OK"
- Dont fly over private housing areas without asking owners for acceptance. I believe some of the farmers around would not hesitate to shoot down a drone if they are annoyed by it.
- And if you are in an area with Pool villas, resorts etc. It would not take long for Police to arrive if people starts complaining. Respect peoples privacy!
- Dont fly too high and keep your drone withing visibility.
Just my 2 cents.

Wishing you a nice trip to the Land of Smiles and I hope you will bring your drone and take some good pics/videos from your trip.

 

[gnirtS]

No issue with getting a drone in (its perfectly legal) but the above post is very good real world advice.

In theory they have a registration scheme but in reality it got swamped and most of us that applied never heard anything back and from what i gather is basically just rotting now.

The locals are generally extremely friendly so never be afraid to ask - i seriously doubt they'll say no and its just a nice thing to do there culturally. Stay away from sensitive areas like police stations, military bases and airports etc. I do know someone that got fined because he was taking photos of the jungle...right next to the main naval base for the Andaman sea so take note of whats around you!

They're banned in most national parks so just be aware of that. Also large parts of Bangkok have no fly zones. The Similan islands and James Bond island make a fair bit of money fining multiple mainly Chinese tourist drone users on a daily basis who ignore all the clear signs.

As above basically "don't be an idiot". Dont fly it in a way where people can hear and be annoyed by it, respect privacy and if in doubt, ask someone if its ok.

 

[Zgsnobrdr]

Hi there

Drones are sold here in Thailand and I bought my Mavic Pro from a licensed shop in Bangkok. So bringing in a Mavic Pro should not be a problem. (lithium batteries are small enough to bring by hand carriage).
I dont think bringing in the drone is a problem. Problems are depending on where you wish to fly with your drone?
- Always ask locals for permission to fly. Even if you dont speak Thai, show them the drone point your finger up in the air and ask "OK"
- Dont fly over private housing areas without asking owners for acceptance. I believe some of the farmers around would not hesitate to shoot down a drone if they are annoyed by it.
- And if you are in an area with Pool villas, resorts etc. It would not take long for Police to arrive if people starts complaining. Respect peoples privacy!
- Dont fly too high and keep your drone withing visibility.
Just my 2 cents.

Wishing you a nice trip to the Land of Smiles and I hope you will bring your drone and take some good pics/videos from your trip.

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I will send you a vid if I get anything really cool. Thank you very much.

 

[Zgsnobrdr]

No issue with getting a drone in (its perfectly legal) but the above post is very good real world advice.

In theory they have a registration scheme but in reality it got swamped and most of us that applied never heard anything back and from what i gather is basically just rotting now.

The locals are generally extremely friendly so never be afraid to ask - i seriously doubt they'll say no and its just a nice thing to do there culturally. Stay away from sensitive areas like police stations, military bases and airports etc. I do know someone that got fined because he was taking photos of the jungle...right next to the main naval base for the Andaman sea so take note of whats around you!

They're banned in most national parks so just be aware of that. Also large parts of Bangkok have no fly zones. The Similan islands and James Bond island make a fair bit of money fining multiple mainly Chinese tourist drone users on a daily basis who ignore all the clear signs.

As above basically "don't be an idiot". Dont fly it in a way where people can hear and be annoyed by it, respect privacy and if in doubt, ask someone if its ok.

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I will send you a vid if I get anything really cool. Thank you very much, I am going to bring it.

 

[geordie8t1]

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I will send you a vid if I get anything really cool. Thank you very much, I am going to bring it.

How did ur entry into Thailand go? Im visiting from overseas also and am worried about travelling with it, Im travelling asia so thailand is only part of my trip, any advice on your experience

 

[Zgsnobrdr]

No problem whatsoever bringing my drone into the country. I however was only able to fly in one place as most of the great stuff is in national parks and no fly zones. And there are tons of signs and police insuring there are no drone flights. I flew once, got nothing that was special. There are in sure great areas to fly. I just wasn’t in those places on my trip. Good luck have fun

 

[geordie8t1]

No problem whatsoever bringing my drone into the country. I however was only able to fly in one place as most of the great stuff is in national parks and no fly zones. And there are tons of signs and police insuring there are no drone flights. I flew once, got nothing that was special. There are in sure great areas to fly. I just wasn’t in those places on my trip. Good luck have fun

Where did u fly into amd from? How was customs? I have heard people getting their drones confiscated in customs, are you registered on nbtc and such? I am not even really bothered if i dont fly in Thailand much or at all, i just want to use it in other less prohibiting countries

 

[PeRo]

Just returned from Krabi, Thailand. No problems with customs there, no baggage screening upon arrival, however it's a smaller airport.
Prior to flying, sync up with locals and follow the hints and guidance as mentioned in posts above.

 

[geordie8t1]

Just returned from Krabi, Thailand. No problems with customs there, no baggage screening upon arrival, however it's a smaller airport.
Prior to flying, sync up with locals and follow the hints and guidance as mentioned in posts above.

Im flying into bangkok so im unsure of the process there, just trying to get a feel for the most upto date processes. Im also waiting for some insurance to make a final decision on taking it or not....

 

[Zgsnobrdr]

Flew into Bkk, Bkk to Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai to Krabi. Then back out of Bkk. Nobody even asked a question, I had my mavic in my camera bag with my GoPro and 35mm. No problem. I discharged batteries prior to flying and covered contacts just Incase someone asked but wasn’t a problem. Just finding places to fly legally, geocache software would’ve let me fly but local law said otherwise.

 

[geordie8t1]

Flew into Bkk, Bkk to Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai to Krabi. Then back out of Bkk. Nobody even asked a question, I had my mavic in my camera bag with my GoPro and 35mm. No problem. I discharged batteries prior to flying and covered contacts just Incase someone asked but wasn’t a problem. Just finding places to fly legally, geocache software would’ve let me fly but local law said otherwise.

Thanks for that, im prob gonna fly into BKk from Tokyo, and then around Thailand and will probs cross a land border into cambodia, debating wether th take my M2P or buy a mavic air as a cheaper smaller travel drone, also looking into insurance in case of confiscation [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

[gnirtS]

Cambodia shouldnt be an issue either, only things like royal palace and Ankor are out of bounds. Most of the country is fine to fly in.

 

[paulrawlingson]

Cambodia shouldnt be an issue either, only things like royal palace and Ankor are out of bounds. Most of the country is fine to fly in.

I crossed Thailand to Cambodia and didn't have any issues whatsoever, Cambodia is actually an amazing country to drone around. I made a video out of it the trip:

The only bit to worry about would be Siam Reap and Phnom Phen, other than this.. simple awesomeness.

 

[ZitRos]

I traveled to Thailand for two weeks in Jan 2019 with my Mavic 2 Pro. No issues at all. I am sharing some details to help you get how it feels like.

I was really stressed by reading everything in the internet about registering a drone and a possible confiscation, however, I finally decided to take the drone to Thailand, having no time for registration left. But everything turned to be smooth and not that scary.

I had a flight to Suvarnabhumi Airport, then from Don Muang Airport to Krabi and back. Security never had any questions about the drone in my compact backpack. Actually I packed a drone into a small case and took off propellers, also having a lot of other electronic devises in the backpack like chargers from PC, toothbrush, etc. Battery was in the drone all the time.

During my trip I saw like 8 to 10 people flying drones on Ao Nang Beach. One guy even looked like flying his drone for the first time, trying to figure out how does it work, and he was literally flying above the heads of the people... So far, nothing prevented him from landing his drone, and I don't think all those people have licenses to fly. There were some beaches with "No Drone" signs. Obviously, no flying there, and surprisingly no one did.

Nevertheless, during my trip I filmed like 8 different locations, mostly from a kayak or flying in the morning when there were just a few people in the whole area. Jungles, beaches, islands - perfect things for captures. I didn't fly near people/crowds and I don't recommend doing so. Bangkok is also a big no-fly zone, and, actually, there's nothing interesting to film.

My recommendations:
- Don't fly in touristic and crowded places, obviously. Forget about filming local museums/artifacts/Wats/etc. All sightseeing has a guard which is definitely watching your drone.
- Check Thailand no fly zones before flying. There's a special map in the Internet (not the standard DJI fly map).
- Always watch your drone and keep it visible all the time. Ensure you are not hovering over private territory. I saw a couple of villas with very aggressive signs like "No entry. I don't call 911 *a picture of gun*"
- If you are a tourist like me having no time for a long drone registration process think about whether it worth it, because, whatever it is, you will think and worry about your drone each time you want to take off.

 

[wco81]

Has anyone flown in different parts of Phuket or Koh Phi Phi?

Or around Chiang Mai and the north?

 

[gnirtS]

Ive done bits of Phuket (the south etc). Be careful of the airport in the north. Also, dont do it over the city or main port.
Phi-Phi i think they're banned.