What do airline pilots in Thailand earn?

The Thai Pilots Association puts average pilot earnings in Thailand at 100,000 to 200,000 baht per month, including hourly allowances of around 1,000 to 2,000 baht per hour. At some unnamed airlines, it said, hourly flight pay has fallen to around 500 baht and monthly income averages about 70,000 baht. The report gives no breakdown by airline, so these are market figures rather than Bangkok Airways pay. New pilots under the pay-to-fly model reportedly pay around 6 million baht for their licence and type rating. In June 2026 the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand set up a committee to study the practice.12

What happened to pay at Bangkok Airways in 2020?

In February 2020 Bangkok Airways announced it would halve the salaries of its president and two other senior executives, give department heads no salary increments in 2020 and have all staff take 10 to 30 days of leave without pay depending on job level.3

Is Bangkok Airways growing?

The airline kept its fleet at 23 aircraft in 2025, has ordered 10 ATR turboprops for delivery from 2026 to 2028 and aims to return to 40 aircraft, its pre-pandemic size. In the first half of 2026 it reported a net profit of 2.43 billion baht, up 16.3%. According to the Thai Pilots Association, piloting is an occupation legally reserved for Thai nationals, and in January 2026 the Supreme Administrative Court revoked an exemption that had allowed foreign pilots to fly domestic wet-lease flights.456