What do airline pilots in Thailand earn?

According to the Thai Pilots Association, average pilot earnings in Thailand, including salary, flight-operation pay and hourly allowances of around 1,000 to 2,000 baht per hour, generally range from 100,000 to 200,000 baht per month. The association said some airlines pay below industry norms, with hourly flight pay of around 500 baht and total monthly income of about 70,000 baht. It did not name the airlines. The report gives no breakdown by airline or rank, so these are market figures rather than Thai Airways pay. Under the pay-to-fly model, candidates reportedly pay around 6 million baht, about 3 million baht for a commercial pilot licence and 3 million baht for a type rating. Some airlines also require first officers to pay around 870,000 baht for their upgrade training to captain.1

How did the restructuring affect Thai Airways pilots?

By late February 2020 Thai Airways had cut salaries and perks for executives by between 15 and 25 per cent. After entering rehabilitation, it extended salary reductions of 10 to 15 per cent for employees until the end of August 2020. In February 2021 the airline planned to reduce its pilot workforce to 905 and was considering laying off 395 pilots, with no pilot hiring planned for 2021 and 2022. In April 2025 it said the courts had upheld the 2021 terminations as lawful and that severance had been paid in full.2345

Is Thai Airways hiring pilots again?

By October 2024 the workforce had grown from 15,000 during rehabilitation to around 16,000, and the airline planned to expand its fleet from 79 aircraft in 2024 to 143 by 2029. On 1 June 2026 it flew its first female pilot, a first officer on the Airbus A320 who had more than four years of experience with another airline. 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.678