Thai queen Suthida flies fighter jet solo for the first time
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Thailand’s Queen Suthida began flying in 2010 and has logged nearly 1,190 hours.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM PR THAI GOVERNMENT/FACEBOOK
- Queen Suthida flew a Gripen fighter jet solo for the first time, after weeks of simulator training and about 10 hours in a two-seat jet, the royal household said.
- King Maha Vajiralongkorn watched her flight in southern Surat Thani, then gave her a bouquet and a Golden Gripen Order patch.
- The Queen, a former Thai Airways attendant, has flown since 2010 and logged nearly 1,190 hours; Thailand also plans more Saab Gripen jets worth about US$556 million.
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BANGKOK – Thailand’s Queen Suthida has flown a Gripen fighter jet solo for the first time, the royal household revealed on Oct 9, watched on by her husband King Maha Vajiralongkorn, himself a keen pilot.
She took off in a single-seat JAS 39C from a military airbase in southern Surat Thani province on Oct 8, according to footage released by the royal household.
The outing followed weeks of simulator training at the base and about 10 hours in a two-seat Gripen, media reports said.
A former Thai Airways flight attendant who married the king in 2019, days before his coronation, Suthida, 48, began flying in 2010 and has logged nearly 1,190 hours.
She regularly flies as co-pilot to the King on royal trips, including landing at Bhutan’s notoriously difficult Paro airport, the reports said.
Thailand already operates a squadron of Gripen C/D fighters made by Sweden’s Saab, and in 2025 signed a deal for three Gripen E jets and one Gripen F worth around US$556 million (S$712 million), with deliveries due by 2030.
After she landed, the King handed her a bouquet and pinned a Golden Gripen Order patch on her left arm, which reports said made her Thailand’s first female Gripen pilot. AFP