National—
On April 11th, 2024, ACM Phanpakdee Pattanakul, the air force commander, publicly revealed the preparation of F16 aircraft on standby for a full 24 hours in response to the ongoing civil war in Myanmar.
Previously, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin gave a statement to the public regarding the protection from encroachment on Thai aviation territory from the Myanmar civil war.
In case there was encroachment of the Thai territory, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) would react accordingly and deploy an aircraft for surveillance. On April 11th, the RTAF deployed an aircraft for surveillance once and the situation was fine as there was no immediate threat.
However, the frequency of the patrols to monitor the situation depended on the volatile situation, according to ACM Phanpakdee.
According to Thai national media, the Royal Thai Gazette published regulations of the Ministry of Defence regarding the rules and methods for using aircraft military weapons against aircraft that do not comply with orders from Thai military officials and are considered a threat to the security of the country or a danger to the public.
The regulations were effective from April 10th, 2024 onward, and signed by the Thai Minister of Defense Sutin Klungsang.
The details summarized that the Thai military personnel deploying aircraft to intercept aircraft that were considered a threat to the country or a danger to the public according to Section 11, in that aircraft military weapons could be used to retaliate according to the Thai government regulations as self-defense, according to the Thai national media.
However, the regulations also applied to civil aircraft if the situation was inevitable. A direct report to the Thai Minister of Defense must be made immediately in this case, according to the Thai national media.
