Where do aircraft go after they become too old or too expensive to operate? After being stripped of valuable parts, the bodies of civilian and commercial aircraft usually meet their creator in landfills, or sometimes if they’re lucky they’ll spend the afterlife serving as shelter for groups of impoverished folks, such is the case with the enormous Boeing 747 body used as a residence on Ramkhamhaeng Rd.
Both civilian and military planes eventually return to dust, but military aircraft usually rot away in secure government protected compounds hidden from the public’s view, the most famous example being the closely guarded Mojave wreck yard in Arizona, USA. Sometimes iconic war-winning planes find their way into museums.
To catch a glimpse of these rare birds in Thailand head to the Royal Thai Air Force Museum, located next to Don Muang Airport on Phahonyothin Road. The museum houses restored and maintained examples of Thailand’s retired military aircraft in addition to a small collection of defunct, unassembled cargo planes, fighter jets and trainers and wrecks.
