RTAF Children’s Day Airshow Sees Record Crowds, Opens Pilot Roles to Women

Runways turned into playgrounds last weekend when hundreds of thousands of Thai families traded shopping malls for the roar of jet engines. By sundown, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) had logged 567,676 visitors nationwide, the largest turnout for National Children’s Day since before the pandemic.

At a Glance

• Don Mueang’s Squadron 601 drew 183,964 people, shattering its own record.

• Online reservations for the air-show exceeded 100,000 seats within days; walk-ins doubled that crowd.

• Crowd-control drills, medical posts and a temporary no-drone zone held incidents to zero.

• The RTAF quietly used the day to promote pilot recruitment—now open to women—and its new cyber-defence branch.

A Festival of Flight Returns Bigger Than Ever

After two muted editions during COVID-19, 2026 marked the comeback of a full-scale Children’s Day complete with F-16 and Gripen fly-pasts, confetti-trailing AU-23 Peacemakers and a rare low-level formation by the turboprop AT-6 squadron. Organisers branded the event "รักชาติไทย ใส่ใจโลก" (Love Thailand, Care for the Planet), weaving eco-messages into the booming spectacle. Parents queued as early as 04:00 to secure vantage points along the 3 km runway, many recalling that the last gathering of this size was back in 2019.

Bangkok’s Don Mueang Steals the Show

Although 13 provincial air bases opened their gates, the capital’s Wing 6 remained the magnet. The old commercial apron was repurposed into a massive open-air museum where curious children clambered into the cockpits of 22 aircraft types and tinkered with 11 categories of ground weaponry, from radar trailers to short-range missiles. For city dwellers, the base’s proximity to the BTS Red Line and a fleet of free shuttle buses kept traffic jams to a minimum—an achievement local commuters will appreciate.

Beyond the Flyovers: Why Families Keep Coming Back

What turned a military open house into an annual ritual? Visitors surveyed on site pointed to a mix of hands-on science booths, K-9 demonstrations, and a drummer corps called Drum Zeed that has become a social-media darling. Free drinking water, halal food stalls and shaded nursing corners helped parents linger well past noon. In true Thai style, souvenir bags—packed with instant noodles, seed packets and piggy banks—were handed out by volunteers from the RTAF Executive Development Alumni Club, easing the squeeze on household budgets.

Safety, Budget and the Logistics You Didn’t See

Pulling off an event of this scale required a behind-the-scenes army. Civil Aviation Authority controllers carved out a two-hour slot in the busy Don Mueang flight schedule, pushing commercial departures to later windows. Sound levels were capped at 110 dB to keep public-address systems audible for lost-child announcements. Crowd modelling predicted 150,000 people; actual attendance jumped past 180,000, yet zero injuries were reported. While the RTAF will not disclose exact costs, insiders confirmed that a mix of private sponsorships and a line item in the defence-public relations budget footed the bill.

Planting Seeds for Future Pilots

Air Force commander ACM Sakesan Kantha spent much of the day chatting with high-schoolers under a shaded recruiting kiosk. He underscored that next year’s cadet intake will accept applicants up to 22 years old, regardless of gender—a small revolution in a branch once closed to female combat pilots. A virtual-reality pod simulating air-to-air refuelling drew queues longer than any selfie line, hinting at the pull of high-tech warfare for Gen Alpha.

How This Year’s Numbers Stack Up

The previous attendance high, set in 2025, sat at 160,000 visitors at Don Mueang; 2026’s figure is 15 % higher. Nationwide, the jump is even steeper: from an estimated 300,000 in 2025 to nearly 570,000 this year. Analysts link the surge to pent-up demand after pandemic restrictions and the social-media reach of short vertical videos shot from the tarmac. If the trend holds, next year could break the 600,000-visitor ceiling.

Why It Matters for Thailand

Beyond the fun-fair vibe, defence specialists note that the event serves as soft-power theatre. Allowing citizens to touch advanced kit nurtures public backing for big-ticket acquisitions currently under parliamentary review—such as the multibillion-baht fighter replacement program. In the words of one security scholar, “Letting kids climb into a Gripen cockpit today could translate into taxpayer consent for its successor tomorrow.”

For now, the roar of afterburners has faded, but the sight of plume-painted skies in red, white and blue may linger in the imagination of a generation that—if the Air Force gets its wish—will keep Thailand’s skies secure long after the souvenir bags are empty.