On this page, you can find an overview of current regulations and how they currently affect drone flights in Thailand.

Last update: 26 May 2026

At the moment, there are major restrictions for newly registered drone pilots in Thailand.

General Information

Since 15 August 2025, drone pilots are required to register every flight in the UAS Portal App.

Flight requests for unrestricted areas (no Danger Area, Restricted Area or Prohibited Area) are now usually approved instantly, which means spontaneous flights are possible again in many regions.

You can find an overview of the different zones in our Thailand drone map.

Drone Pilot Training Requirements

For CAAT pilot licenses registered from 17 May 2026 onwards, an additional drone training certificate is now required in order to fly in permission-required areas.*

This includes:

Danger Areas (VTD)
Restricted Areas (VTR)
Prohibited Areas (VTP)

Users who registered with CAAT before 17 May 2026 are currently not affected. They can still select “No Training Completed” inside the UAS Portal and continue flying until their pilot license expires.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1UWVuiq2A5/

*We have found a way how you can still get the flight permission for danger areas on the weekends and it gets approved immediately.

The Problem

There are currently several recognized training schools, however it is still unclear:

which exact trainings are required
whether online training is accepted
or whether physical attendance is mandatory

List of approved schools.

Current Impact

For new CAAT registrations created through the UAS Portal after 17 May, it is currently only partially possible to fly in permission-required areas.

This affects all:

Prohibited Zones
Restricted Zones
Danger Zones

shown in our Thailand Drone Map.

✅ Locations Currently Still Possible for New Pilots

Popular places where drone flights are currently still possible even for newly registered pilots include:

Phuket
Krabi
Parts of Phang Nga
Koh Phi Phi

Flights in unrestricted areas are usually approved instantly inside the UAS Portal App.

❌ Locations Currently Not Possible for New Pilots

Many popular drone locations are currently affected by the new restrictions for newly registered pilots. In the following locations you can only fly on the weekend:

Koh Samui
Koh Phangan
Koh Tao
Koh Chang
Koh Kood
Koh Mak
Khao Lak
Koh Similan
Bangkok (not possible at all)
Large parts of Chiang Mai