Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base

the civilian use of this facility

Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base is approximately 40 kilometres north of central Bangkok and is the main operating and command base for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). In addition, units of the Royal Thai Army and Royal Thai Police have personnel located there. The first flights to Don Muang were made on 8 March 1914 and involved the transfer of aircraft of the RTAF. Three years earlier, Thailand had sent three army officers to France to train as pilots. On completion of their training in 1911, the pilots were authorized to purchase four Breguets and four Nieuports, which formed the basis of the RTAF.

During the early years of the Vietnam War (1961–1966), Don Muang was used as a major command and logistics hub of the USAF under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Thirteenth Air Force. After the expansion of U Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield in 1966, most American units and personnel were transferred from Don Muang, however a small USAF liaison office remained at the base until 1975. The APO for Don Muang was APO San Francisco, 96303.

In April 1961, an advance party of the 6010th Tactical Group, USAF, arrived at Don Muang at the request of the Royal Thai government to establish an aircraft warning system. On 20 April 1961 six F 100 Super Sabres from the 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Clark Air Base deployed to Don Muang in Operation "Bell Tone". In March 1962, a small detachment of F 102 Delta Daggers from the 509th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, from Clark AB, Philippines were sent to Don Muang. Their mission was to bolster the air defense capabilities of the Royal Thai Air Force. For the next several years, a minimum of four F 102 interceptors were kept on alert at Don Muang. On 6 March 1962, a joint communication was issued by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Koman in which the United States declares its "firm intention to aid Thailand, its ally and historic friend in resisting communist aggression and subversion". As a result, the Military Assistance Command Thailand (MACT) was set up on 15 May 1962 at Don Muang. On 16 May, eleven C 130s of the 315th Air Division arrived at Don Muang carrying aerial port, flight crew and maintenance personnel to support increased air operations from Thailand. On 31 July 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred. It was a pair of alleged attacks by North Vietnamese gunboats on two US destroyers, the Maddox and the Turner Joy, off the North Vietnamese coast in the Gulf of Tonkin. As a result, President Johnson would order more forces to support the South Vietnamese government, and additional USAF forces were dispatched to Thailand, beginning a large scale US military presence in Southeast Asia. The USAF 7th Air Force in Saigon wanted to have additional KC 135s in Thailand and the solution reached was to expand the U Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield and base the tankers there. Expansion of U Tapao began in October 1965, with the completed new facility opening at the end of 1967. The 11000 feet (3353 m) runway became operational on 6 July 1966. U Tapao received its first complement of KC 135 tankers in August 1966. By September, the base was supporting 15 tankers. The opening of U Tapao also allowed the United States to route most cargo through that facility rather than having large cargo aircraft arrive in the capital. By 1970 most USAF operations had moved out of Don Muang. In late 1971 the Thai Government allowed US personnel to enter the country direct to the remote RTAF bases without needing to transit Don Muang, further reducing USAF operations there.