On Saturday we took the evening Nok Air flight to Don Mueang where we were met by a representative from Maneeda Tour with our rental car... Everything was arranged as this was the late flight I wanted to be in a hotel as efficiently as possible.
We were driven to our hotel... I hadn't specified any hotel I did not want to go to and so we arrived at the Don Mueang Mansion, a hotel I'd stayed at one night before, and had decided never to stay at again... The staff were unusually discourteous and unfriendly that time. This is the only place in Thailand where I have seen such an attitude.

Early Sunday morning we drove along the motorway system and worried about the petrol state. Many rental companies rent cars with empty tanks, take it empty and bring it back empty, and so you never know how far you'll get before you find a petrol station...
We got a long way, the tank was on two bars, and began flashing one bar after quite a distance, but where was a petrol station? I knew there was one soon, but how soon?
We made it, and added 500 Baht's worth at 29.8 Baht a litre, 3 Baht a litre more than Chiang Mai, but still 40% cheaper than the price here in Vancouver.

Bang Saen is a beach resort north of Pattaya, and here we found a room by the beach at 1,200 Baht a night, very comfortable, but no breakfast... That we bought from the nearby 7-Eleven.

There was not much happening at Bang Phra where the Thai Flying Club is based, but there were a few familiar faces. We stayed for lunch and then drove to Pattaya - Eastern aerodrome where Jim is setting up a club for enthusiasts.
Jim showed me the J3 Cub in his hangar... Eastern has many new hangars full of microlight/ultralight and VLA/Sport Pilot aircraft, with enthusiastic owners who are setting up a friendly club.

Paul was disappointed that I was leaving Thailand as he wanted to go up with an instructor and fully explore the slow flight and stalling characteristics of his Allegro aeroplane from the Czech Republic.
I said "Why don't we go now?"
The Allegro is registered as an ultralight, but to me this is an aeroplane. Ultralights are supposed to be flown at 500 feet AGL in Thailand but we needed altitude so we climbed to 1,500 feet and called U-Tapao who cleared us to 3,000 feet for some stalls.
The Allegro will drop a wing in a stall with some power and flaps, a bit disconcerting, but not much more than a Cessna 152 configured with flaps and power.
We found a few snags that are easily sorted, otherwise the Allegro is an easy aeroplane with good trainer characteristics and very good performance with its 100hp Rotax 912.

Monday morning we got up and drove back to Bangkok... I had to drop some images off at SGA and so we had lunch with the boss.
I took Mod for a drive through Bangkok to the Royal Palace. We found somewhere to park, and visited Wat Po with its large reclining Buddha.
Then we drove through the rush hour traffic and escaped on to the elevated toll motorway where for 20 Baht we passed all the traffic below and made Don Mueang in good time for Mod's Nok Air flight back to Chiang Mai.
Now I had to find the Queens Garden Resort in Lat Krabang... I thought I'd missed the turn-off and I rocketed along the motorway heading for Chon Buri... The next turn off was miles away from where I thought the hotel was, and I was running out of petrol!
I decided to get off the motorway as soon as possible. The next exit was On Nut Road, and as I turned off a sign said Lat Krabang! I drove along the Lat Krabang road, worrying about petrol, and the only station I saw was on the other side of the dual carriageway.
Finally I decide to turn around at a U turn to go back to this station and ask for directions... I'd already stopped several times and called the hotel...
Sitting, waiting to make my U turn, I looked left and there was a sign with the hotel's name on it. I'd accidentally found the place.
The Queens Garden Resort is a new hotel serving Suvarnabhumi airport, they charged me 1,000 Baht for the night, and 100 Baht for the morning's airport transfer. Very convenient when you have found the place.
I put some petrol in the tank at a nearby ESSO station so the guy who collected the rental car wouldn't have the same worry I had had.
The morning China Airlines flight was comfortable, and the connection was only one hour at Taipei for the Vancouver flight.
I managed about four hours snooze on the Vancouver leg, 10 hours or so, and I have not had any real jet lag effects.
Ted picked me up and we went to Langley airport to pick up the spare car.

Now it's back to work...

On Wednesday I conducted a scenic flight survey in the Cessna 172.
We flew north to Chiang Dao mountain which was shrouded in clouds.

The day I left Phuket there was a deep depression in the Thai Gulf and Ed was heading straight towards it.
This was going to be a testing time for Ed as he flew step by step in the few clear spells he got.
On the first leg from Phuket to Chumpon he had to divert into Ranong for the night. He spent the next night in Chumpon, two nights in Prachuap, a night in Saraburi, and finally made it to Lamphun on the 7th.
The news showed scenes of flooding and heavy rain along the peninsula, and Ed was in the thick of it, flying one leg a day until he got to Bangkok.
Ed came out of this experience wiser, while having made many friends in ATC and the met offices, the Air Force in Prachuap, and with airport operations people all along his route.
Ed's long flight from Phuket is to be commended.

Trevor was stunned, an instructor had become upset when he started the takeoff run with the control column back and had demanded he hold the control column full forward until the Cessna reached its 50 knot rotation speed...
Something had to be done before Trevor gave up flying.
I met him off the plane at Chiang Mai airport and we drove directly to Lamphun, there was enough of a dry spell on Saturday afternoon to do some steep turns, slow flight, and circuits and send him off solo in the Cessna 152. Yes you can fly a Cessna in Thailand in the way you were taught in England, raising the nosewheel off the ground and flying it gently off the ground, landing with the stall warner on, and not allowing the nosewheel to touch until the control column hits the back stop.
Having done a first solo flight in Thailand, Trevor told me he'd never driven in Thailand either.
Saturday evening found us eating a very good dinner in the Riverside Pub followed by a few drinks in Love Actually, a pub along the same road.
Chris Newman from Chiang Mai Flying Club often sings at Love Actually in the evenings but this particular evening there was a singing star from Bangkok entertaining everyone.
On Sunday we drove back to Lamphun airfield but the rain and low cloud didn't clear; we were glad we had taken the opportunity on the Saturday to complete the primary task.
So Trevor got his second first in Thailand when I gave him the keys of the car for him to drive us to the airport.

The weather was very nice on Sunday afternoon, it was a pity that Trevor's tight schedule meant he had to leave, but it meant we had a car for the afternoon. So I drove Mod to her home in Mae Taeng and visited her family there.

On mourning the passage of time

I had an e-mail from a friend who reminisced about the old times, the days of the Tiger Club and the Condor Club, and friends who had passed away. There was no one he could relate these experiences to as no one could know.
He feels lonely with his reminscence... But I know, I was there too.
This was my reply:

Subject: Time goes by.

Yes it is easy to get depressed about the past, and as we get older we lose more friends, and the joy of past times is missed.
One day perhaps we will have to club together and create something fun, a place for aviators to meet again. A home for us in the way the club room at the back of the Tiger Club hangar was home to people from all over the World.

Life has become more serious, and bottom line oriented. As what we once had falls further into the past, the culture that created the Tiger Club is also forgotten.
What survives is our humanity, and it was humanity that created the Tiger Club and the Condor Club, with the need to preserve a history and its required human ability.

You and I grew up in a different culture. Our great grandparents would never have imagined tinkering with an old car, and the current generation grow up not knowing how to gap the points because they don't have to.
We fit into our time.

Aviation is an environment where the past still survives and magnetos still have points.
But the essence of a person is the same today as it was thousands of years ago.
Aside from the mechanics of Cosmic Wind racers, flying Stampes in gentle aerobatics, and travelling Europe, things of our past, I still think we might create a club of interesting people with stories to tell... A human crowd with little arguments at the Dog and Duck as some real ale is consumed after a day's flying.
They might not be the gripping tales such as how Dave narrowly missed the side of the canyon as it whipped past the canopy of his Corsair after he flew under the bridge at Bristol, or some of Tom's exploits in the Beaufighter... We were lucky in our time to have such experiences related by the people who had them.
In another generation we might have learned about sailing to India before the time of steam... This generation never knew flight.
All generations have their character, and all of us rue our pasts from time to time.

I think today's problem is the lack of human to human, face to face communication, communication of a kind that has been blasted by the explosion of mass communication.

We are now the old guys, the ones who did many things in aeroplanes and survived.
If we start a club somewhere to recapture our pasts, fly some biplanes with radios and mode C, replace our 0-200s and Ardem VWs with Rotax, do what it takes to fly for fun in todays World, it won't be the aeroplanes, it will be the people that make our club... A club where you won't be lonely.

We would need a new generation of twenty somethings to come in and learn from us and pass on some of what we ourselves learned all those years ago at Redhill, and before and since.

As I read Patrick O'Brian's series of books on those past times of sailing ships, I learn about another time.
The enthusiasm the characters have for the ships they sailed and the experiences that brought is the same enthusiasm you and I have for rolling amongst the clouds and travelling in aeroplanes.

In time, what we did will pass into history to be read in awe by a future generation trying to imagine how an aircraft could actually fly while a human being manipulated its controls.

We are unfortunate in that we see the present and our past changing too fast.
Those who flew in the 40's and then flew at the Tiger Club until its demise were of an age where they saw little societal change.
We were lucky to have seen some very good years before the seriousness of 720 channel radios and court action put paid to our innocent fun.
But we are of a generation not adapted to the rapid social change our World has experienced.
We want the World to stop for a while, and think about where this rapid spiral is taking us.

I have been asked many times whether I would repeat what I did when I created the Condor Club; would I do it again?
The answer is Yes, but now with more confidence than I had then, and more energy to fight to keep it going.
The Condor Club's demise was not a financial one, it was an emotional one.

On the 15th I return to Vancouver to do what I do and maybe scrape a penny or two.
But 24 years ago G-AWEI was going together and the Condor Club was growing... Perhaps the time is ripe to start something exciting again.

Best wishes,

Michael

The Songkran festival characterises the differences between living in Canada and living in Thailand.
Vancouver has been labeled "The City of No Fun" as many fun things are no longer permitted.
Songkran is a Thai festival celebrating the Buddhist New Year. People sprinkle flower scented water on each other for good luck, and there are many cultural events... But what most farangs see and actively participate in is a the huge water fight where everyone gets a thorough soaking wherever they go.
People drive around in pickup trucks with drums of water, and splash as they go... Motorcyclists ride around soaked to the bone, and all along the roads people with buckets, hoses, and water pistols soak all that dare to pass.

The sad side of Songkran is the expected 400 fatalities, and numerous injuries (mostly due to alcohol).
Medical staff are restricted from taking time off during this time.
Indeed, on the way home from the party at Nok, we passed a motorcylist lying dead in the road...

But what price life?
In Thailand the Buddhist idea is that when your time comes it comes, and you move on to the next life... It is very important you make a lot of merit in this life to have good karma in the next!
In Canada, riding in the back of a pickup truck splashing water on passing road users and pedestrians would mean your arrest by the police on numerous charges!

I would have liked to have experienced the true Thai cultural event which is very much a family affair with children paying due respect to their elder relatives, and splashing small quantities of 'holy' water on them.
There's food, friendship, and Thai dancing to be shared as well. But as ever I was busy.

Songkran

Cruising down to Bangkok

The Songkran festival characterises the differences between living in Canada and living in Thailand.
Vancouver has been labeled "The City of No Fun" as many fun things are no longer permitted.
Songkran is a Thai festival celebrating the Buddhist New Year. People sprinkle flower scented water on each other for good luck, and there are many cultural events... But what most farangs see and actively participate in is a the huge water fight where everyone gets a thorough soaking wherever they go.
People drive around in pickup trucks with drums of water, and splash as they go... Motorcyclists ride around soaked to the bone, and all along the roads people with buckets, hoses, and water pistols soak all that dare to pass.

The sad side of Songkran is the expected 400 fatalities, and numerous injuries (mostly due to alcohol).
Medical staff are restricted from taking time off during this time.
Indeed, on the way home from the party at Nok, we passed a motorcylist lying dead in the road...

But what price life?
In Thailand the Buddhist idea is that when your time comes it comes, and you move on to the next life... It is very important you make a lot of merit in this life to have good karma in the next!
In Canada, riding in the back of a pickup truck splashing water on passing road users and pedestrians would mean your arrest by the police on numerous charges!

I would have liked to have experienced the true Thai cultural event which is very much a family affair with children paying due respect to their elder relatives, and splashing small quantities of 'holy' water on them.
There's food, friendship, and Thai dancing to be shared as well. But as ever I was busy.

Flying

Four days after the successful completion of the flight tests I was flying with Nat once again to do a cross country to Phitsanulok in the Cessna 150.
The next day, Wednesday, Nat did a cross country on his own to Lampang and Phitsanulok to complete the necessary distance for the Canadian PPL.

On Friday 13th... I flew to Bangkok with Nat in the Tecnam. We stopped for fuel at Phitsanulok; one of the few places that has avgas on tap.
Takhli is a military field between Phitsanulok and Bangkok and is on airway W9... We tried to call them several times, and so did an aircraft in the opposite direction. I spoke to the other traffic and we agreed our own separation, and then Takhli ATC finally came in.
In Thailand you are supposed to maintain two way communication with an ATC station at all times, but this is often not posssible at the levels we fly.
One thing that was of concern was small flocks of cranes thermalling near Bangkok, so we turned the landing light on to help reduce the chance of a bird strike.
Bangkok Don Muang has been reopened to airline traffic since there are problems with Suvarnabhumi.
We landed on 21 left and went to SGA to park under their cover... The Tecnam is very light and we haven't rigged any tie down points yet, it is better if the aeroplane is under cover... A local CB made its presence known with a shower just after we were safely under cover.

In the picture you'll see Nat has a patch over one eye...
There I was in bed early for an 06:00 departure when Nat phoned me at midnight to say he'd had a motorcycle accident and he couldn't come... Then he phoned again at 00:30 to say the doctor said it was alright if he came.
Nat doesn't look too bad for having had only 2 ½ hours sleep!

Transport Canada likes a Pilot Training Record, and I brought several copies with me to Thailand...
Lunch at Don Muang was spent bringing one of these up to date for Nat to take to Edmonton with him tomorrow.
Instinct was telling me people were waiting for me... I told Nat this and right on cue I got a phone call, "...how long was I going to be?"
I took a taxi downtown to Central World plaza to meet Simon who teaches flying in the Middle East.
Simon has a Thai wife and is thinking of retiring to fly here...
"It's like meeting a famous author" he said, "...it's very brave" of me to write on this website, and he felt he already knew me...
Next I met Pakorn, his girlfriend and another friend for dinner... I stayed at Pakorn's mother's new house in Bangkok. This was very well made with a lot of woodwork. There are some very nice houses here.

It's not easy getting in and out of Don Muang. I visited flight planning early in the morning and filed a flight plan, then went downstairs to pay the landing fee (615 Baht).
The airconditioned walkway from the old International terminal to the Domestic terminal was no longer available so I walked outside in the heat.
Ed arrived on schedule from Phuket and we were driven back to SGA on the east side of the airport.
The SGA bill was 3,500 Baht.

We were two minutes late on our flight planned departure.. Bangkok ATC routed us west and then north west... Next was Takhli, and we did not manage to raise them until we were within five miles east of the field... I am told ATC take a hand held radio with them and leave the tower, it was a holiday after all.
The flight to Phitsanulok was easy, but from there to Lamphun was not.
A large CB was resident north of Phitsanulok... The propeller has a resin leading edge and so we throttled back to 1800 RPM in the rain.
A diversion was in order so we routed west, south of Sukhotai, and towards Bhumipol Dam into clear air, then north to Lamphun. After clearing Phitsanulok ATC we were not able to contact anyone until we contacted Chiang Mai approach 50NM south of their field.
Lamphun airfield is closed for Songkran... we didn't know that! 'Just as well I have a key :)

Ed and I drove home the slow way, along the Old Lamphun road, being splashed along the way.
After a shower we drove to Nok airfield where Pierre Yve was putting on a party for the Sport Flying Association of Thailand.
There was plenty of food, drink, and a live band played popular music.
Nok Flying Club is a focal point for all private flyers in the north of Thailand.

Pai

On Sunday morning Ed and I flew to Nok to meet up with everyone before we all set off for Pai.
Khun Suchard had booked us all into the smart Paivimaan Resort in Pai... The risqué art on this page was on the wall above the bed, and on the loo door in my room.
There were six aeroplanes in attendance at Pai, the three 'sport' planes, and 2 Cessna 172s and the 182 from Nok.
Food and much alcohol was consumed that night in Pai with everyone enjoying a social occasion.
Thanks go to Khun Suchard who sponsored the whole event, it's the Thai way...

A Border Run

My Thai visa would have expired today... So Monday morning Ed and I flew to Chiang Rai from Pai, rented a car, and drove to the Burmese border at Mae Sai...
I now have my last visa, and I have to leave Thailand before May 15th :(
Songkran happens in Myanmar too... I got a good soaking in the town of Tachileik and stood in the Sun while lunch was being served.
We drove back to Chiang Rai... I found the window lock and so Ed's window was wide open. Unfortunately none of the people in the pick up trucks we passed took the hint to soak the vulnerable Ed!
An easy flight back to Lamphun, a drive back home, and I was in the Cozy Corner for my dinner... The girls there had not seen me for a while.

Five Chiang Mai Flying Club students have passed their flight tests.
Unfortunately I only have pictures of the three who I had some input with.
Two others, Pimol, and Weeraphon, also passed their flight tests.
The efforts of instructors Tony Smallwood and Chris Newman paid off.

We all flew a lot over the past week leading up to the flight tests, and the students were well prepared.

Congratulations to the students and to Chiang Mai Flying Club on the successful completion of these PPLs.

Flying plans

The five year permit for Ed's Tecnam P92-JS that allows it to fly unrestricted within Thailand is finally being issued.
This means that we will be able to travel around Thailand during the next few weeks.
We need to find weather and wind to expand Ed's experience, and I need to see the sea... I think the splash and hiss of the sea breaking the shore will be soothing to my stressed brain.

Nat is off to Canada in two weeks where he will be training for the Canadian CPL at Centennial Flying School in Edmonton.
Meanwhile, we have to finish the five hours instrument training, and he must do another solo long cross country (with my signature) to complete the Canadian requirements for the PPL.

Both Ed and Nat have completed training to the Canadian requirements. These exceed the Thai requirements in that instrument flying is required.

I'm not sure what Kraidej has planned, but his wife is due next month!
He sold me the car, and is a second hand car dealer among other things, and so I will sell the Toyota back to him.

The story of my life...

I face a period of uncertainty, and I am preoccupied with my future.
One evening this week a lady asked to see my palm... At first I refused since I was quite depressed after what was read to me before.
Whether you believe in it or not, there's always something said that strikes the heart.
But I let her read my palm, and the depressing fortunes of my life were revealed... Yes I am very good at my job was a positive, and while I will never be rich I will earn enough to live... Then she said I have an important decision to make and I must follow my heart.
But my heart is totally confused these days....

Dolly spread her Tarot cards... I lifted out a card with the image of a man sitting up in bed, in the dark, with nine swords pointed at him. "Stress" she said. Yes, these past 18 months I have been under severe stress.
I was asked to pick four more cards, and she said "these mean your mind is on your work"... "Don't worry you will always have work when you want it".
I prefer to be busy, to work, but "all work and no play make Jack a dull companion", even though my 'job' is a lot of fun.

These days I put on a smile, my smile is famous in the Pub, "Smile and the World smiles with you" is true. It is a true smile, I like it here, but the inevitable termination of my stay is getting closer by the day.

Lovely long hair has always been popular here.
Houei Sai, Laos

It's been a quiet week with not much work to do... This is 'mai dee'; not good for my soul.
But I keep going.
I've been to the pub a couple of times, but now I think I'll change venues since although it's nice to see people who know you somewhat, it is also important to find new stimulating experiences.

Flying
Sabai sabai Thai way

Poor Ed was getting beyond frustrated as the insurance for the Technam took 27 days to negotiate before a fax finally came through to say it had been insured again.
We were within a gnat's hair of having to see the flight test through in the Cessna 150... That would be terrible when you could have the choice of flying a Technam.
Ed has had my undivided attention since the last update of this site with three dual flights in the Cessna 150, and three in the Technam. These flights were all to polish the maneouvres for the upcoming flight test.
All 5 students who passed their written exams will take their flight tests on 6th and 7th April... I have Ed, and two others with my input.
When these guys pass their flight tests my task here will be done and perhaps I can have a real holiday before I get back to work.

It's been eight days since I arrived back from Luang Prabang and five of them have been spent on the ground, and otherwise not busy at all.
Being not busy is not good for me!

The wait has been due to two problems.
1. Since the smoke disaster struck the Chiang Mai area the DCA examiners could not consider conducting flight tests.
2. The Technam's insurance needed renewal after its purchase, and this takes weeks to do in Thailand even though the insurance is through Lloyds... I'm used to immediate cover with a phone call!

I like to finish any job I start, and usually I am successful.
So I decided to stick around for another few weeks and this made the trip to Laos necessary.
But I am aware that a living will have to be earned soon, and I am concerned about where and how I do this.

There was a birthday party I went to on Friday... What a lot of fun, we ended up in Hot Shot dancing the evening away...
Sometimes I let my hair down a bit and I picked on this shy 38 year old and got her to dance.
This morning I had agreed with her boss to take her flying, but alas, the boss had to do something this morning and needed her employee to work... Many Thai women I know, work long hours, seven days a week, and so have little time for a social life.
So having made my appointment, I said hello, and then goodbye.
I had Ed to fly with today and so I was kept somewhat amused.
This evening I had a toasted cheese sandwich in the pub... I think Thai food is better, but sometimes you have to remind yourself by eating whatever...

Flying

On Thursday (22nd) it had been two weeks since I had flown... The farmers fires had totally blotted out the sky with heavy smoke...
I flew with Harry in the Cessna 172, with a lady friend in the back, on a short scenic flight.
Then I flew on a pre-flight test review flight with Nat in the Cessna 150 to do airwork, steep turns and stalls.

Monday and today, Tuesday, I did a flight each day with Ed to review steep turns, slow flight, and stalls.

The visibility is a little better these days, but not as good as I have seen it. There is still a lot of smoke in the air.

These days we have to give the DCA one weeks notice to fly into three airfields, Pai, Mae Sariang, and Hua Hin.
The reason given was that a farang had used his aircraft to fly drugs across the border to Pai and so pilots of light aircraft now have a restriction. The police have to be notified of our intentions... etc
This rule does not apply to everybody, members of the Nok Flying Club are allowed to go to Mae Sariang and Pai when they like, but Chiang Mai Flying Club is required to give the seven days notice.
If there was a farang drug runner in a light aircraft, nobody here seems to know who, or when these flights took place.

So something over two weeks ago Ed put in a request to fly to Pai, but the heavy smoke in this area precluded a trip last week and so another seven day notice was given.

The visibility looked good enough on Thursday at midday to go, and so we took the Cessna north north east to Doi Saket and then north westwards to Pai while climbing to 5,500 feet.
The visibility was reasonable though fires could be seen everywhere.

Overhead Pai at 5,000 feet I gave Ed an engine failure for practice.

Pai

I call Pai Farangsville because the town is full of foreign backpackers, there are too many foreigners here as it is, so flying to a town full of farangs does not appeal to me.
I told one English bar steward that I was looking forward to flying back to Thailand.
No, I like Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang better than I could like Pai.

I am told that Pai is good for partying and getting drunk or getting high on Pot, not my cup of tea!

The smokey trip home

The way home was in worse smoke that reduced visiblity to IMC.
Thailand is suffering an ecological disaster, there is so much burning going on.
Huge forest areas have died in this fiery attack on nature.

It is also an attack on tourism with many people complaining about the smoke and vowing never to return here... But what can be done about it?
I sent another e-mail report to the Thailand Environmental Institute including many pictures such as the two on the left.

We crossed the ridge that separates the Pai and Chiang Mai valleys at 5,000 feet, the visibility was very poor in the south of the Pai valley and it was worse into the Chiang Mai valley.
We were in IMC with the ground just in sight below us, and I was careful with the map reading. GPS is not a safe tool in these conditions.
The visibility began to improve as we turned south towards Chiang Mai, but there was a huge atomic bomb plume of smoke ahead as huge fires were raging in the Mae Rim area.
Passing 4nm east of Chiang Mai airport we could just make out the threshold of 18.
To the east the visibility was better, and as we flew south it improved to better than 10km in the Lamphun area.

Student Progress

Only one student failed an exam from Chiang Mai Flying Club, and the one failure was in only one subject.
Overall it was a good outcome for the students from Chiang Mai.

Ed was elated, and now wants to book his flight test ASAP.

A quiet time for me?

As recommended I bought a copy of Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, and it looks like I'll have time to read it!
Ed has returned to Phuket for 9 or 10 days, and we are not certain when he'll get a flight test...
Next week my visa expires and so I need to leave Thailand... Angkhor Wat is now put off in favour of a trip down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang in Laos, leaving on Wednesday and returning the following Sunday or Monday.
By that time we should know how the flight testing schedule is working out.
It means I should be here for Songkran.