Evening star., 1933-05-16
FLYING CAPTURES
INTEREST OF SIAM
Elephants and Tigers ReIe-
GATED With Real Develop
ment of Aviation.

"Oriental Siam is more interested in
aviation today than in herding ele-
plants or batting tiger traps" says q
bulletin from the headquarters Of the
National Geographic Society. True
enough, there are tigers and elephants
roaming through some OF Slams secluded
jungle areas, but airplanes are roaring
in skyways overhead and are bringing
isolated districts into close touch with
Bangkok. the capital city.
Aviation in this kingdom ruled over
by King Prajadhipok, the young mon
arch who visited the United States for
surgical treatment a couple Of years
ago, began as q military activity.
students were sent abroad and thor
oughly trained, not only in the art Of
flying, but In the engineering of plane
building, as well. Upon their return
to their homeland they began teaching
new men how to become pilots and su
pervised the work of constructing new
planes.
AT Don Muang, about 20 miles
north Of Bangkok, the officers estab-
Ished flying field and also complete
planes, except the motors, which were
purchased in France. For some years
the country has had an active fleet Of
more than 200 planes, including scouts,
bombers and Red Cross ambulances
shmese Are Good Aviators.
'"The Siamese have a flair for flying,
and are good mechanics, as well as ex-
cellent pilots. They execute breath
taking dives loop-the-loops and spins
during their course Of training. with as
great skill as pilots in any other land.
Careful and efficient, they have a rec
ord Of very few accidents since the first
commercial line was opened In 1922.
Aviation is Of appreciable assistance
in the country in forming rapid COM
munication to rich areas that have not
yet been opened up by roads or rail-
ways. Especially has this been true in
the eastern districts
Siam IS the safest and most eco
nomical gateway from Europe to the
extreme reaches Of Southeast Asia and
direct route from Europe and India to
Java. Australia and the Philippines,
and also forms the natural junction for
sky routes to French Indo-China, Hong
kong and portions Of populous China.
Although large areas are covered with
jungle, the country, for the most part,
does not offer as many air hazards
as surrounding territories, for 1t is en-
tirely free from typhoons.
SeIlSlIg tHe importance OF CQlS
strategical position on the Far East
ern air lanes. Siam has taken initial
steps in making the country safe for
commercial flying by clearing fields and
establishing proper ground facilities in
many districts.
Air Lines In Operation.
ALREADY the Dutch are operating a
fortnightly service from the Neither
lands to Sumatra and Java. The
French first opened up a connecting
line from Saigon to Bangkok to trans
fer mail and passengers to the Dutch
line. but have recently instituted in
addition to this fortnightly service
direct to Marseille. The Imperial Air
ways to Australia has already reached
Delhi and will soon be extended on to
Rangoon.
From Rangoon it is span Of
about 1850 miles to Hongkong to tie
up the trade on the China coast with
the air routes to European capitals
To bridge portion of this gap the
Siamese have organized the Aerial
Transport Co. of Siam, Ltd, to op-
crate over the 1,000-mile skyway from
Rangoon as far as Hanoi. French Indo-
China, where it will one day be con-