VZCZCXYZ0010
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBK #3012/01 1381048
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181048Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8876
INFO RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHINGTON DC
RUEAZCA/FAA WESTERN PACIFIC RGN HQ LOS ANGELES CA
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 2271

UNCLAS BANGKOK 003012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TRA/OTP 
FAA NATIONAL HQ FOR AFS/MDANIEL 
SINGAPORE FOR FAA/IFO DSMITH AND FAA/IAO NGRAHAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ECON TH
SUBJECT:  THAILAND CIVAIR: FAA-DCA CONSULTATIONS ON AVIATION SAFETY 
OVERSIGHT CONTINUE 
 
REF A. STATE 69101 
 
 ¶B. 05 BANGKOK 5681 
 
¶1.   SUMMARY: On May 15, 2005, pursuant to REF A, visiting 
representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met 
with counterparts at the Royal Thai Government (RTG) Department of 
Civil Aviation (DCA) to discuss RTG aviation safety oversight of 
Thai air carriers.  Discussions focused primarily on the measures 
the DCA has taken to correct the deficiencies identified by the 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) inspectors during 
their 2005 audit of Thailand. DCA officials have developed and begun 
to implement an action plan based on the findings of the ICAO audit. 
 FAA representatives informed their DCA counterparts that bilateral 
consultations have reached the point where the FAA will need to do a 
follow-on audit of its own, possibly as early as October 2006.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  On May 15, Mike E. Daniel, Manager, International Programs and 
Policy Division, FAA Flight Standards Service, and David M. Smith, 
Manager, FAA International Field Office, Singapore, met for about 
two hours with a team of DCA officials led by Chaisak Angkasuwan, 
Director General, and Vutichai Singhamany, Director, Flight 
Standards Bureau, as a follow-up to a previous meeting in August 
2005 (REF B).  The atmosphere of the meeting was friendly and 
business-oriented. 
 
¶3.  The final report on the ICAO audit of Thailand in 2005 served as 
the agenda for the meeting.  DCA representatives reviewed, finding 
by finding, the RTG plan of action for correcting the deficiencies 
identified by the ICAO.  Specific topics of discussion concerning 
aviation safety included:  supervision and control of designated 
examiners; certification or approval, control, and supervision of 
aviation training organizations; safe transport of dangerous goods; 
the annual inspection plan; a comprehensive and detailed national 
code of airworthiness; and aircraft registration of compliance with 
ICAO Annex 16.  (Note:  the ICAO report on the audit of Thailand is 
expected to be posted on the ICAO website shortly. End note.) 
 
¶4.  The FAA also asked more general questions about the status of 
Thailand's basic aviation law and its revision.  (Note: the Air 
Navigation Act of 1954 was last amended in 1999. End note.)  The DCA 
confirmed that it has been revising the sections concerning 
airworthiness in regular consultation with the Council of State, 
which functions as the RTG's legal department.  This review is 
complete and the next steps will be submission to the Cabinet and 
then the Parliament.  In view of the caretaker status of the current 
government and the likely focus on constitutional issues when the 
next Parliament convenes, however, it is unclear when lawmakers will 
take up the business of enacting new legislation. Two items to note 
in the revised draft of the law are its providing greater authority 
to the Director General of the DCA (as opposed to the Minister of 
Transport) to act, and provision of greater funding for DCA 
operations from charges such as fuel taxes.  The revised law would 
not provide for fee-for-service funding of operations. 
 
¶5.  The DCA has prepared a plan of action for the above findings 
concerning safety, as well as for those not concerning safety. 
Discussion made clear that the DCA has begun implementation of such 
plans, and the Director General expressed his agency's commitment to 
safety.  Without an on-the-ground audit by FAA, however, it is not 
possible for the USG to confirm the sufficiency or the extent of 
compliance with plan of action prepared for ICAO.  FAA 
representatives explained that they envision performing such audit 
of progress on said plan of action after the beginning of the new 
fiscal year, possibly as early as October 2006. 
 
¶6.  With respect to operations by Thai Airways International, DG 
Chaisak explained that THAI apologizes for problems that arose 
earlier from non-compliance with US law in connection with THAI 
flights into New York.  The DCA also noted that they are not being 
informed of deficiencies FAA has found in THAI operations in the 
United States. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  While the time between now and October 2006 affords 
the DCA the opportunity to correct the ICAO findings, the basic 
problems with RTG aviation safety oversight are less with the 
particular findings of the ICAO inspectors than a lack of political 
will, as reflected in the basic aviation law, which does not 
sufficiently empower the DCA, and funding constraints.  The Embassy 
thinks that DCA officials are aware of this situation, but in the 
current political environment it is impossible to know whether there 
will be any action to address such structural problems. Any 
inspection under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment 
(IASA) program, therefore, raises the strong possibility that 
Thailand may lose its current Category 1 status and be placed in 
 
IASA Category 2, with all of the implications of such placement. 
 
¶8.  Mike Daniel and David Smith of FAA have cleared on this cable. 
 
BOYCE