Anyone spotting in Phuket on 2-Mar and 3-Mar 2012?

[ToVeR]

Well, just as for my BKK topic, I am also wondering if there would be any spotters on site in Phuket on 2nd and 3rd of March. I will be there and hope to take some nice pictures of aircraft. If the wind direction helps me a little bit I know there is the possibility of great approach shots over the sea/beach. I was impressed by those.
I have also come across some taxi shots, but I do not know from where they were taken. They were not taken from the surrounding hills, but the photographer seemed to be more or less level with the aircraft. Maybe during taxiing towards the start of the runway, near the beach? I do not know. Any further information that is helpful would be appreciated.

So ... anyone?

Regards,

Tom

[ToVeR]

So, I went to Phuket at the beginning of March. The only information I started out with was that a great photo spot is at the Nai Yang Beach. I asked the people running the hotel I stayed in how to get there, and it turned out to be only at the end of the street where the hotel was located. More a lucky shot from my part to take a hotel close to the airport than a well informed decision.

Apparently Nai Yang Beach is part of a National Park and if you are "unlucky" you may be asked to pay an entry fee (again: according to the hotel people). However, there should also be a shortcut avoiding the official entrance when you pass through a residential area near the park. Simply pretend to be living there and the guard will not even notice you. During my stay, there was no one to be seen at the park entry, so I could walk in (and out) freely. Not that the entry fee is excessively high, only about 100,- THB I was told.

This first day was a bit of a disappointment.
When I arrived at the beach, the aircraft were not coming in for landing on RWY09, but on RWY27. Should you be tempted to take pictures from the beach, you either have to take some taxi shots over the fence, but for sure in the morning the pictures will be backlit, unless an airplane lands long. And you are actually not allowed to take pictures over the fence without Thai Airport Authority authorization. Another alternative is take-off/climb-out pictures. I did some. Not my cup of tea.

I spoke to a regular Phuket spotter (British, but often going there) and he said currently the beach was about the only decent spot to take pictures from. On the other sides of the airport security had recently become a lot tighter. He had been at some other places around the airport (also near the control tower, which was maybe not a very good idea) and was told by airport security to move away. With this information, I knew the beach was my only option.

At about 10:00 the flight directions changed, and finally they started to come in from over the Andaman Sea for RWY09. This allowed me to take some decent pictures of planes on final approach. For me it was all new, as this was my first time spotting in Asia, but nothing I could really say about: "this is special". At 13:00 or 14:00 in the afternoon the winds apparently changed again and once more they started to come in on RWY27. I was able to properly photograph some 20 aircraft movement (i.e. arrivals).
So far my first Phuket day. Personally I was not overwhelmed and a bit disappointed by the conditions, but nothing you can do about the weather I suppose.
On top of that: I got one massive sunburn. A good tip for those with a sensitive skin: stay in the protective shades of the trees lining the beach as long as possible before taking up your photo position. And use sun block. Or as in my case: cover as much of you body as you can physically endure considering the Thai heat. The fact I did not do pay sufficient attention to this on my first day in Phuket, would have a painful impact on the rest of my Thailand trip.

The second day started much like the first one. Airplanes coming in in the "wrong" RWY27 direction. But at 10:00 the same as the day before happened, and they started to come in from over the sea. On this Saturday there was much more traffic than on the Friday. And also the wind was predominantly from the east, so till bout 16:00 RWY09 was used. Good for me. Around 16:00 the wind picked up and turned (following a very large rain shower I could see over the Andaman Sea, but it did not come ashore). They reverted back to RWY27 and that was about it for me. I had an early morning flight back to Bangkok the following day, so I called it a day (regarding spotting).

This second day made the visit to Phuket worth its while. Although I did not see anything what could be called spectacular I am very pleased with the material and the results I achieved. An Airbus A320, Boeing 737, 747 or 777 in itself might not be that peculiar, but the color schemes of Air Asia (Malaysia and Thailand), NOK Air, Thai and Transaero (at least on wide bodies) were all new to me.

I am still wondering if I should put up pictures on the Aviation Photography forum. No idea what a selection I could made, and putting them all up can be considered a bit excessive.

[ToVeR]

While I am still pondering the picture issue, a log for 02/03/2012 at VTSP.
Some of these planes can also be found in the log for 02/03 by Le Addeur Noir, but there are some more here. Also: this log is by no means a complete overview of the traffic of the day. It only contains planes I managed to take a decent picture of.

HS-ABT, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4557, Thai AirAsia
HS-MDI, McDonnell Douglas MD-81, c/n 53298/2045, Orient Thai Airlines
9M-MLK, Boeing 737-8FZ, c/n 39321/3778, Malaysia Airlines
HS-ABU, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4807, Thai AirAsia
9V-TAP, Airbus A320-232, c/n 4445, Tiger Airways
HS-TJE, Boeing 777-2D7, c/n 27730/89, Thai Airways International, Chaiyaphum
G-OBYD, Boeing 767-304/ER, c/n 28042/649, Thomsonfly
VQ-BHR, Boeing 757-2Q8, c/n 30046/1006, Nordwind Airlines
HS-DDQ, Boeing 737-4M0, c/n 29204/3051, Nok Air, Nok Kiwi
HS-TAW, Airbus A300B4-622R, c/n 784, Thai Airways International, Suranaree
B-HSE, Airbus A320-232, c/n 784, Dragonair
EI-UNX, Boeing 777-222/ER, c/n 30213/232, Transaero
HS-PGG, ATR ATR-72-500 (ATR-72-212A), c/n 692, Bangkok Airways, Chang
HS-TES, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 1074, Thai Airways International, Sukhothai
HS-ABI, Airbus A320-216, c/n 3729, Thai AirAsia
1313, Cessna T337H-SP Summit Sentry, c/n 337-01927, Royal Thai Navy, 103sq
OY-VKG, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 349, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia
HS-DDL, Boeing 737-4Y0, c/n 24917/2071, Nok Air, Nok Keow Waan
EI-UNX, Boeing 777-222/ER, c/n 30213/232, Transaero
OY-VKG, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 349, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia
HS-TER, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 1060, Thai Airways International, U Thong
OY-VKF, Airbus A330-243, c/n 309, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia
HS-BIE, Boeing 767-383/ER, c/n 25088/359, Business Air

[ToVeR]

And to conclude a log for 03/03/2012. Same restrictions as for the 02/03/2012 overview apply.

HS-ABM, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4278, Thai AirAsia
HS-MDI, McDonnell Douglas MD-81, c/n 53298/2045, Orient Thai Airlines
G-OBYG, Boeing 767-304/ER, c/n 29137/733, Thomsonfly
9V-TAN, Airbus A320-232, c/n 4210, Tiger Airways
9M-MLL, Boeing 737-8FZ, c/n 39322/3834, Malaysia Airlines
OH-LTT, Airbus A330-302E, c/n 1088, Finnair
EI-XLG, Boeing 747-446, c/n 29899/1208, Transaero
HS-TJF, Boeing 777-2D7, c/n 27731/95, Thai Airways International, Phanom Sarakham
HS-ABL, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4126, Thai AirAsia
HS-PGU, Airbus A320-232, c/n 2254, Bangkok Airways, Guilin
HS-DDQ, Boeing 737-4M0, c/n 29204/3051, Nok Air, Nok Kiwi
HS-TAZ, Airbus A300B4-622R, c/n 787, Thai Airways International, Srisubhan
EI-XLF, Boeing 747-446, c/n 27645/1262, Transaero
HS-TER, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 1060, Thai Airways International, U Thong
HS-PGA, ATR ATR-72-500, c/n 710, Bangkok Airways, =censored=
HS-ABO, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4333, Thai AirAsia
HS-ABI, Airbus A320-216, c/n 3729, Thai AirAsia
HS-TGB, Boeing 747-4D7, c/n 32370/1278, Thai Airways International, Si Satchanalai
9M-AHD, Airbus A320-216, c/n 3291, AirAsia
HS-ABM, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4278, Thai AirAsia
HS-TEO, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 1003, Thai Airways International, Chutamat
HS-ABQ, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4386, Thai AirAsia
OY-VKI, Airbus A330-343X, c/n 357, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia
HS-PGK, ATR ATR-72-500, c/n 680, Bangkok Airways, Apsara
VH-YIF, Boeing 737-8FE, c/n 38710/3904, Virgin Australia Airlines, Sorrento beach
N570RZ, Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign, c/n 680-0231
A7-AED, Airbus A330-302, c/n 680, Qatar Airways
HS-ABL, Airbus A320-216, c/n 4126, Thai AirAsia
HS-TAP, Airbus A300B4-622R, c/n 635, Thai Airways International, Pathum Thani

[culpano]

Sometimes on this forum you may as well just talk to yourself because no-one else seems interested.

Sounds like a great place Tom - glad you got some decent shots in the end. I fancy going there some time and Bangkok to the Queens Garden hotel.

Please post up some of your pictures - I will be very interested to see them.

[ToVeR]

Sometimes on this forum you may as well just talk to yourself because no-one else seems interested.

Sometimes true . But I decided to post anyway, mainly to have the information somewhere, so that others (such as yourself) might benefit from it. And me as well. I tend to have a short memory. Due to some personal issues I have not been able to really follow this up as I would have liked to, but then I will post some pictures in the near future.

Apart from the pictures, two tips:

• - Protect yourself from the sun.
  - Good hydration is everything.

That is the good thing about the Queen's Garden Hotel (I stayed there as well for a couple of days, but I did not post any report/feedback yet, due to the same reason as above). You can have both, but be aware the relentless Thai sun can take its toll even during a very short exposure time (of the human body, not the pictures).

I'll make a post here if I put up some photos.

[ToVeR]

Pictures of my first day at Phuket are available in the Aviation Photo Forum. Link: http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=84741.