You might look at Susi Air in Indonesia for time building.

....or stay in the USA on an education Visa while getting a Master's. Flight instruct to build time while studying. That way you can get up to at least 500 or 750 or 1000+ hours before you go back to Thailand and perhaps some chance to stay in the States might present itself in the meantime.

That additional flight time would set you apart from the hordes of Comm-Inst-Multi kids, and please try not to pay ridiculous amounts of money for your training for an airline. A reasonable bond is the norm, but don't pay up front, i.e. Lion Air pay to fly scheme.

....oh and marrying an American girl could prove helpful in the short term


TP

You beat me to it. Susi Air in Indonesia looks like fun, and at least your closer to home than in the US. The pay isn't great, I hear it's something like 1500 USD/month, but they give you a place to live with a maid, a cook, and transportation to and from work. COLA adjustment (including housing and transportation) to the US that's probably like making 55K+/yr in the States. Plus the flying looks like a blast.

Good Luck!

Well, in that case I'd look hard at what Nok offers. If the pay is ok, and you don't get screwed on a bond, that might be a good way to get the regional experience in Thailand. Aircraft are maintained to THAI standards and I think they use the same schoolhouse, so that's cool. I see guys mentioning Susi, and Indonesia would be fun, but the money just isn't there if you can get on at Nok.

...oh and marrying an American girl can prove helpful in the short term.
And in the long term?

Did you not see the special on flying for Susi Air the pilot that got Malaria? How many of you have actually been to Indonesia?

Go to a U.S. Carrier with a flow through and avoid the craziness and risking your life. The industry has changed and you don't need to do crazy dangerous things anymore the be recognized as having "experience".

And those other outfits mentioned in Asia are all rubbish.

If the regionals need you bad enough, as we have recently seen with Ozzies, you can get a visa or go to Australia and fly for REX. REX really needs crews and would probably get you a 457 visa. Just a thought.

“Careful, there are some people here who will take offense at pointing out how much the Asian carriers lag behind in safety concepts and CRM.”

Yep, and I am one of them.

Take a look at the safety record of airlines in Japan for example. ANA is up there with the best and must have a reasonable “safety concept”.

Singapore Airlines too. Cathay, Dragonair. There are plenty of large airlines in Asia that have great safety records. Even some in China dare I say.

Keep in mind, the OP only has 250 hours and is a time builder, so the US Regionals are off the table for a year or so.

Most airlines in China (not Taiwan) have excellent safety ratings.

Airline Safety Ranking 2016 » JACDEC

Heard they also give you one hell of a physical.

You must also include Indonesia which probably has the worst safety record. Thailand, unfortunately, is close. Malaysia and Singapore are up there but most do not hear about the issues in or at Singapore. CX and KA will have issues coming as both operations are being poorly run with a lot of new inexperienced joiners. Don't get me started on China and India.

I think it's the sophistication of the airplanes now that keep a lot out of trouble. I would hazard a guess that the hull losses would be higher if that part of the world was still flying 727s, DC9 etc. Remember that 20/30 years ago lots of experienced pilots around including the refugee Ozzies from the strike. Also, a lot of carriers were built on the experience and management of the bigger world airlines. It took Korean time to figure that out and now Indonesia is starting to come up with the help of the Ozzies. There is a long way to go and it remains to be seen what will happen.