Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base
Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) facility in central Thailand, approximately 144 miles (240 km) northwest of Bangkok in Takhli District, Nakhon Sawan Province. Units Takhli is the home of the Royal Thai Air Force Wing 4, 3d Air Division. Squadrons assigned are: 401 Light Attack Squadron, flying T-50 TH Golden Eagle 402 Reconnaissance Squadron, flying DA 42 MPP and Aerostar UAV Dominator UAV 403 Fighter Squadron, flying F-16A/B MLU Fighting Falcon History Takhli RTAFB was established in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used Takhli as operating base for CIA resupply of Tibetan freedom fighters. CIA-operated C-130A Hercules transports flew men and supplies over Indian airspace, with the consent of Prime Minister Nehru, for parachute drops into Communist Chinese-occupied Tibet. Political considerations with regards to Communist forces engaging in a civil war inside Laos and fears of the civil war spreading into Thailand led the Thai government to allow the United States to covertly use five Thai bases beginning in 1961 for the air defense of Thailand and to fly reconnaissance flights over Laos. Under Thailand's "gentleman's agreement" with the United States, RTAF bases used