Thailand’s Queen Suthida climbed into the cockpit of a Saab JAS 39C Gripen on Oct. 8 and flew the fighter jet solo, adding another first to an already unusual resume.
The queen, 48, took off at 10:06 a.m. from Wing 7 of the Royal Thai Air Force in southern Surat Thani province and landed 41 minutes later. King Maha Vajiralongkorn watched from the base. The Bureau of the Royal Household said the flight made her Thailand’s first female Gripen pilot. Some media reports went further and called her the first queen anywhere to fly a modern combat jet alone.
The 39C is the single-seat version of the Gripen, so no one else was on board. Royal Household footage shows her in the cockpit from taxi through takeoff.
The flight came after months of preparation. She started ground school in June, flew 20 simulator sorties and logged about 10 hours in the two-seat JAS 39D before her solo. The palace said she had nearly 1,190 flight hours before she ever flew the Gripen alone. That total goes back to her first lesson in a Cessna T-41 in 2010 and includes more than 450 hours as a first officer on the royal Boeing 737-800.
Flying is only part of the story. The former Thai Airways flight attendant holds the rank of general in the Royal Thai Army, a rank she received in 2016. In 2025, she was also appointed an admiral in the Royal Thai Navy and an air chief marshal in the Royal Thai Air Force. An accomplished athlete, she has played ice hockey, including in the opening match at Chiang Mai’s international rink in 2023, and won a sailing gold medal as navigator for Thailand’s mixed keelboat team at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
A most remarkable woman — decorated soldier, pilot, sportswoman and queen.