🖐 In this research we’ve listed all drone laws and rules in South East Asia, country by country! This is a long & hard work to allow all of us to fly safely in the skies & always comply with local rules whilst adding our common sense. Give a 👍 at the end of this post if you enjoyed it & feel free to comment your experience or any updates you might have. Keep in mind that the content below is updated to the best of our ability & does not replace official sources & your own research.
We will look in assessing every country's do's & don't but also evaluate how fast the local drone rules are evolving hoping to give everyone a little more clarity when flying over this great part of the world.
Summary
Summary of South East Asia Drone Rules.
Deep Dive: Recreational Drone Use Practices.
Deep Dive: Commercial Drone Use Practices.
Best Of - Did You Know?
1/ Summary of South East Asia Drone Rules
South East Asia includes 11 countries; from Timor-Leste in the South to Myanmar (Burma) in the North, we will dig dive into them all in here. During my research, I've been pleased to observe a general welcoming behavior around drone use in most countries. Many of us having great footage out there & its great to be able to watch final movies over Youtube.
A for a general impression the rules a pretty flexible across most countries depending on if you're intending to fly for recreational or commercial purposes (Commercial vs Recreational explained). Though one country bans completely all drone use without permission, I've also discovered that some others push it to a real competitive advantage making South Asia one of the most eclectic region of the world in terms of drone laws & regulation.
See an example in Singapore experimenting Drone Waiters 😍
List of countries drone regulations approached in this research:
2/ Deep Dive: Recreational Drone Use Practices.
You can find below a convenient map which summing up recreational drone use regulation in each of the 11 countries of South East Asia. Click on the icon, to get a full drone use guide in the country of your choice.
As for the legend:
Green stands for countries that do not require any authorisation or license for you to fly most drones (please check each country's guide for more specific details). Note that this will often depend on your drone's weight & if it's equipped of a camera or not.
Yellow stands for countries which require at least an authorisation or a pilot's license or both. More or less hard to get but definitely not impossible.
Red stands for countries simply forbidding the use of drones in their territories. In South East Asia, this only refers to Brunei but we've unveiled that a permission is possible - see here
See this aerial video of Kompong Luong Floating Village, Cambodia - Follow us
3/ Deep Dive: Commercial Drone Use Practices.
You can find below a convenient map which summing up commercial drone use regulation in each of the 11 countries of South East Asia. Click on the icon, to get a full drone use guide in the country of your choice.
As for the legend:
Green stands for countries that do not require any authorisation or license for you to fly most drones (please check each country's guide for more specific details). Note that this will often depend on your drone's weight & if it's equipped of a camera or not.
Yellow stands for countries which require at least an authorisation or a pilot's license or both. More or less hard to get but definitely not impossible.
Red stands for countries simply forbidding the use of drones in their territories. In South East Asia, this only refers to Brunei but we've unveiled that a permission is possible - see here
See this aerial video of Timor-Leste promotional video (Timor-Leste Tourism) - Follow us
4/ Best Of / Did you know?
In Indonesia, you should not fly your drone over 161km/h 👌 "You've been warned"
Singapore, is the only South East Asian country having a 'research' flight class.
Timor welcomes pilots providing they respect common sense safety & privacy rules.
Despite been forbidden in Brunei, we've found a copy of an authorisation for you!
Drones over 200 g in Laos become officially unmanned air vehicles (UAV).
Philippines' process for commercial flights permits are the hardest to obtain.
Myanmar is discussing with Singapore to establish their 1st UAV specific rules.
Recreational drone use is so popular in Thailand that a permit is now required.
Cambodia is the most drone friendly country of South East Asia ✅
Agencies in Vietnam can help you obtain the authorisations required faster.
Malaysia sat up an enforcement unit in its 21 airports to stop illegal drone flights.
To sum up, South East Asia is a perfect place to fly your drone(s) but please be always respectful of locals' safety and privacy just as you would do in your own country. On this note, I would like to personally wish you epic (& safe) flights.
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