Product Description
The Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base (NKP), formerly Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, is a Royal Thai Navy facility used for riverine patrols along the Mekong River. It is approximately 587 km (365 mi) northeast of Bangkok, 14.5 km (9.0 mi) west of Nakhon Phanom city in Nakhon Phanom Province in the northeastern region of Thailand, and 411 km (255 mi) from Hanoi in Vietnam. The Mekong River is NKP's border with Laos. The airfield at NKP is jointly used as a civilian airport.
Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base was established in the 1950s as a RTAF base. The civil war inside Laos and fears of it 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, Royal Thai Air Force Bases used by the USAF were considered Royal Thai Air Force bases and were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun bunkers. All United States Air Force personnel were not fully armed. There were insufficient arms due to the nature of the mission at NKP. Often instructions were given prior to off-base activities to avoid answering questions posed by the press.
The USAF forces at Nakhon Phanom were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).
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Changing years or units will result in a slight increase in cost due to digitizing. This cap is fully embroidered and not screen printed. We can add text or clipart to the sides and back of the cap for an extra cost. We cannot embroider on the bill of this cap.