This retired Thai Airways Airbus A380 ‘abandoned’ in Thailand has been the subject of a lot of speculation and rumors.
The fact it’s literally parked right next to the road is certainly intriguing, and it’s the main reason why people are talking about it.
A few of the things that have been written about it are true.
But there are other elements of this story that are a bit harder to determine.
This Airbus is likely an empty skeleton now
This Airbus A380 was originally sold to Thai Airways with the registration HS-TUE in 2013.
But it then flew for less than seven years before stored at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, and then moved to U-Tapao (another airport in Thailand) later, reportedly in the spring of 2020.
We don’t know whether the plane had been grounded because there were issues, or whether it was the other way around, because grounding a plane for years will definitely ‘ruin’ it.
Still, this meant that in November 2025, this Airbus A380 was apparently deemed no longer airworthy, dismantled, and then reassembled as a roadside attraction in a place called Rayong, around 120 miles south of the capital, Bangkok.
So this almost certainly means this former Thai Airways jet is an empty shell now.
The engines are probably gone, and the interior and cockpit too, perhaps.
That’s what we know for sure, but the rest of the story is a bit less clear.
The plane is now apparently a restaurant
A photographer called Dirk Grothe shared images of the plane in Rayong, Thailand.
However, when we checked Google Maps and Google Earth using the coordinates, we found the exact location, but without the plane.
As you can see from the image below (Google Earth) and above (Google Maps), the location is recognizable as the same one Grothe photographed but the plane isn’t there.
However, that’s probably because both ‘street views’ are not up to date – both date back to June 2024 – and the plane was only installed recently.
Generally, Google Maps is updated pretty much in real time in the app, but other things like Street View take much longer.
That’s how we discovered that this plane is indeed where the photographer said it was, and it’s marked as a ‘night market’ in some platforms and as a ‘restaurant’ in other apps.
The first and only review on Google Maps adds to the mystery.
“Come visit and buy some food and other necessities!” the reviewer wrote.
Either way, it’s certainly sad to see this giant repurposed after just seven years in the sky.
DISCOVER SBX CARS:
The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
