A Well-Traveled Seaboard Aircraft

Photo courtesy of Jean marc Braun
Research courtesy of Steve Darke (www.thai-aviation.net)

In August 2017, Jean marc Braun, a citizen of Luxembourg, was driving through Thailand and came across this airplane parked outside a nightclub and boxing center in Chonburi, a town on the Gulf of Thailand. Research by Steve Darke revealed that this C-46F, registered as HS-SKD, was once operated by Seaboard as N1649M. Seaboard leased it from the U.S. Air Force in 1950 and operated it into 1952. It then passed through a variety of owners and operators until 1978 when it was bought by Sahakol Air Cargo. They registered it as HS-SKD but apparently never put it into service. It was stored at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok until 1984 when it was moved to Lad Phrao, Bangkok and turned into a coffee shop. Finally, in 2001, it was moved to its present location. It is still there, sitting on its rims, its engines still installed.