Wing Commander Pruksaji Ampornrat, 27, died when his AU-23 Peacemaker turboprop plunged into the sea some 500 meters off the coast of Muang district in Prachuab Khiri Khan province in central Thailand.

The aircraft was developed for use by the United States during the Vietnam War in the 1970s but was later sold to Thailand.

Thai military pilots are frequently killed in crashes blamed on the nation's old and sometimes obsolete fleet. In April two pilots were killed when their ageing jet fighter F5B ploughed into a rubber plantation.

In February an air force pilot based in Surat Thani died when his F5E fighter crashed into the Gulf of Thailand.