Originally Posted by
prathetkrungthep
Yes—most recent short-term leased aircraft I can think of are probably the Jet Airways 77Ws and they all had names.
These names are also, at least formally, royally bestowed, which is why in Thai when people refer to the names of the aircrafts they would say chue (name) praratchathan (royally given) and presumably why the aircraft name would also referred to by the honorific khun i.e. HS-TTA would be referred to as Khun Alongkorn. As mentioned upthread, there is generally a theme to the names for each aircraft type. The A320s are province names, many of the 777s have literary-inspired names, and most fitting for the Queen of the Skies—the former 747 fleet were named after historical queens and royal consorts i.e. the Star Alliance livery 744 HS-TGW was Khun Visuthakasatriya.
Thanks for the very informative response!
Is there a religious tradition as well in Thailand about "blessing" vehicles?
I know in the Philippines many years ago, people would have a priest "bless" their house or large vessel (boat, plane, etc.). Although I am not sure if they still do that today.