Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School

The Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS), on Highway 5017 in Ban Na district, Nakhon Nayok, is a Royal Thai Armed Forces senior high school with a free museum open to the public. The exhibits are decommissioned military hardware — a preserved naval vessel, an army tank, and transport and fighter aircraft — set out on the campus grounds. There’s no entry fee, but this is a functioning school and cadet training ground first, tourist attraction second.

AFAPS trains only male cadets, and getting in is harder than getting into most universities: more than 70,000 boys apply each year for fewer than 600 places, an acceptance rate under 1%. Those who complete the two-year senior-high programme go straight into one of Thailand’s four service academies — Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, the Royal Thai Naval Academy, the Royal Thai Air Force Academy or the Royal Thai Police Academy — without sitting a separate entrance exam. The school moved to this Nakhon Nayok site in February 2000 and began teaching here that May, replacing an older campus closer to Bangkok.

The museum itself sits east of the AFAPS Student Club, facing the headquarters building, and holds a permanent display of Royal Thai armed forces equipment retired from active service: the naval vessel and tank are the two pieces most visitors photograph, with the aircraft parked alongside and cabinets of small arms tracing changes in kit over the decades. None of it is roped off with much interpretive signage — this reads as a campus memorial collection maintained by the school rather than a purpose-built visitor museum, and that’s part of what makes it worth the detour if you’re already in the area.

Watch out: Because AFAPS is an active training ground, don’t expect to see cadets on parade or to access anywhere beyond the museum grounds without prior arrangement — weekends and school holidays can mean a near-empty campus with nobody around to ask.

Plan on weekday mornings, when the school is staffed and more likely to have someone on hand if you need directions or permission for photos. Dress conservatively, keep your voice down, and check with staff before photographing anything beyond the display hardware itself. Pair the visit with Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy or the Khun Dan Prakan Chon Dam, both also in Nakhon Nayok, for a fuller day beyond the wider Khao Yai area’s national-park attractions.