Tucked inside Soho Pool Club at Boat Lagoon Marina, Simpro Academy doesn’t look like most people’s idea of a simulator centre. There’s no arcade row of coin-operated machines. Instead, there are four dedicated rigs: three racing simulators, two running triple-screen setups and one built around VR, plus a single flight simulator, all running the kind of hardware used for actual skill training rather than a few minutes of novelty. The racing rigs run on a Simucube direct-drive wheelbase, Simtrecs load-cell pedals, a Simagic sequential gear shifter and GSI racing wheels, all mounted on genuine Sparco and Recaro seats. Guests can run iRacing or Rally, along with Automobilista 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione and a handful of other sims, on tracks and cars picked to suit whatever level someone’s at. The flight simulator is built around Microsoft Flight Simulator, with a Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog, a Moza flight stick and an F5 simulation seat, letting guests fly anything from a small general-aviation aircraft up to a commercial jet, with VR available for a full cockpit view. Simpro Academy was founded on the same instinct that shaped Simba Sea Trips and Soho Pool Club: Paul Chappell spent 23 years as a professional airline captain before turning his attention to running businesses on the ground instead of in the air, and that background is a large part of why the flight side exists at all. "Flying a simulator is part of how professional pilots actually train," Paul said. "We wanted Phuket’s tourists and locals to be able to try something close to that for themselves." A standard session runs around 90 minutes and costs ฿1,300 per person, starting with a pre-session briefing on the controls and safety basics before guests move into hands-on time behind the wheel or the flight controls. No prior experience is