In 1992, the Royal Thai Navy ordered the new light aircraft carrier HTMS Chakri Nareubet from Spain to bolster its then largely littoral fleet. As part of the procurement, ten of the Spanish Hawker Siddeley AV-8S Matador, an export version of the first-generation Harriers, were transferred to the RTN to serve as the first (and so far only) carrier air wing in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the delivery of the Chakri Nareubet and its accompanying air wing in 1998 coincided with the then ongoing Asian financial crisis, which resulted in the RTN being unable to procure any spare parts for the Matadors, forcing them to cannibalise the aircraft to keep them flying. After just eight years of service, the RTN retired all of their remaining AV-8S from service in favour of repurposing the Chakri Nareubet into a helicopter carrier, finally concluding the service of the first-generation Harriers.

Introduced in Update "Storm Warning" as part of the Thai aviation sub-tree for Japan, the AV-8S Late represents the Royal Thai Navy's AV-8S during the end of their relatively short service life. Performance-wise, the AV-8S Late is comparable with the squadron Sea Harrier FRS.1 in the British tree, featuring up to four AIM-9L missiles to deal with air targets. However, the Thai AV-8S trades its radar for an ability to carry a more diverse payload and armaments, including napalm bombs and a large countermeasures pod to defend itself from enemy missiles.