The Canadian reply you report in the story is a bit far-fetched. I just paid $1,281.00 Cdn for a late September round-trip flight (nothing even near the reply of $4,000.00 Cdn). It was from Montreal, not Toronto, but they are only 330 miles apart.
Plus, I have flown out of Toronto over 20 times to Bangkok, and I can tell you one thing......NEVER, EVER, you would have gotten a ticket for $600.00, that's for sure.....maybe too much Singha Beer by one of the members that day!! LOL!!!