Why Fly Thai Intl?

[Fantasteak]

I had to book a flight to England with only a few weeks notice. My prefered airline is EVA. Never really had a problem with them. There planes are all fitted with individual TVs and modern seats. I have also flown BA and Quantas which were OK ,but a bit more expensive than EVA.

EVA were fully booked for what seemed like a month ahead. BA and Quantas were far too expensive. The cheapest flight at the time was Qatar and one of the other ones that do a stopover in the middle east. The price was around 27000 baht one way. Thai were 32000 baht one way. I weighed up the cost of a night in BKK and a stopover in the Middle East and decided to go for Thai air. I went to book at the Thai air office in CM as it is just down the road from where I stay.The price went up to 36000. I went back home to book on the Internet and the price was,,,,,,,,,, 108,000 baht one way economy. What the *&^%. I went back to Thai air and payed the 36000 . Thats almost £600 one way.

I had a connecting flight from CM with Thai air. The plane from CM to Bkk was a modern plane with

individual TVs and modern comfy chairs. Not really needed as its only a 1 hour 10 minute flight.

The Flight from Bkk to London was a 747 and was running on time. On boarding you get a little look at first class. Nice! Turn right and were back in the 90s. What a shocker. I did'nt know that they still had long haul planes like this. No individual TVs. Just one big projector screen and tiny 12inch screens in the aisles. The seats were skinny little things with really old looking upholstery. Oh well its was only 12 hours to go. When I took my seat I was 14 feet away from the 12 inch screen that was hanging from the ceiling inthe Aisle. The large screen was directly to my left so I could only see a glare.

Now, obviously I have a choice and I made it. It was the wrong one to choose Thai air. Are all there long haul flights like this ? Or did I just get unlucky? Well after speaking to a few people since Ive been back apparently not. They are apparently having alot of financial problems. This may explain why they have not upgraded all there planes.

I will not book with Thai air for an intl flight again. I will even do a stopover to avoid flying with them. If they were the cheapest, or nearly the cheapest I could understand why the plane was such a crate. They are not!

Just a little funny bit to finish on. The lady in the sit next to me had requested vegetarian food. The Camp steward said that there was'nt any left. He asked her if she could eat normal food? Priceless! She got a tray of fruit for dinner.

Edited March 30, 2008 by Fantasteak

[Zeid]

I travelled with Thai Intel from dubai to BKK it was okay i just did not like their food section and must admit the seats where a bit small, on the way back with my one month old baby they where great we sat in front had spacious leg room but still was not that happy with the food. but i Love Thai air in Thailand.

as for the other airline it is Royal Jordanian you would have made a stop in Jordan, airport not so great but the aircraft is nice, many tourist from Europe and israel are traveling on it. all in all it is the best choice now for the lay over i am not sure how long it is, i usually use it from Amman, to Bangkok.

Qatar airlines i heard are great

[londonthai]

the advantage of thai air that they are flying directly - so you pay for a convenience.

just in february my partner fly Bkk-Lhr return open ticket with BA for 39k baht - booked diretcly on their website. Agents were offering this same flight for a 2k more. Advantage of flying with BA that on international flights they give 32kg hold baggage allowance

[waveydavey]

the advantage of thai air that they are flying directly - so you pay for a convenience.

just in february my partner fly Bkk-Lhr return open ticket with BA for 39k baht - booked diretcly on their website. Agents were offering this same flight for a 2k more. Advantage of flying with BA that on international flights they give 32kg hold baggage allowance

The problem with BA at the moment of course is that it may be a long time before you're reunited with your 32Kg of baggage at Heathrow

[londonthai]

fly gatwick

[mikethevigoman]

I had to book a flight to England with only a few weeks notice. My prefered airline is EVA. Never really had a problem with them. There planes are all fitted with individual TVs and modern seats. I have also flown BA and Quantas which were OK ,but a bit more expensive than EVA.

EVA were fully booked for what seemed like a month ahead. BA and Quantas were far too expensive. The cheapest flight at the time was Qatar and one of the other ones that do a stopover in the middle east. The price was around 27000 baht one way. Thai were 32000 baht one way. I weighed up the cost of a night in BKK and a stopover in the Middle East and decided to go for Thai air. I went to book at the Thai air office in CM as it is just down the road from where I stay.The price went up to 36000. I went back home to book on the Internet and the price was,,,,,,,,,, 108,000 baht one way economy. What the *&^%. I went back to Thai air and payed the 36000 . Thats almost £600 one way.

I had a connecting flight from CM with Thai air. The plane from CM to Bkk was a modern plane with

individual TVs and modern comfy chairs. Not really needed as its only a 1 hour 10 minute flight.

The Flight from Bkk to London was a 747 and was running on time. On boarding you get a little look at first class. Nice! Turn right and were back in the 90s. What a shocker. I did'nt know that they still had long haul planes like this. No individual TVs. Just one big projector screen and tiny 12inch screens in the aisles. The seats were skinny little things with really old looking upholstery. Oh well its was only 12 hours to go. When I took my seat I was 14 feet away from the 12 inch screen that was hanging from the ceiling inthe Aisle. The large screen was directly to my left so I could only see a glare.

Now, obviously I have a choice and I made it. It was the wrong one to choose Thai air. Are all there long haul flights like this ? Or did I just get unlucky? Well after speaking to a few people since Ive been back apparently not. They are apparently having alot of financial problems. This may explain why they have not upgraded all there planes.

I will not book with Thai air for an intl flight again. I will even do a stopover to avoid flying with them. If they were the cheapest, or nearly the cheapest I could understand why the plane was such a crate. They are not!

Just a little funny bit to finish on. The lady in the sit next to me had requested vegetarian food. The Camp steward said that there was'nt any left. He asked her if she could eat normal food? Priceless! She got a tray of fruit for dinner.

I only fly with Thai,my reasons are that they fly direct and both flights leave at night,( eva dont have a night flight to the uk ). i pop a horse strength sleeping pill and sleep for 9-10 hours, so the surroundings/food etc matter not to me,ba/quantas dont come into my equation as they are always too much money,.

[Zpete]

BA + LHR = Chaos at the mo'.......LOL

Most of my trips to BKK have been Thai.

Planes have all been A360, individual ehtertainment stuffs....etc.

Since the change to Swampypool, the food out from BKK has been leaving a lot to be desired. The cabin staff agreed, Don Muang tucker was better. Food from AKL was better.

I fly from NZ.

Last year for a change, I tried Royal Brunei. 1st plane to BWN, was scruffy, 2nd leg to BKK was a new A320. Only problem, well for me, 12 hours and a "DRY" flite..... no booze.......LOL return BWN - AKL was a new aircraft.

Have a look at the Royal Brunei web site, mite be good deals, mine was.

[CHdiver]

If you don't like Thai, don't fly Lufthansa. They still use the big screen too. Rest of the plane may be a little bit newer thought.

[andrewn]

Couldn't agree more - flew Thai last week LON-BKK and it was just as described by the OP - pants, straight out of the 90s.

I'd normally do EVA as well. Bit tight on the wine though with the ol' glass thimbles, as are Thai.

I'm sure it's supply and demand, but the fact you get all mod cons on Virgin, BA or CX if you fly LHR-HKG, and you can get tickets down at about £450 if you are lucky, so why LHR-BKK are the tickets on all airlines stuck up around £600++ return. Flying time and distance are comparable. Maybe HKG gets a higher class of traveller...?

Can't knock BA for their rations of booze though.

[cclub75]

Couldn't agree more - flew Thai last week LON-BKK and it was just as described by the OP - pants, straight out of the 90s.

The route BKK-Paris is the... same.

Old 747s, with only the business class refitted.

But as someone said : it's direct (the other direct route is with... Air France).

Other issue : before (until 2005), we had 2 flights per day... Since then, only one. Therefore : overcrowded, difficult to make a booking. And it's becoming more and more expensive (another round of hikes prices is scheduled, on the routes BKK-Europe, and BKK-USA).

[marquess]

I had to book a flight to England with only a few weeks notice. My prefered airline is EVA. Never really had a problem with them. There planes are all fitted with individual TVs and modern seats. I have also flown BA and Quantas which were OK ,but a bit more expensive than EVA.

EVA were fully booked for what seemed like a month ahead. BA and Quantas were far too expensive. The cheapest flight at the time was Qatar and one of the other ones that do a stopover in the middle east. The price was around 27000 baht one way. Thai were 32000 baht one way. I weighed up the cost of a night in BKK and a stopover in the Middle East and decided to go for Thai air. I went to book at the Thai air office in CM as it is just down the road from where I stay.The price went up to 36000. I went back home to book on the Internet and the price was,,,,,,,,,, 108,000 baht one way economy. What the *&^%. I went back to Thai air and payed the 36000 . Thats almost £600 one way.

I had a connecting flight from CM with Thai air. The plane from CM to Bkk was a modern plane with

individual TVs and modern comfy chairs. Not really needed as its only a 1 hour 10 minute flight.

The Flight from Bkk to London was a 747 and was running on time. On boarding you get a little look at first class. Nice! Turn right and were back in the 90s. What a shocker. I did'nt know that they still had long haul planes like this. No individual TVs. Just one big projector screen and tiny 12inch screens in the aisles. The seats were skinny little things with really old looking upholstery. Oh well its was only 12 hours to go. When I took my seat I was 14 feet away from the 12 inch screen that was hanging from the ceiling inthe Aisle. The large screen was directly to my left so I could only see a glare.

Now, obviously I have a choice and I made it. It was the wrong one to choose Thai air. Are all there long haul flights like this ? Or did I just get unlucky? Well after speaking to a few people since Ive been back apparently not. They are apparently having alot of financial problems. This may explain why they have not upgraded all there planes.

I will not book with Thai air for an intl flight again. I will even do a stopover to avoid flying with them. If they were the cheapest, or nearly the cheapest I could understand why the plane was such a crate. They are not!

Just a little funny bit to finish on. The lady in the sit next to me had requested vegetarian food. The Camp steward said that there was'nt any left. He asked her

if she could eat normal food? Priceless! She got a tray of fruit for dinner.

Mother and sister came over from England with Thai airways and complained never again, no screens in the seats. Singapore Airways is the best really, even in 97 flying from London to Melbourne there were screens at the back of the seats. Thai, Quantas and BA are to be avoided like the plague.

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[vegas]

I flew Thai to Sydney in February. Outbound was a new Airbus, inbound was a crappy old 747. My missus also flew to Sydney that month and had the crappy 747 both ways. I would not fly Thai if I had a choice.

[katana]

I flew Thai regularly LHR-BKK return between 1996-2003 and quite liked them. The advantage was that they flew direct and the prices were competitive. They also allowed you to change the date of the return flight free of charge, something which other airlines at the time didn't allow (wanted £50 for the privelidge). Yes they didn't have a personalised screen for entertainment, but that didn't really bother me too much. I still think I'd fly them again. Nice smiling Thai air hostesses was a bonus also.

[jkinbkk]

For years flights from BKK to LHR, Frankfurt and Munich have been atrocious (or even cancelled)!

Knacked old jumbos and sour faced gnarled old trolley Aunties with about as much passion and enthusiasm to do their job as a peepshow janitor.

Press that call button and brace yourself for the “Arai!!!” with simultaneous sighs, eye rolling and tutting! God I felt so guilty for asking for that blanket. I now wear thermals from the get go.

As mentioned by others, a serious investment of improvement & refurbishment is required by TG.

Having said that however, from experience my trip from BKK to Milan last year was a shocker. New aircraft with personal in seat TV and sensational moody lighting via the new LED top to tail cabin illumination system …impressed.

Trouble was I had already taken the knock out drop’s prior to boarding as I was expecting the typical type of in-flight hospitality to Europe as with the other destinations mentioned above.

So flying to Milan is a pleasure, or would have been if I had stayed awake.

If you really wanna experience TG's in-flight carnage take a couple of back to back flights from BKK to Delhi or Kolkata. The flights are not long, but it puts years on you.

Even the snarling Aunties make no impression on these fellas, the stewardess 'call buttons' are going in unison like a demented ring tone... but that’s another story.

Anyhow, I need to make another trip to the UK in April and have now had enough of TG.

Prices are bonkers for the stow away class service they offer.

I checked out Singapore Airlines and although one could argue it makes very little since to fly South only to fly North again (past BKK’ish) they are offering THB50,000 round trip BKK-LHR-BKK with the Singapore-London sector on the A380.

Me thinks that’s gotta be worth a look…right?

Edited March 30, 2008 by jkinbkk

[sbk]

Moved to Travel Forum

[jstumbo]

I checked out Singapore Airlines and although one could argue it makes very little since to fly South only to fly North again (past BKK'ish) they are offering THB50,000 round trip BKK-LHR-BKK with the Singapore-London sector on the A380.

Me thinks that's gotta be worth a look…right?

I recently went BKK-DEL and decided to fly on Singapore Airlines through Singapore also instead of flying with TG. Flights were fine, had a very short layover in Singapore.

Won't fly TG again since they did not let my Chinese wife board the plane from China without a visa even though Chinese are allowed visa on arrival. Made me lose almost $1000 in other canceled flights and hotels because of them not following their own rules.

[Martian]

Here's my opinion,

With the high cost of oil, I.E. jet fuel, I think it is just whining if you complain about both price and accommodations. If you want prices kept low, then be willing to tolerate basic services in coach. If you are willing to pay more, then move up to business or first class. As for me, an airplane is for getting from point A to point B and the accommodations are only temporary, just give me a clean safe environment and I'll take care of the rest. I and my wife usually have to travel 27+ hours from our home in the US to Bangkok and that is wheels up to wheels down. With the prices of airfare climbing higher, I would gladly watch a big screen rather than my own personal LCD screen if it will save 50 or 100 bucks on a 1500 dollar ticket. I can take my own entertainment if it comes down to it.

Regards,

Nano-Nano

[britmaveric]

Brand new Thai A340 for long haul from jfk to bkk. Economy was best I'd done in years - touch screen tele and FA(s) never left you alone for long.

Edited March 30, 2008 by britmaveric

[ClaytonSeymour]

the advantage of thai air that they are flying directly - so you pay for a convenience.

just in february my partner fly Bkk-Lhr return open ticket with BA for 39k baht - booked diretcly on their website. Agents were offering this same flight for a 2k more. Advantage of flying with BA that on international flights they give 32kg hold baggage allowance

The problem with BA at the moment of course is that it may be a long time before you're reunited with your 32Kg of baggage at Heathrow BA's Bangkok flights aren't using terminal 5.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Couldn't agree more - flew Thai last week LON-BKK and it was just as described by the OP - pants, straight out of the 90s.

I'd normally do EVA as well. Bit tight on the wine though with the ol' glass thimbles, as are Thai.

I'm sure it's supply and demand, but the fact you get all mod cons on Virgin, BA or CX if you fly LHR-HKG, and you can get tickets down at about £450 if you are lucky, so why LHR-BKK are the tickets on all airlines stuck up around £600++ return. Flying time and distance are comparable. Maybe HKG gets a higher class of traveller...? Certainly more business travellers flying to HKG & they are usually travelling at someone elses expense up front in J or F. They are the airlines real money earners & subsidise cheaper fares in economy. BKK's more of a leisure destination.

Can't knock BA for their rations of booze though.

[richard_smith237]

At Short notice (3 days) I needed a flight to the UK from Bangkok.

My Instructions to the travel agent included…

Not Thai, and not a European Airline.

Not into Heathrow.

The departure time and a middle east stopover are not an issue.

I really rate the quality of service, seating etc on the Middle Eastern carriers and find their business rates quite competitive when I considered how hassle free the travel and comfort level are. Thai Airways cannot compete on long haul flights with until they significantly improve their service. However, I do believe that their local flights (within Asia) are quite reasonable.

[TheDon]

I love Thai air, I have only travelled with them twice though, both great experiences and would book my ticket with them again. I would never fly British or Qantas again, there rude and the planes were very old.

[ClaytonSeymour]

I love Thai air, I have only travelled with them twice though, both great experiences and would book my ticket with them again. I would never fly British or Qantas again, there rude and the planes were very old.

I guess you didn't fly the BKK>LHR/LHR>BKK route then? Actually, despite their failings I would use them again if I were to fly BKK>LHR/LHR>BKK direct - I prefer day time flights & TG offer this in both directions.

[cgjtt]

I've flown most of these airlines, from the middle east to asia, and sure Emirates and Etihad have nicer airplanes. But Emirates is buying 777,,at a rate of one per month and same goes for Etihad.

Companies don't throw out airplanes just cause no seat entertainment ( just look at KLM, same as Thai). So until Thai revamps the whole fleet, it's the big screen. As for service, I've seen poor service on Emirates and Etihad and I wont talk about Europeans carriers. I like Thai, If it's a newer airplane ,then even better.

[ClaytonSeymour]

I've flown most of these airlines, from the middle east to asia, and sure Emirates and Etihad have nicer airplanes. But Emirates is buying 777,,at a rate of one per month and same goes for Etihad.

Companies don't throw out airplanes just cause no seat entertainment ( just look at KLM, same as Thai). No, but some upgrade their inflight entertainment - Thai should have done this about six years ago if they wanted to keep up with the opposition. So until Thai revamps the whole fleet, it's the big screen. I understand there are no plans to upgrade the economy class in-flight entertainment on the 747-400's & their first A380 isn't due to be delivered until late 2010, so it looks like a long wait. As for service, I've seen poor service on Emirates and Etihad and I wont talk about Europeans carriers. I like Thai, If it's a newer airplane ,then even better.

[TheDon]

I've flown most of these airlines, from the middle east to asia, and sure Emirates and Etihad have nicer airplanes. But Emirates is buying 777,,at a rate of one per month and same goes for Etihad.

Companies don't throw out airplanes just cause no seat entertainment ( just look at KLM, same as Thai). So until Thai revamps the whole fleet, it's the big screen. As for service, I've seen poor service on Emirates and Etihad and I wont talk about Europeans carriers. I like Thai, If it's a newer airplane ,then even better.

Well ive got there new planes when ive flown with them which is only twice and it was great. when i was on BA or qantas ive had these older planes with poor service. But I think Singapore is probaly the best ou of all the airlines Ive ever been on

[Ping]

^Seconded. If Singapore Airlines flies your route, you're unlikely to do better (although the food in Coach is typical of any airline's economy-class food - widely variable).

[game4shame]

I'll be flying thai LHR-BKK in a few months. first time with them.

I've heard reports of the sub-standard IFE - wont really bother me tbh, I usually just nail a few JD's then catch some Z's.

hopefully be some fit cabin crew to ogle too.

I chose them for ticket flexibility, the direct flight & price.

[tartempion]

Last time I flew Thai was 17 May 2001, BKK-FRA, business class: horrible seating (old chairs) bad food, no IFE.

I flew Swiss, BA, China Airlines, Lufthansa, lately flew a lot on Qatar but no flights to Brussels.

Now I fly Etihad although I would prefer Qatar if they would fly to BRU, I do like the stop halfway, too bored on direct flights.

[Shah Jahan]

the problem with TG is that they are feudalistic goverment run entity and their entire cabin staff is hired by 'favoritism'

meaning if some airforce general has a young sister with a gay son who if fuc_king off too much. they give him a job as a TG cabin attendant.

this is how the whole staff if made up, that is why they have the attitude of a bunch of stuck up rich people who couldnt get any other job and are being forced to stoop down to serve low-class falang.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Shah Jahan