Thai Airways

I flew Thai Airways from Bangkok to Krabi on on a cramped A320 aircraft. These A320 planes are new but they are obviously configured for secondary short haul route. I found out in the seatmap that they have more seat than Thai Smiles A320. Not really happy with seat comfort offered. Other that that, they are fine. Great staff, enjoyable snackbox with a round each of tea, coffee, softdrinks. Punctuality is perfect.

Short domestic flights, yet high-quality one (and quite cheap). Very quick check-in both at BKK and in HKT due to multiple TG stands at the airport. Around one hour delay on both flights. Clean aricraft with extremely beautiful Thai interior. Staff very friendly and bearing legendary Thai smile. Tasty light meal consisting of a sandwich, a cake and orange juice/water. PTVs only on BKK-HKT, but on such a short flight there is no big need for those. Plus it was very nice of ground crew that when flying from HKT, a staff member proceeded our luggage not only to BKK, but also on our further flights to DOH and WAW, both flown on Qatar Airways.

In business class, Thai Airways are usually very friendly and helpful. Prices are not the cheapest, but they offer 40kg standard checked in luggage + 10kg for silver card. Not bad. However, in my recent flights I noticed that food quality is seriously down. In my 2 last flights to and from Brussel my seats were not the cleanest. On last flight most blankets had an awful smell. Each time I got my priority luggage out first, except fishing rod tubes (still within 158cm 3 sizes limit!) arriving at the end, and for my last flight it is still missing. For some long hauls the trips to or from planes are by bus. The Boeing 787 seem more noisy and in business, the configuration does not offer much space for shoulders and feet. A380 to Frankfurt are most comfortable (space and very low noise). I have always been happy with them, but my wife now suggests we change.

Mixed experiences flying with Thai Airways for the first time. The positives were the aircraft interiors, the IFE, the punctuality of the flights and the speed of check in. There were some significant negatives: the cabin crews were largely okay but the service they delivered was very robotic, and the food ranged from bland to inedible. I can't really comment on seat comfort, as on both flights I had a full row of three seats to spread out on.

At check-in at Noi Bai I did ask for an aisle seat but the ground staff from Vietnam Airlines did not seem to care about my request and just put me in a window seat without informing me. There is also no priority at Noi Bai security, they asked me to wait until the economy passengers were finished and then business could follow.

Bangkok to Vientiane on Boeing 737-400. The flight was almost full with many connecting passengers from Japan, US and Europe. The crew was very efficient and friendly. Everything was done in a professional manner without rushing. The light snack wasn't too bad in my opinion. Overall, a very satisfying short hop.

Flew on Thai Airways latest Boeing 787. Overall, the service was good. The crew were very friendly and hospitable. The food was really good as well. I really enjoyed the Thai style pork curry. Before landing, they offered either green tea ice cream or vanilla ice cream to passengers. The IFE was great with a wide selection of movies and TV program.

We usually use Thai Airways for our travels because of their previously friendly and patient service. An argument not to be underestimated when traveling with toddlers. However, for our round trip this time, staff were just below all expectations. Instead of water they came around 3 times with wine. We had to wait 1 hour at Munich airport in the airplane because some passengers (Thai Military apparently) came late for unknown reasons with filled shopping bags. No excuses or explanation from staff. Upon our enquiry we were just told "We are tired, too." Entertainment program was not turned on - of course - during the waiting time. Even with a brand new A380, the computer had to be started over and over again until it finally worked. This does not inspire confidence into the board computer for the pilots. To be mentioned that tickets for Thai are not cheap. Overall a lousy experience and we will avoid Thai for next trips.

We left BKK on time and arrived NRT only a few minutes late. The breakfast was phenomenal (better than Business Class breakfast on United)! and in-flight snack delicious but very messy. You almost needed an instruction manual in order to open their version of a Hot Pocket.

The service has became like a "robot style", no emotion or friendliness from cabin staff, they only do the minimum or what they are paid for. Food was okay but nothing special for being in business class. Seat was very uncomfortable, very narrow, hard and not long enough. I am tall, 6'3 and usually my feet don't touch the end of the seat but this time I had to fold my legs. Probably the worse business class seat for long haul I have experienced.