Orient Thai Airlines

HKG-BKK. When I arrived at check in i was rather surprised they only had 2 counters but there were no waiting at all! HKG-BKK leg was on the old 757 that had a torn nose and engine or at least worn away. The safety video was played but lacked sound and a sharp image it was fuzzy the whole way. The a/c was switched on but it was still unbearably hot in the plane every pax was sweating. A positive thing that about OX was that they supplied drinks nuts and even a hot meal on both flights. One thing that OX MUST be congratulated on is their extremely friendly F/A's they were the best I've ever had on a flight especially the traditional Thai hand signs they done to welcome you onboard and offboard.

Flew OX on Chiang-Rai-Bangkok with them on B757-200. Old aircraft but spotlessly clean. Departed on time and arrive 3 minutes earlier than schedule. The fare was cheaper than Thai Airways. Cabin crew very nice and very friendly. They're drinks and peanuts service as well. Very pleasant experience with them.

Chiangmai-Bangkok. My first reaction is “never again”. The experience was stressful like taking a public bus in downtown Bangkok. The plane was a worn-out B747-200. More than 500 passengers packed in. Chiangmai airport is clearly unable to cope with this. Departure area was a madhouse. Departure delayed 45 minutes precisely because of the “cattle-herding”. Taxiway buses had to make many rounds to pack the crowds into the aircraft. We were squeezed into the buses to the point of bursting. Pity the old ladies standing up who had to cling on to dear life. Aircraft was very old with torn seat pockets. Interior looked like an air-con public bus in Bangkok. Audio system not working. Safety procedures shown on video but with no sound. However there are two things I appreciate about this airline. First is that unlike other budget airlines Orient Thai provides just one fare regardless of the day and time of travel – no hidden charges no surcharges no extra charges no tricks! Second the staff behaved quite professionally. But I will not do it again although the fare is considerably lower than THAI. Just not worth the stress!

12/04 on their new onetwo-go 'no-frills' service Phuket - Chiang mai via BKK. Being a budget airline you have to book each sector separately. They are having some issues with their website which makes it difficult to book unless you read Thai (the English option reverts to Thai every time you change a paramater then trying to change it to English takes you back to the start & back in a circle many times) Booking online you should receive an email ticket 24hrs after you book. This didn't happen for me & resulted in a very frustrating 40 mins telephone call being passed from person to person at the call centre - when all Ii wanted was the booking code to enable be to check in i spent the whole time explaining that I didnt want to book a flight etc so I had to get a Thai person to get the info I wanted. From Phuket to BKK we fly on a 747 which was old but comfortable no service was offered on the 60 min flight which was fine. Bags came through quick so we could check in for the next sector to Chang Mai. 757 used on this flight & again given emergency exit rows so very comfortable. I slept most of the flight but they served complimentary drinks & peanuts to those who wanted them. The two flights on time no problems comfortable & very good value just let down by the call centre.

An impressive improvement of Orient Thai. I found their service to be much better on my last BKK-CNX and v.v. journey. Polite and Professional crew clean and comfortable (for short flight) 757 aircraft. Looking forward to be on board their new 747-300 have heard that they are the first no frill airlines to fly 747 on the no frill flight.

I have just got home after flying with Orient Thai from Phuket. I have now flown four return journeys from Hong Kong to Phuket with Orient Thai and I have just encountered my first (and hopefully last) problem with the flight. Upon boarding the plane in Phuket where the temperatures are at their seasonal high we found out that the Air Conditioning was not working. As I was one of the last on board it was not too much of a problem for me but a family sat close to me who had a baby about four months old were frantically fanning him with their Airplane Safety Cards (I knew those things would come in handy one day!!) The cabin crew frequently went up and down the aisles dispensing water to those who wanted it and offering apologies to everyone. We were told that the CPU was to blame and this seemed to placate most passengers. Once we were airborne the A/C came on and everyone cooled down. The food was palatable considering this is a budget airline and the crew were polite and helpful throughout the flight. Orient Thai help me fly direct to Phuket and back instead of having to go via Bangkok on my return journey and the ticket is the cheapest one available. I will be flying Orient Thai again although I wish the peanuts weren't as hard as bullets!

After hearing hundreds of different terrible accounts of Orient Thai now I am actually flying with them between Hong Kong and Phuket. Nevertheless not to discredit other posters' credibility I find the airline on the contrary a real pleasant delight. The fact that the aircraft and its interior looks aged doesn't bother me at all as I had been feeling safe and reasonably comfortable throughout the journey. The catering was bad but well the airline at least gave you a hot meal onboard; could you name any other LCC which does the same? Drink services were run on a frequent basis on this 3-hour flight and a complimentary candy was served to passengers with a surprise before descend. Yet the best part about my first OX experience was the smiling and friendly air crew and their nice touch of professionalism human warmth. No question asked OX will definitely come top of my preference list.

Phuket to Taipei - January 29th 2004. Never again I am traveling with Orient Thai Airlines!! The boarding started one hour late. We were not told why. But that is okay things happen plus it is chartered plane anyway. The plane was not air conditioned. It was too hot! People were taking off their clothes my 1.5 year old baby was exhausted of heat and fell a sleep without eating or drinking. As for me I had an asthma attack. There were many more children and elderly people on this plain. Unfortunately I do not speak Chinese to share their complains with you. Thank God no one had a heart attack! We were in this heat for almost 2 hours. Pilot has made 2 announcements within this time. Both times he said that there was a starter problem and that it will be fixed soon and we will take off in few minutes. There was no response to people's request to turn on air conditioner or to let people out of the plain. Water was not offered. However the crew was polite and gave water to people upon request. Finally the door was opened and people were "flying" out of the plain. All of the sudden everyone stopped. You ask why? The Orient Thai representative decided to not let people out of the plain until the bus came to take them back to the terminal. Of course people started yelling and just pushed him away. Total mess!! No one cared about us! We were treated worse than animals. You can't imagine the heat we were in! As we were leaving the plane flight attendants were apologizing for the trouble and were very nice once again. 4 hours later we were on the different plane headed for Taipei. It was almost over!

On my return trip from Bangkok to Hong Kong on the 25th January on OX208 flight. I received the nicest welcome and treatment from the crew. I remembered when I asked one of the crew to give me the health declaration forms at that time he was busy serving meals so according to my experiences in other airlines they usually forgot your request. But this time after a while he came back to me and asked:' Have you got the forms?' I said: ‘no' and he said: ‘no not yet'. In one minute his voice was next to me and said how many do you need? This kind of service makes me feel good. And during mealtime I want noodles but the case was only rice was left I have no choice and I don't like eating rice I was not so satisfied at first but after his apologize I didn't feel bad. So from these two incidents through the same man I get a very good impression of Orient Thai.

BKK / CNX / BKK on L1011 Tristar services in Business class (THB 2105 each way) because Economy was full. The aircraft although old were smooth and comfortable. Only peanuts and fruit juice served but the flights were on time and I would fly in the nostalgic old Tristars again provided they are kept well maintained.