Thread: Thai Airways

Does anyone here fly this airline anymore?

I flew with them once in the late 80's (last minute upgrade to first class, no complaints!) but their prices are non-competitive now.

Are they just for business/gov't/don't care about money passengers now?

Are they worth the money?

What is their competitive value anymore?

I flew Thai about 15 years ago. Never since. They do seem to be on the higher-priced level, without any exceptional added value.

Flew with them in march $680 Brisbane-Bangkok and back.Only eight hours no dramas direct flights.
I don't do stop overs just too save a couple of hundred bucks.

Flown Thai Airways quite a few times, most times booked through partner airlines in the Star Alliance group. A few times domestic or Asia local. Find them "pricey", but, OK, reasonable. If you need to "save" then book other airlines.

Only issue I ever had was one flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, a fairly loud and intermittent sound, something mechanical, that should not have been, occurred during both take off and landing. Never in my many years of flying and travel (other than in a military helicopter) did I hear anything quite approaching the noise/sound. Nothing was mentioned, nobody blinked an eye, everybody, both crew and passengers accepted the noises as typical or standard. Still can't figure that one out. Spend the next couple of months watching the news waiting for news of a crash. And no, no crash did occur.


Latest episode of booting first class passengers for pilots, well, very bad publicity among the elite fliers. Whether it'll actually impact them is unknown.

I've flown Thai for the last 15 or so years, non-stop flight cheaper than its competitors. I don't do stop-overs in the ME to save a few bucks either...

I don't do First and rarely Business, we'll get there at the same time and I hardly sleep when travelling anyway. We get the internal flight straight to Udon on Thai Smile on arrival at Bangkok, which allows the full 40kg/person from an international flight without surcharge. Never had a bad flight with Thai Smile either...

The B747-400 maybe old but it's a real classic and I love flying in them.

Originally Posted by bobo746

Flew with them in march $680 Brisbane-Bangkok and back.Only eight hours no dramas direct flights.
I don't do stop overs just too save a couple of hundred bucks.

That's bloody good and surprises me.
I don't do Jetstar et al budget airlines. The stopovers make the journey twice or three times as long and it's false economy. 8 hours in Darwin to save $100? You'd pay nearly that for food, entertainment etc both inflight and waiting at the stopover. Fckuk that.

me and mrs.H flew with thai 1983-2009,always had good service although they were dearer than most,one thing we found out in the 80's was when going back to the uk.WAS dress tidy and smart,WHY well when in the queue for check in,there was always someone dressed in a suite walking up and down the line,looking for upgradeing those who were dressed smartly. it worked for us 6times.
its a job to understand what has happened to them,its now SMOOTH AS S-IT.

Crap airline. Crap website.
Dreamliner (787) toilet seat lids won’t stay up when you’re dumping.
On a BKK - PER flight a while ago the bloke beside me grabbed a blanket and went straight to sleep as soon he was seated. Hostie woke him up to see if he wanted a blanket ....
Then she offered drinks. I asked for water. Never saw her again.
etc etc etc
Thai Smile seats are designed for people about 5’ tall.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

Never understand egress to/from Swampy to/from the plane is always via a Bus

If you look at the gates you will notice they are all full, Thai prefers revenue over customer convenience!
I fly Thai regularly to China, there flight timings beat anyone else, flying business with Thai has its advantages as they have their own immigration when departing and can use "VIP" immigration on arrival.
Mixed bunch of aircraft, its a lucky dip what type of plane it will be and how old.

For Blighty if I am going direct I like to go with EVA- flown in all their cabin classes and all are excellent imo. Was very impressed with Ethiad's A380 economy- plenty of room, decent food and plenty of films to work though.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

Never understand egress to/from Swampy to/from the plane is always via a Bus

I think certain flights are consigned to parking on the runway, Penang always used to be, I've never had ito get on a bus after a long haul flight to Swampy though.

I did also note they stick an extra security check before the gate on flights to Melbourne. Maybe they don't trust or like you convicts

I used them extensively in the late 90s through to 2012. I ended up with “platinum” rop status as most of the flights were in J/F

the Plat gig gave me a ridiculous oversize luggage allowance, diplomatic immigration and access to F lounge wven in economy. So I just booked eco since. They downgraded me to Gold last year although Ive not done enough miles to even retain silver for seven years

I flew TG on business recently, and will be flying home on them as well once this contract is over. Could have used any of about 6 carriers but chose Thai because:

Just 1:30 from my front door to sitting in the TG lounge at Swampy. Got to love the dedicated check in counters, security check stations, and Immigration counters. All of which are never busy.


Mightn't look great in the pic, but the bacon and eggs in the lounge as an early morning feed are not bad at all!. Fill 'ya boots


Seat 3A on the bottom deck of a 747. Definitely got that retro feel about it but it's spacious, comfortable, and private. I was on the clock and had work to do so this was just about perfect.


Another view.


Duck curry for lunch, meh. Was full of bacon and eggs and don't really eat much in the air anyway so it didn't matter...

Anyway, TG is no SQ but for getting in and out of Thailand they're ok.

I have heard thai airways is about to have a decent sized fare increase but not sure when. I have flown Thai over 40 times in economy. Direct flight from Brisbane is the main reason.

^ Haven't heard anything about major price increases from Europe. Price looks to be fluctuating with the season as normal, at least until mid next year.

Used to fly thai regularly, not nowadays. They are always an expensive option when comparing flights. Only fly cattle class sadly.

Europe i go klm as they have great routes to other cities. The stop over in amsterdam is worth avoiding london. On cathay pacific this trip and their partner airline in china. Good leg room, good planes but pretty poor food. Except for the little tub of ice cream. Would use again.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Anyway, TG is no SQ but for getting in and out of Thailand they're ok.

What airline is SQ?

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

What airline is SQ?

Singapore? I had a terrible experience with them years back, haven't flown them since.

I fly Thai couple of times per year at least going back home but it's more convenience than anything because they're the only one that have a direct flight at a good time. Price-wise it's not very competitive and seems to be getting worse but we counter that by using air miles.

Only when the alternatives are worse. Which is rarely.

I used to love flying them in the 90s, but now they're overpriced and overrated. Their extreme financial difficulties, which can't seem to be remedied, are a national embarrassment. The government panel, which was appointed to reorganize operations, fired that previous director who spent lavishly on buying marquee properties, etc, and ran the airline into the ground. They have deep, structural problems and their high ticket prices alone won't turn things around. (It might help if, as some have suggested, they stop comping every self-proclaimed "big wheel" who demands to be comped.)

I've recently flown their non-stop business class to Beijing several times. It's just okay. Food is so-so, the planes have been on the shabby side--although as mentioned previously, takeoff and arrival times are much better than the competition. And their VIP security/Immigration process is sweet, if you're flying first or business. But at the gate on my flights to China, the experience at Swampy has been bad. Chaotic and unorganized, since no gate announcements were made in Chinese in spite of a majority of the passengers being Chinese, non-English speaking nationals. One of the flights was delayed, and an angry Chinese mob formed, because they didn't know what was going on. Thai ground staff at the gate seemed more interested in their cell phones, and you have to blame that on poor management.

And then it's a bus ride to the plane. Thai is the national carrier, flying out of their hub, Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, and flying to the capital of a major superpower, but they won't pay the extra money to have passengers embark via a jetway. Oh, and earlier this year I was trapped on one of those buses for 20 minutes, packed in like sardines with everyone standing, the bus engine not running and the air conditioning turned off, and of course no apology or explanation was given. When I complained to flight attendants in business class, they did their best to ignore me for the entire flight. TIT!

Thai's budget carrier--Thai Smile--is the most expensive option flying from Udon to Swampy. Sometimes they use a jetway, and sometimes, an empty jetway looms nearby, almost as if mocking us, while we have to disembark in the rain on slippery stairs and then walk 100 meters across the tarmac. Meanwhile, much cheaper AirAsia and Nok and Thai Lion flights are pulling right up to their jetways to allow their passengers to disembark.

I'm no Cheap Charlie, but the truth is, I'm being treated better on Air China than I am on Thai. Be nice if they could get their act together someday, but I'm not holding my breath.

^ As far as I'm aware, only Thai Smile fly Udon to Swampy, the others fly to DMK.

^Yep, Thai Smile left DMK January 2017
https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/...ts-don-mueang/

Originally Posted by Troy

^ As far as I'm aware, only Thai Smile fly Udon to Swampy, the others fly to DMK.

Originally Posted by Dillinger

^Yep, Thai Smile left DMK January 2017
https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/...ts-don-mueang/

You are both correct. I meant to say that Thai Smile is the most expensive option flying from Udon to Bangkok, and yet the cheaper airlines--in my experience--usually provide jetway access in Udon, while Thai smile is a crapshoot in that regard.

^ I guess you've been unlucky, it's happened to me twice since it was installed. I'm trying to think when that was but can't remember. I think it was when Tiger Airlines flew from Udon to Singapore, for a brief period, not long before the Thaksin coup.

If I'm just going to Bangkok for a week-end then I'll fly from Sakon Nakhon with Nok Air. However, Thai Smile from Udon is still the best for me when I have 2 or 3 suitcases. Pity that Thai stopped the Bangkok -> Sakon Nakhon -> Nakon Panhom flight, which is the one I used to prefer.