Category: Thai

Review: Thai Smile A320 Economy Class Phuket to Hong Kong

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This flight was taken in March of 2019, but I never actually got around to writing up the review. The Young Travelers of Hong Kong team strongly discourages non-essential travel at this time. Stay home and stay safe!

In March of 2019, I had the chance to fly with Thai Smile from Phuket to Hong Kong as I returned from a trip. I never got the chance to write up the flight experience. Considering the somewhat copious amount of free time, and the fact that Thai Smile is one of the lesser-reviewed airlines on the internet, I thought I’d write about my experience.

What Is Thai Smile? 

IMG_1133.jpegThai Smile A320 at Phuket Airport

Thai Smile is a regional offshoot of Thai Airways International. The airline operates a fleet of narrowbody Airbus A320 aircraft flies short-haul low yield and leisure routes. Phuket to Hong Kong is an example of a leisure route that Thai Airways mainline spun off to Thai Smile. Flights are staffed by crews that are paid less than their Thai mainline counterparts. While I’ve seen Thai Smile described as a low-cost carrier, the airline’s offering is more similar to that of a full-service airline. This means that checked bags and meals are complimentary. All things considered, I see Thai Smile as a less premium version of Cathay Dragon.

Continue reading “Review: Thai Smile A320 Economy Class Phuket to Hong Kong” →

Review: Thai Airways 777-300ER Economy Class Hong Kong to Bangkok

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I recently took a school trip to Surat Thani in Thailand. I flew Thai Airways and Thai Smile Economy Class and documented the experience in this mini trip report series. I was especially interested to see how Thai Airways stacked up against Cathay Pacific’s regional Economy Class experience, given how loyal I am to my hometown carrier. 

Thai Airways check-in counters in Hong Kong are located in Terminal 2, which is shared with many most low-cost carriers. Check-in was efficient, and there was no line save for our school group. I was ushered by the station manager to the Royal Silk check-in counters. The ground staff were friendly and efficient and was sent on my way through security and onto the train between Terminal 2 and Terminal 1.

59763442_340602059932011_6468738390119415808_n-1Thai Airways Hong Kong Airport Check-In 

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Review: Thai Airways 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

 Introduction: Spending The Calm Before The Storm In Bangkok
Thai Airways 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Premier Twin Room
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Duplex Cabana
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Grounds and Facilities
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Bangkok Concourse E
Thai Airways A330 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

Thai Airways flies a bunch of aircraft to Hong Kong. At the time that I took this flight, Thai Airways operated three A330s, two 777-300ERs and one Thai Smile A320 to Bangkok every day (one of these 777s has since been replaced by an A350, and one of the A330s has been replaced by a regional 777). I had flown Thai Airways’ A330 many times, and the 747 once; however, this was my first time flying a Thai Airways aircraft outfitted with their longhaul configuration.

I got to the gate at 11:45 AM in anticipation of a 12:05 PM boarding time, and was face to face with the sleek Thai Airways 777:

Thai Airways Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport

Continue reading “Review: Thai Airways 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok” →

Introduction: Spending The Calm Before The Storm In Bangkok

~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Introduction: Spending The Calm Before The Storm In Bangkok
Thai Airways 777 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Premier Twin Room
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Duplex Cabana
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok – Grounds and Facilities
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Bangkok Concourse E
Thai Airways A330 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

First of all, as the trip report suggests, my few days of quasi-relaxation in Bangkok were meant as a break before my final push to get through the IB. Well, now is the time that I’m pushing through my final days of the IB, so I’m going to struggle even posting one installment per week. The idea is that I’ll try to get one installment out every Friday up until around the beginning of May, and after May 23rd (my last exam) I’ll write up the last three installments at once. Writing is therapeutic for me, and I can’t wait to tell you guys about this trip, so stay tuned!

Welcome to my next trip report, where I’ll be sharing details of my five day trip in Bangkok regarding my flights and hotels – specifically, two Thai Airways business class products, a lounge that I hadn’t visited yet during my lounge hop in 2017, and the Siam Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok.

Bangkok, Thailand

The thought process of going to Bangkok was simple: we wanted to go somewhere cheap and close by during Chinese New Years’, and my parents didn’t want to go to Singapore, my favourite city. We were all enthralled by the prospect of going to Bangkok again, since none of us really got to know the city the first time around, so we organised another trip there.

This installment will cover how we booked the flights and hotels, and the thought process behind the choices we made.

Continue reading “Introduction: Spending The Calm Before The Storm In Bangkok” →

What Is Thai Airways’ 777 Business Class Like? (Hint: I Wasn’t Expecting It To Be So Bad)

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Hello from Bangkok! I’m here for a quick getaway after lots of senior year work. While I’m certainly not off the hook (my to-do list has its own to-do list), I always enjoy when I manage to be productive abroad, so I’ll work on that over the next few nights.

On the aviation front, we didn’t really have much of a choice of airline. Emirates was pricing over the roof, and I didn’t like the timings of all the other airlines that flew to Bangkok – so we were stuck with Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific again. Out of a split decision I decided to go with Thai Airways, as it didn’t cross my mind at the time that I haven’t flown Cathay Pacific’s regional business class product in a while. Oh well.

While I’ve flown Thai Airways countless times before, this itinerary left me with a new product – their 777. I’ve flown their angled flat seat more times than I can remember, though I’ve never tried their new staggered seat, until today. So I thought I’d share my first impressions, as I usually do when I fly new configurations (also, due to my workload, the review’s probably not coming out for a while).

Thai Airways Boeing 777 Hong Kong Airport

While the seat itself was an improvement over their angled flat seats, I left the flight quite underwhelmed by the product as a whole. Here’s why.

Continue reading “What Is Thai Airways’ 777 Business Class Like? (Hint: I Wasn’t Expecting It To Be So Bad)” →

Only Three Thai Airways A330s Are Getting A New Business Class Product

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Last month I wrote about Thai Airways’ new A330 business class product, which is their seventh unique business class configuration. They have two types of angled flat products, a staggered business class seat for longhaul flights, two different unique products on their 787s, a recliner configuration on their last 737, and they introduced a new Solstys style staggered business class product that would be outfitted on some of their A330s.

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Brand New THAI Royal Silk Class product on the Airbus 330-300 (HS-TEN). A big change compared to the previous setting indeed. A pity the flight to Krabi is so short. Bangkok, Thailand (Jul 2018) •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #gabezrh_thailand #gabezrh_bangkok #gabezrh_aviation #gabezrh_bkk #gabezrh_tg #thailand #bangkok #krabi #태국 #방콕 #크라비 #크라비여행 #krabitrip #visitthailand #thailandtrip #thailandtour #flythai #thai #thaiairways #royalsilkclass #businessclass #luxurytravel #bkkkbv #tg249 #hsten #airlinecabin #airplanecabin #cabincrew #newbusinessclass ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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Well, we have even more information about the retrofit process, which makes the process even more confusing.

Continue reading “Only Three Thai Airways A330s Are Getting A New Business Class Product” →

Skytrax 2018 Awards Announced – Here We Go Again

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I’ve never put too much weight into Skytrax ratings. They’re mainly based on votes from people who have favouritism towards a single airline just because they’ve had a good experience on them before. Most of the people voting have never flown another airline in the same cabin class before.

That being said, it’s always exciting to see the opinions that the general public has towards airlines, which is why I continue to see and report on Skytrax’s rankings, despite the fact that I don’t actually value them at all. Additionally, while the rankings themselves are based on flawed data and results, the rankings actually have quite a large impact on airlines, as Skytrax rankings are quite highly-esteemed.

img_5506Lufthansa being a 5-star airline was probably the industry joke of the year

Today Skytrax released some rewards for this year’s winners in multiple categories. Having flown a number of airlines since this last happened, I’ve been quite…entertained by some of the rankings that Skytrax has released this year. Here’s a roundup of some of the thoughts that I have from Skytrax’s new rankings – for the full list of awards, click here.

Continue reading “Skytrax 2018 Awards Announced – Here We Go Again” →

Thai Airways Introduces Yet Another Business Class Product

~ Alvin ~ 1 Comment

Thai Airways currently has more different business class products than any other airline. Their A330s, 747s, and select 777s feature angled flat seats (two unique types, actually), their newer 777s, A380s and A350s feature Solstys-style staggered business class seats, some of their 787s feature forward-facing fully flat business class seats, their other 787s feature reverse herringbone seats, and they still have an active 737 with recliner seats in business class.

Since Thai doesn’t operate any 787s to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong to Bangkok route is served exclusively with their planes with angled flat seats and Solstys-style staggered business class seats. I’ve had the chance to fly their A330 and 747 with angled flat seats, though haven’t tried their Solstys-style staggered business class configuration (I’ve flown a similar configuration on Hong Kong Airlines, who has a virtually identical seat apart from the finishes).

Thai Airways Boeing 747 Business Class Seat

Well, apparently someone went to Thai Airways’ CEO and said “you know what, Charamporn, I don’t think six unique business class configurations are enough for our airline. I think passengers would like less consistency, and more variety. Let’s introduce a seventh business class seat configuration, just to mix things up.”

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Review: Thai Airways 747 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: To Bangkok For The Weekend
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
Thai Airways A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Park Hyatt Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse D
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse E
EVA Air Lounge Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C East
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C West
Thai Airways 747 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

I was excited to have the opportunity to fly the 747, but was wary that it may very well be my last time.

THAI Flight 606
Monday, October 2, 2017
Origin: Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) Gate: C10 Dep: 16:00 (16:10)
Destination: Hong Kong (HKG) Gate: 64 Arr: 19:45 (20:00)
Duration: 2 hr 45 min (2 hr 50 min)
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 19K (Business Class)

I was glad to be one of the first few people onboard the Thai Airways 747. Looking left, I saw a first class cabin of nine seats in the nose of the 747.

Thai Airways Boeing 747 First Class

The seats looked fine, though I’ve seen better first class seats. My mother didn’t like the colour tones, though they were pretty fitting for a Thai airline, in my opinion. I’d avoid seat 4E, as all of business class walks past that seat during boarding, and there’s so little privacy (the seats aren’t fully enclosed, and the privacy partition doesn’t extend very far at all seats) – the seat basically faces the door.

Continue reading “Review: Thai Airways 747 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong” →

Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C West

~ Alvin ~ Leave a comment

Introduction: To Bangkok For The Weekend
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
Thai Airways A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Park Hyatt Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse D
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse E
EVA Air Lounge Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C East
Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C West
Thai Airways 747 Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

After visiting the East lounge, I thought my work would be bereft had I not rounded up my lounge visit by visiting the adjacent Concourse C West lounge. I went over to the other side of the hallway from the Concourse C East lounge, where the lounge was located.

Thai Airways Concourse C West Lounge Exterior

Continue reading “Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bangkok BKK Concourse C West” →