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THAI defends food service after passenger complains on Facebook


snoop1130

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After fifteen years of avoiding Thai like the plague, following a service experience that would have discredited Biman, (probably the world’s worst airline) and vowing never to fly Thai again, I took a chance this year for my annual trip to the UK and the price was pretty competitive. 

To my great surprise and delight “things” had changed out of all recognition.  It was an Airbus A380 and I had a seat in the upper deck economy section which was very comfortable. The meals were better than I have had in many restaurants and the service was of the same demure and charming style one could take for granted in former times.  Back to Smooth as Silk then and not the, rough as a bear’s arrr-mpits to which it had descended. 

Perhaps tittering on the brink of extinction and gobbling down an ever greater government subsidy has awakened the dreadful apathy which pervaded the whole organisation I thought and they are fighting back for their very survival. 

Consistency, in anything, is and never has been a strong Thai trait and although great at starting things, even airlines, Thais are inclined to become easily bored and lose interest in work that is not enjoyable and standards are let blow with the wind.  Cabin crew is one of those jobs which sounds very exciting until you have been doing it for a while, when it can become dreary and tedious living out of a suitcase as a hash slinger in the sky, to rude, inconsiderate and badly behaved passengers, who do not deserve you. 

Although I take the point, made by many contributors, that experiences of plane, food, service and civility can vary greatly, on the basis of this years’ experience I have again booked my UK return for next year with Thai,  which was the cheapest of the direct BKK-LHR options. I do hope that they are fighting back to prove that they can still be, ”As Smooth as Silk” and are deserving of our patronage. 

 

 

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I flew Thai air return London Bangkok. It was dreadful,  packed full, incredibly hot, though cool where the staff relaxed. It was 750 quid. I flew cattle class. The only thing missing was guards with dogs and whips shouting at us. Never again. 12 hours of sweaty, sleepless  misery.

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If you ask me, being on any airplane always sucks (unless you are lucky to sit in a empty row and have 2-3 chairs). 

I just take the cheapest fastest flight with a stop-over, often via Dubai to EU, saving so much,
can't bother to complain + buy some nice food / drinks in the airports. Another benefit is that they often have delays, causing me to get a refund (3x already).

For the rest, whiskey and sleeping pills + a more luxury hotel as reward on savings upon arrival.

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On 10/8/2019 at 1:11 AM, CLS said:

THAI was once a good airline, many many years ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

I liked it for the leg room which was excellent on all the flights I took. I don't expect economy meals to be great cuisine, and usually were OK, but noticed towards the last flights I took that they were becoming poorer.

The sandwiches are not very good.

 

It could be my memory, but seemed to me that there were less flight attendants in economy to give out the food than a decade earlier.

 

Airlines all annoy me greatly when they advertise exclusively for the first class passengers, which are a minority, and treat those in cattle class poorly.

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4 hours ago, rohitsuk said:

It was an Airbus A380 and I had a seat in the upper deck economy section which was very comfortable.

I booked up there for my flight, but made the mistake of booking a seat that did not recline as much as the others. Not my best flight sitting too upright to sleep.

I'd have hated being downstairs.

 

What did annoy me immensely was the hosties transiting through that section with the food for the business class. Rubbing it in too much, IMO.

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6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I liked it for the leg room which was excellent on all the flights I took. I don't expect economy meals to be great cuisine, and usually were OK, but noticed towards the last flights I took that they were becoming poorer.

The sandwiches are not very good.

 

It could be my memory, but seemed to me that there were less flight attendants in economy to give out the food than a decade earlier.

 

Airlines all annoy me greatly when they advertise exclusively for the first class passengers, which are a minority, and treat those in cattle class poorly.

Had a terrible experience with legroom once on Thai where the IFE unit took up 1/2 of the foot space in front of me, I had a word with the attendant but he said the flight was absolutely full so couldn't even move me to a middle seat (I did look around and couldn't see an empty seat), spent the whole flight with my legs stuck out in the isle. 

 

I once read somewhere that on a typical long haul flight it's the 1st/Business Class passengers that the airlines make their money from, economy passengers are just the sprinkles on the cherry on the icing on the cake so you can't blame an airline for trying to attract them (or should I say us, I'm flying J (Business) class MAN-DOH-BKK with Qatar tomorrow ???? )

 

 

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It's aeroplane food, unless your in the pointy end of the plane you need to lower your expectations. Economy Class food standards have been on the decline on nearly all airlines for 20 years. 

I've been taking my own sandwiches and snacks for years because I know what airlines serve Y/C passengers and it ain't pretty.

 

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1 minute ago, reargunnerph3 said:

Most airlines charge to sit in exit rows now. Anything to make a few dollars, it's all about profits not people.

I know, when I used to fly, only flew business class. Costs more but worth it.

 

My comment was a sarcastic dig at the way Thai worded their statement.

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1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

Had a terrible experience with legroom once on Thai where the IFE unit took up 1/2 of the foot space in front of me, I had a word with the attendant but he said the flight was absolutely full so couldn't even move me to a middle seat (I did look around and couldn't see an empty seat), spent the whole flight with my legs stuck out in the isle. 

 

I once read somewhere that on a typical long haul flight it's the 1st/Business Class passengers that the airlines make their money from, economy passengers are just the sprinkles on the cherry on the icing on the cake so you can't blame an airline for trying to attract them (or should I say us, I'm flying J (Business) class MAN-DOH-BKK with Qatar tomorrow ???? )

 

 

Ah yes. Forgot about them. I did once get a seat with one and was able to change.

Normally I always flew in the same seat which I booked when I paid for the ticket, so normally not a problem.

Can check on the internet about which seats are bad, and avoid booking them.

 

I once read somewhere that on a typical long haul flight it's the 1st/Business Class passengers that the airlines make their money from

Correct, but if an airline had a plane with better seating and no first class, I'd pay more to fly it. 

I'd also be prepared to pay to have meals I like provided on board. When I travel my carry on is so full don't have room to take a lot of food on.

 

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2 hours ago, steven100 said:

Most airlines won't allow you to consume your own food onboard

Only airlines I've flown with that don't let you take your own food on board are the budget ones that sell you food (Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, Easyjet etc...) none of the airlines that provide "Free" food object to you doing it (granted bringing your own alcohol is a different matter).

 

I regularly used to grab a spring cheese sandwich at Manchester airport for the 1st leg of my long haul flight as I knew it would be the last time for a couple of weeks that I could get one, only "Problem" I've ever had with doing that was on Lufthansa where it turned out there was only 2 of us in Business Class & the flight attendant thought I wasn't happy with the food selection (they could have had anything on board, I was having my sandwich + a packet of Walkers Cheese & Onion Crisps)

 

She laughed when I explained to her why I did it & ended up bringing me a bottle of Champagne from the real pointy end (1st Class) to go with it, I didn't have the heart to tell her that I actually preferred the option they had in Business class so polished the bottle off with a smile ???? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10/8/2019 at 8:08 AM, Tambs2020 said:

We have direct return with Air Asia from Brisbane at between $450 and $600 return! 

You don't have Air Asia into BKk From WA ?

AIR ASIA  don't fly BKK-BNE  they fly to the Gold Coast which is a good hours drive South of Brisbane.

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On 10/8/2019 at 10:31 AM, Baerboxer said:

 

All down to personal experience. I've flown many flights with Thai, to and from Europe, Japan, and Korea. Never had a bad experience. Flown economy and business. Both excellent food, service and attendants.

 

Flew once with Singapore Airlines many years ago. Business class from Indonesia. Got the worse case of food poisoning ever. Had to have injections at Changi medical center, and wheeled out to the Qantas flight by a policeman! Never flew with them since.

 

I was a regular passenger with Cathay Pacific in the 90's. Business class Manchester to HK. Excellent in all aspects. Flew with them from Bangkok to HK couple of years ago, again business class. Very disappointed. Poor food, unclean plane and totally uninterested lazy attendants. 

 

Having lived in Abu Dhabi I like Etihad. Qatar also very good although couple of bad experiences with them. Gulf have old planes and old attendants - but look after you superbly. 

 

But, it's all down to personal experience and taste. 

Why did'nt the rest of the passengers get it. Sure it was not caused by not washing your hands before handling food. I fly Samui to Brisbane with Silk Air- Singapore Air economy class and find it excellent. I used to fly Thai but they started getting too expensive.

 

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On 10/8/2019 at 11:39 AM, DrTuner said:

Problem is AirAsia flies from DMK and it's a biaaaattsch to get there & park when coming from the southeast. If it flew from swampy I'd take it any day over Thai.

OK So you say DMK-BNE, but are you sure that its not DMK-Coolangatta ?

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On 10/8/2019 at 9:08 AM, Tambs2020 said:

We have direct return with Air Asia from Brisbane at between $450 and $600 return! 

You don't have Air Asia into BKk From WA ?

Are you getting a bit mixed up? He did not mentioned WA he was talking about

Brisbane (Queensland) and yes there are no direct flights from WA on Air Asia

to Bangkok, you have one stop in KL I think and only flights to Don Muaeng.

The only non stop flight from WA (Perth) is Thai Airways, which takes just less

than seven hrs compared to every other airline (budged or not) from 11 to 14 hrs.

Thai includes baggage allowance, food, drinks. All other airlines charge on top

of the airfare price for extras. Just work it out, would you prefer to fly with

airlines who charge you for every thing, and it will be the same after you book?

 or with an airline who does it non stop in just less than 7 hrs?

 

 

 

 

Screenshot_2019-10-10 Cheap flights from Perth to Bangkok at Skyscanner.png

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I have a question for the forum. As I'm going to book flights this week, Thai has the best times but previous experiences have not been good. I noticed Google flights shows the aircraft, so the question is this: Does the model/age of the aircraft correlate with the service staff? Do the "best" ones get to work in the newest planes?

 

Seeing as there are options from a 747 (Ugh, no, not nostalgic) to 777 and might be even others if I fiddle with the routes, should I choose the one with the newest and coolest, is it likely the Top Guns are assigned to the flight with the shiniest toys? 

 

I'm looking to do a BKK-Sydney-Auckland-BKK circle in biz class, in case you're wondering. SG airlines/NZ air is my preference but the flight times aren't very good.

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On 10/9/2019 at 10:28 PM, DrTuner said:

I have a question for the forum. As I'm going to book flights this week, Thai has the best times but previous experiences have not been good. I noticed Google flights shows the aircraft, so the question is this: Does the model/age of the aircraft correlate with the service staff? Do the "best" ones get to work in the newest planes?

 

Seeing as there are options from a 747 (Ugh, no, not nostalgic) to 777 and might be even others if I fiddle with the routes, should I choose the one with the newest and coolest, is it likely the Top Guns are assigned to the flight with the shiniest toys? 

 

I'm looking to do a BKK-Sydney-Auckland-BKK circle in biz class, in case you're wondering. SG airlines/NZ air is my preference but the flight times aren't very good.

Go with SG. fantastic in business. Widest seats, wider than EK even.

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1 hour ago, captpkapoor said:

Go with SG. fantastic in business. Widest seats, wider than EK even.

Thanks, I did for the Sydney leg. Coming back with TG, as they got a new dreamliner on the Auckland-BKK route and much better timing. I hope that thing isn't in pieces yet. TG flight cost almost double as much as the SG. Not exactly thrilled but it is what it is.

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