Review of Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Seoul in Economy

Transit stop at Bangkok was scheduled to be 1hr 20min but after disembarkation and going through security, it was only 15 more min before my next flight started boarding. The boarding gate was at C3. There was another TG flight to ICN departing just 25min before my flight!
Gate C3

27 October 2010
Thai Airways
TG 656
Bangkok (BKK) - Incheon (ICN)
B777-200
HS-TJA
Economy Class
This flight was scheduled to be on a B777-200. Sadly I was not TGed with a newer aircraft and was stuck with TG's oldest B777-200. No PTVs either on this sector. However I was planning to take a nap on this sector so no worries. Boarding began about 30min before STD in an orderly manner from rear to front of plane. I was one of the first pax to board and was greeted with a wai again at the door. Even though this plane is almost 15 yrs old, the age was not evident by the well maintained cabin. Crew were a mixture of Thais and Koreans.
Seats with rolled up blankets and pillows.

6 seats were reserved for crew rest.

Boarding in progress. Sadly, no PTVs. Flight was only about 70% full.

Seat 61A. Seat pitch was good as usual.

At the gate.

Mags in seat pocket.

Earphones are distributed and for yours to take home.

We pushed back on time.

Taxi to Rwy01R.

Takeoff for our 4hr50min flight to ICN.

Into the night skies again.

Cabin view shortly after takeoff.

Shortly after takeoff, the crew immediately started a snack service. On offer was a slice of cake and a choice of water/juices.

I ordered seafood meal for this sector. But where is the seafood in the cake? LOL.

During the snack service, short features were also shown on the main and overhead screens. Nothing interesting to watch though. Unfortunately, the rest of the audio channels other than the mainscreen audio, apparently did not work. Shortly after the trash were cleared, lights were dimmed to enable passengers to sleep. According to my friend who flew SQ602 from SIN-ICN, no post takeoff refreshments were served!! Instead, only a pack of nuts and a round of juice was given out and breakfast was served before arrival. I dozed in and out for about an hour, coupled with the empty seat beside me, it made a rather comfortable ride.
About 1hr 40min before arrival, lights were switched on and the crew came around with hot thin towels, similar to the ones given out on the previous flight. A round of juices were also offered. Following this, breakfast was served. As I had pre-booked a seafood meal, I was served first.
Crew serving breakfast.

Seafood meal tray

Seafood breakfast revealed!

Grilled seafood skewer (2 prawns, 2 squids, fish, peppers) with mash potatoes, grilled tomato and peas. The seafood skewer was fantastic! One the the best breakfasts ever had on a plane and certainly business class quality! Bangkok catering certainly did not disappoint.

Yogurt, drinking water, roll and croissant. The croissant was great too! And kudos to the crew for coming around 3 times(!!) to offer additional rolls and croissants. I really suspect they have a bakery onboard!

Butter, jam, fresh fruits.

Some coffee to perk myself up.

Additional coffee/tea were also offered before trays were cleared.

Crew at work

Another view of the cabin after breakfast service.

We started to descend into Incheon about 30min before arrival.

Approaching Incheon

Sunrise over Korea.

Approaching into Seoul Incheon. Don't SQ flyers miss the landing music?

Landing soon..

We landed about 10min early. A MH A333 just landed before us.

Welcome to KE..

…and OZ land.

Parked at the midfield concourse Gate 125. 5 days later, I would also be departing from this gate.

Our plane during disembarkation.

Another view of HS-TJA.

CX B777-300 beside us

HS-TKB, which arrived 20min before us. This plane would have the retrofitted interior.

More KEs and view of the concourse from the main terminal.

Lots of OZs at the main terminal too.

As we had parked at the concourse, passengers had to take the shuttle train to the main terminal for immigration clearance and collection of luggage. Somewhat similar to KLIA. Immigration was efficient and my luggage was already circling on the baggage belt when I reached it. After customs, I explored the airport terminal for a moment while waiting for my friend's SQ flight to land.
Nice landside viewing gallery.

Beautiful terminal!