Review of Thai Airways flight Bangkok Sydney in First

Airline Thai Airways
Flight TG471
Class First
Seat 2A
Aircraft Boeing 747-400
Flight time 09:00
Take-off 09 Aug 13, 08:00
Arrival at 09 Aug 13, 20:00
TG   #42 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 398 reviews
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Published on 5th February 2014
Sawasdee Krup! Thank you for continuing this journey with me. I know all of us who share our trip reports have different styles and I thank you for reading and commenting on mine.

Previously, I had just stepped off the TG 661 from HND to BKK and one of the ground staff informed me that someone would be waiting for me at the end of the jetway. I had a great time on TG 661 redeye that I felt bad I slept through most of the flight. Now it was 05:00 on 09Aug13, and a new adventure awaited me!

I had visited BKK before back in 2007 taking EK’s HKG-BKK-HKG flight and spending a couple of days in both Bangkok and Hong Kong. Initially I should have spent the night at the Vismaya Hotel before taking the same TG flight to SYD after the minor problem with the confirmation of my J reward seat on SQ. Instead, with my new round-the-world itinerary, I ended up transiting through BKK rather than collecting a new stamp from the Kingdom of Thailand in my passport

We had landed early, but had a long taxi time. We docked around 05:00 BKK time. I did not deplane until 05:05 as I took my leisure time especially being an F passenger on TG.

As I step off the plane and into the jetway, the humidity welcomed me to Southeast Asia, a familiar welcome each time I get off the plane at MNL and IAH. I walk through the covered jetway into the glass-covered bridge to see some activity going on at the arrival level. As I approach the end of the jetway inside the terminal, I see my name written along with four other names. I inform the agent of who I am on the list, and she directs me to take a seat on a golf cart where she would take us to security for our connecting flights. I pick up my bag and take the front seat. Two other passengers join me on the cart while another passenger decides to enjoy his walk. Another cart has the Thai member of parliament and the Japanese passenger on it and I would assume they would be personally escorted through customs and immigration via a special priority channel.

While a huge airport, it amazed me how far we parked and the long walk to transiting area and probably customs & immigration. I watched as hundreds of travelers arriving from other flights take a long walk or to transit levels. All looked like zombies arriving from red-eye flights and I am sure I would have looked equally the same. Instead I lived up the lap of luxury with my own lie-flat seat and then enjoying the free ride around BKK thanks to my F ticket! After a five minute drive around the airport with my own personal Thai escort, we end up at a set of escalators that would take us to security next to the Royal Silk and Royal Orchid Lounges as well as the Royal Orchid Spa by the D Gates.

It amazes me how much problems the other two passengers had when going through security. I consider myself a frequent traveler and even though I tend to overpack my carry-on, I know what I can bring and take out what needs to be scanned separately. It also amazes me how HND security could be just a tad bit lax. One Japanese passenger on his way to KUL had purchased some expensive liquor from Duty Free at HND. Surprisingly, the shop did not seal up his purchase and he carried it unsealed. BKK security would not budge and said they would have to take it or he would have to check his bags in. The other Asian passenger headed to MEL had a hardcore Swiss Army- type of gadget and apparently they did not question him at HND. BKK security refused for him to go through unless they confiscated it or he checked his bags in. The agent was at a bind since I had been patiently waiting for those goofs for at least 5min to go through and I had gone through with no problems. I would assume my escort asked the security officials how long it would take, and so she decided to escort me to the closed Royal Orchid Lounge and she would return to the other passengers.

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Just waiting at the Royal Silk Lounge waiting for the Royal First Lounge to open up!

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Entrance used for Royal Silk Lounge

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Royal Orchid Spa entrance

My TG escort dropped me off at the closed, main Royal Silk Lounge by 05:15. The lounge does not officially open till 06:00. I watched the lounge agents, dressed in traditional Thai attire, straighten, clean, and prepare the lounge prior to 06:00. I got to enjoy a rare moment of an airline lounge all to myself. I acted on my best behavior because I knew the attendants worked hard to make sure they had the lounge perfect before the first wave of passengers arrived. I did take this opportunity to take as many pictures I could as well as it gave me a chance to see one of the largest lounges in the world. I felt like a kid in a candy store and wanted to run around all over the lounge.

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Clean and empty Royal Silk Lounge

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Empty Royal Silk Lounge

The Royal Silk Lounge had food stations dispersed throughout the lounge with a couple of satellite stations and a large central one. I did not take a taste of the offerings because I did not know what options would be available at the Royal First Lounge, plus I would have felt bad being the lone passenger who made a mess. At least if another passenger had joined me I would not feel as guilty.

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Dim Sum at Royal Silk Lounge. I was only passenger there 30min prior to opening. Royal First had not opened yet.

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Finger foods

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Drinks cooler

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Fruits

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Another eating area inside this large Royal Silk Lounge

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More finger foods

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Western pastries

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Hot station getting ready

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Hmmm … fresh pancakes?

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FIDS in Thai

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FIDS in English

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Interesting color patterns in this lounge.

When walking past the Royal First Lounge earlier with my TG escort, I remember seeing a sign listing the lounge opens at 05:30. Around 05:45, I made my way over to the lounge and enjoy what they had to offer. While I had never being to SQ’s SilverKris lounge, LH’s First Class Terminal, or QR’s Executive Terminal, I would experience my first time getting pampered as a passenger. I packed up my stuff and make my way towards the Royal First Lounge. I thanked the busy lounge attendant who was busy preparing the entrance lobby and he stopped and gave me a wai. {pray}

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FIDS in Thai for flights departing from D gates

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Blurry FIDS in English for flights departing from D gates

Upon entering the Royal First Lounge, five lounge agents in traditional Thai outfits welcomed me with “Sawasdee” and wais. It was a nice welcome causing me to smile while I handed over my boarding pass. They greeted me by name and one escorted me to my own “salon”. She asked if there was anything I would need and I asked to schedule the full-hour body massage at the Royal Orchid Spa. She smiled and said she would schedule it for 06:00 as the lounge would not open until then. I thanked her and soaked up my surroundings.

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My own personal salon inside the Royal First Lounge.

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My own personal office inside my salon.

Before I could initially enjoy it, another agent walks in and offers me a cold, jasmine-scented towel with an orchid and a cup of freshly brewed hot tea. Next an agent asked if I would like a drink or breakfast. I declined breakfast until after I returned from my breakfast, but did request a cantaloupe shake. She smiled with a “yes sir” and left me in my little “salon”. I decided to take a quick venture around this lounge.

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Cold Towel, orchid, and a delightful cup of tea.

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Found some packaged snacks while walking around the Lounge. The middle one contained a sweetened saba banana that made me wish I was in the Philippines.

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Pastries and snacks in the F lounge, not as nicely presented as in the Royal Silk Lounge.

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Overall self-service food area for Royal First Lounge.

I pick up a few goodies and make my way back to my “salon” while I wait for my spa appointment. Also timed to my return to my “salon” an agent brings my refreshing cantaloupe shake. I hang out in the comforts of my salon and check out the computer, to see how fast it works. I then connected onto my iPad and do my usual Facebook check-ins and post a couple of pics from my HND-BKK flight. About twenty minutes later, the first agent that escorted me to the lounge returned to inform me that I may now head to the Royal Orchid Spa for my one hour of pampering! She would escort me all the way to the lounge while she set up my appointment with the spa attendants.

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Hmmm … Honey-Lemon Tea with the oven-dried saba. Nice way to prepare for my massage :-)

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Attendant asked if I'd like anything and I requested the Cantalope shake.

I walk into the Royal Orchid Spa and noticed one agent handling a couple traveling on J to scheduling their thirty-minute treatments. Within seconds another agent saw me with my Royal First attendant waiting behind the couple. She came around the desk and asked if she could help me. I assumed my escort let them know I had just left the Royal First Lounge and requested the one-hour full-body massage. She smiled and then welcomed me into the lounge by name without even asking my name. She directed me to an intimate waiting area behind the welcome area where I enjoyed this rather tranquil room. One of the spa attendants greeted me and provided me another jasmine-scented cold towel along with a different hot tea.

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Welcome drink and cold towel

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Ambience while waiting

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Love the decor of this waiting area

At 06:05, my masseuse escorted me to the intimate massage room. It had a little changing area off to the side and then a rather lengthy shower area which is rather odd. Yet, my over-active imagination started to run wild and wished for a fun masseuse and a happy ending! I should have requested a male masseuse.

The masseuse has confused me as Thai, but I said I do not speak Thai. She smiled and conversed in perfectly-understandable English. She asked me of my pants size and told me to put on some disposable pants (underwear) for the one-hour full-body massage.

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Pic inside one of the massage rooms

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Shower area I could enjoy once done with massage

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Little changing area

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Special herbal hot tea after massage.

I truly enjoyed my first ever full-body massage and it relieved the tiredness building up from the action-packed fun reported from my previous two reports. I felt total relaxation with my first ever body massage even though I rarely enjoy massages mainly because I cannot stay still. This time around, I wanted the full experience and I had no where to go other than roaming around the lounges or the airport; I figured why not enjoy the massage as a birthday treat! I felt relaxed and great after two long flights and ready to tackle my next trip, Sydney!

As I mentioned earlier, the massage room had a rather long shower area which did not make much sense and would seem appropriate to host multiple people. I enjoyed a full-body shower with jets spraying me from all over and luxuriating in the Verbena-scented L’Occitane products. I used the remaining time I had in that room to relax and slowly dress. When I finished occupying the room, my masseuse directed me back to the lounge and brought me another cup of hot tea that I would assume had antioxidants that would target some of the toxins released from my massage. She thanks me for stopping by today and wish me a pleasant flight. I relaxed a bit and enjoyed some more tea. After I finished my tea I thanked the attendants in Thai and made my way back to the Royal First Lounge for breakfast and enjoying my last few moments before I board my flight to SYD.

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Headed back to Royal Silk Lounge after massage

Upon my return, the same agents welcomed me back by name and the same agent escorted me back to my “salon”. I informed her that I would like to order breakfast. After she dropped me off she informed one of the agents. A new agent welcomed me by name and showed me the breakfast menu on her iPad. While I love congee, I did not have a craving for it, especially after my massage. Thus, I selected and enjoyed the Western breakfast. She asked if I liked another cantaloupe shake; instead I ordered a watermelon one.

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I ordered a delectable watermelon shake from same attendant that had helped me earlier.

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Admiring my orchids before I said good bye to them in Sydney

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The western breakfast

They served me a decently-sized portion of the Western breakfast, though I wish I could have gotten a strip or two more of the bacon rather than the hot dog. It hit the spot after the disappointing shrimp from my HND-BKK flight. After I was finished, I enjoyed the comforts of my “salon” before I decided to make my way nearby and down to D4 for my flight to SYD on TG 471.

As I started to collect my stuff around 07:45, one of the lounge agents stopped by to let me know that they had started boarding for my flight to SYD and if I needed any help. This time I did not because I wanted to easily enjoy the walk to the gate. I said one final good-bye to “salon” and made my way to the gate after thanking all the agents. Yes their service was trained, but it felt genuine and made a nice impression.

TG 471
BKK-SYD
09Aug13
744, HS-TGO, “Bowonrangsi - ????????”
Seat 2A

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Flight is scheduled to depart soon!

Since my last time at BKK in 2007, the airport authority had changed the departure display boards at each gate prior heading down the ramp to the waiting area. When I reached the end of the ramp, I reached the gate desk where an agent ripped my boarding pass and handed me my stub while she busily talked to her co-worker and did not acknowledge me. It did not matter because it seemed like a busy day and they wanted to close the flight as soon as possible. As I made my towards the entrance to the jetway, I noticed no one queuing up for priority boarding, but a long line for Y. I approached one of the agents coming from the jetway and shower her my boarding pass. She looked at the manifest and checked my name off the list and told me I could now board.

Today “HS-TGO” named “Bowonrangsi - ????????” would take us down to SYD. Another agent saw me walking towards the finger bridge and acknowledged me by name. I figured her colleague at the gate called her on her walkie-talkie and let her know the last F passenger had arrived and would start J and Y boarding soon. She escorted me the few steps to 1L where I received a warm welcome with a wai by a male and female flight attendant dressed in her traditional Thai outfit with a yellow top and pink skirt (YP). She welcomed me on board, but not by name, and directed me to my seat. She offered to put my carry-on suitcase in the closet, but said it would fit in the overhead bin. She helped me with my other carry-on bag and then asked if I would like anything to drink, suggesting a glass of Dom. Again, how could I resist a glass of Dom at 08:00?

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No HSBC adverts on the jetbridge?

On the previous flight I sat on the right side of the plane, this flight I sat on the left side of the plane and could admire the length of the jetway. This flight had a 100% load factor in F, with a busy J and a roomy Y loads. The two couples sitting in the middle section seemed like regulars on this flight heading back home to Australia while on holiday in Europe. A Japanese-Thai couple sat in 1A & 1K, also loyal TG customers as I heard them say they had plenty of the pajamas and amenity kits. The others passengers (a female and two males) had noticeable French accents.

Speaking of amenity kits, I had hoped for another Rimowa kit, instead I received a nice black Tumi kit, but not as cool and sturdy as the Rimowa one. I also got another set of pajamas that I could give to my dad as a gift from my trip. Now I just need another one for my mom.

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Cleaner presentation of my ottoman along with duvet and bedding material.

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Your Dom 1993, Sir!

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Center table filled with magazines that no one stopped to check.

I decide to take a quick walk around the plane since I did not get to do a walk around the beautiful 744 during my HND-BKK flight. This may be one of the last times I get to walk around in a 744. It seemed like this would be a very open Y flight with passengers having their own row of seats to enjoy and use as beds. I noticed the flight had younger crew working the Y cabin while the much more older crew worked the F and J cabins. The younger crew in their neatly pressed traditional Thai outfits welcomed me with smiles and asked where I sat, and I told them I was walking around to check out the plane.

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Rather open forward section of Y

After taking the picture, my iPhone showed the time as 08:00. I made my walk back to F and watched the FAs and ground staff closed 2L with all Y passengers having boarded. When I got to F I saw 1L still open, probably waiting for a few J passengers to board and last minute paperwork from groundstaff. By 08:14, all passengers had boarded and 1L closed. Captain Sicarin gave his welcome first in Thai and then in English. He told us that the flight would take 8h23m and reporting an on-time arrival of 19:29 SYD time. While still parked at the gate around 08:09, our male ISM gave his welcome in Thai and then English.

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Further back, this flight looked rather open! F was 100% full

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1L closed and jetway pushed back.

As I watched the jetway move away from our plane, the ISM featured the same updated TG inflight safety video from my previous flight. As mentioned, I guess I am used to how sCO and now UA have FAs stop what they are doing and stand at certain positions during in flight safety video. In the F and lower deck J cabin I did not see any FAs on my flight stop what they were doing while they showed the video. At least they did not run around frantically like chickens with their heads cut off as I had experienced on some previous EK flights.

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Grounds crew head to special area to be picked up

Just after the inflight safety video they did show a quick video from Australian Quarantine and mentioned of a couple of occasions to “Declare or Beware!” Trust me I had experieced it first hand 13yrs ago during my very first trip to Sydney just after the 2000 Olympics and kinda put a damper on that rather short visit. This time I would declare and not beware!

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Dom and my 3 windows

With videos complete, we start our push back from position and make our way to 19R, I believe the same runway we used for arrivals.

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Pushback from gate, who is our neighbor to the left?

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Hello Mr. Tug!

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Our neighbors to our right.

During the taxiing, I got to see the following airlines: W5, AY, AI, QR, CI, CX, JL, 9W, PG, and a handful of TG including the A380 that would be heading to HKG. I also got to see some airliners I had never heard of before such as Business Air (8B), jetAsia (JF), and Asia Atlantic Airlines (3A).

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An all-white PG getting ready for departure.

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9W, AI, and CX parked waiting for their return flights.

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Hello TG A380! Wish I was flying you to CDG, but I can’t pass up the chance to fly The TRUE Queen!

For those keeping track, we had pushed back at the gate at 08:14 BKK time. We were still taxiing at 08:33 as it seemed like a mix of arrivals and departures had commenced. While waiting, I watched a 3K A320 arrive. I then watched HS-TGM “Chao Phraya” who flew me down from HND, take off, possibly to HKT for a quick domestic turn, or to another location. Following her, an EK 77W landed and then we were next. While making the turn to active, I could see a TG 77W registered HS-TKO and then a JL 763 in the updated “tsurumaru” logo. As many would agree, it’s great they brought back the iconic JAL bird, but left an unimaginative livery for the body of the plane. By 08:39, we roared down 19R and lifted off into the air.

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Airborne in a cloudy and damp Bangkok.

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Here's hoping for clearer skies and colder temperatures in Sydney!

Once airborne, I put my seat in relaxing mode and admired some of the goodies handed out pre-flight. A few minutes later ISM Sujivan gave his welcome on board by first talking to each passenger in F. Once he was done, he then went on the PA system and welcomed everyone on board. Once he finished his announcements, I decided to check out the IFE. The AVOD had a nice selection of videos, though trailed behind EK’s ICE and SQ’s Krisworld. In the end I choose Despicable Me since many of my friends had raved about Despicable Me 2 and I had not seen the first one yet.

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Some of the goodies on this flight. Now I've got 1 Tumi and 1 Rimowa kit.

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Wish I was in her seat!

About five minutes after departure the FAs sprang into action and made their preparation for the flight. I did not get any of the names of the FAs as none of them gave their name or were not wearing name badges. As a shortcut, YP would be the FA wearing the yellow top and pink skirt, while AP wore pink top and skirt. YP primarily helped us while AP worked the J cabin but would assist in the F since we were a full-house for the flight. After a bit of activity died down from the galley, YP brought over the drinks and official menu. When YP stopped by my seat, she confirmed that she had my pre-ordered meal loaded onto the flight and would be offered during the second meal service. Since I pre-booked my meal, I wanted that excitement that I would be eating something not offered on the menu. However when I looked at the dinner menu, it listed my pre-booked meal, the Chicken Massaman, as one of the options.

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Drinks menu cover

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Drinks-non alcoholic

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Drinks-1

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Drinks-2

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Drinks-3

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Drinks-4

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Drinks-insert

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Drinks-5

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Menu Cover

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Menu - Welcome

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BKK-SYD Menu in English-1

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BKK-SYD Menu in English-2

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Herbs for Health

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BKK-SYD Menu in Thai-1

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BKK-SYD Menu in Thai-2

As I put Despicable Me on pause while watching the scene from outside from my 3 windows, I still needed to be pinched that so far I had finally visited Tokyo beyond NRT and I got a one-hour full body massage just for flying F on TG. Now I comfortably sat in 2A heading down to SYD! While I envy fellow posters who travel often and then post their trips, I am thankful for the many trips I have taken and enjoy as much as I possibly can just to be away from Houston! ;-)

About fifteen minutes later after YP had distributed the menus, she and AP helped pull out tables and set up breakfast service. Today’s options featured Western options, which the omelette sounded nice. What I did not notice at the time until after I went through my pictures, I could have ordered the Boiled Rice with Pork Balls. Oh well.

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White linen

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Place settings

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Napkin and Utensils

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Butter, S&P, and finger

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Fruit plate and bread basket

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Fruit

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Croissant

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More bread

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Menu details on screen

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Western Breakfast

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Ketchup and Chili Sauce, no spice

Overall I enjoyed this tasty breakfast and on par to what I enjoyed at the lounge, the main difference being the hot sauce. In the lounge, they offered a bottle of Tobasco along with a packet of Chili Sauce from Heinz. On the flight they only had the Heinz packets. Disappointingly, these Heinz packets had NO heat inside those things, just a very sweet taste.

With my meal finished, I enjoyed a couple of other movie previews before I decided to enjoy some sleep. As YP picked up my linen, I asked if I could get turndown service and she smiled and said she would be right back to bring my table linens back to the galley. I went ahead and returned the table to its hiding place. As I got up from my seat, YP approached and ready to make my bed. I told her I would take a quick walk around the plane while she prepared my bed..

As I walked around, I did finally venture to take a peek of the upper deck J cabin and it seemed like a full house in the premium cabins while I saw many Y passengers enjoying the rather open seating and having sections to themselves and enjoying their own skybeds. By the time I returned, YP had finished my and now other passengers had requested for turndown service as well as changed into their pyjamas. .

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My blurry bed for the next couple of hours.

I ended up getting a total of six hours of sleep. The cabin remained nice and cool, I did not sweat as much as from my previous flight. I definitely felt rested and now anxious to enjoy the flight. I did walk around the plane again, this time dark as passengers slept or relaxed as best as they could.

Around two hours left in the flight, the galley started to buzz with life in preparation of the second meal service. I went into the lavatory and prepared myself a bit. On my way to the lavatory, YP addressed me and asked if I would still like to have dinner. After I gave her the affirmative, she asked if she could take my bedding and set up for dinner. With another affirmative, she went to remove the sheet and bedding, and I went into the lavatory to freshen up. Before I went to bed, the FAs had filled the lavs with minimal stuff. This time when I went in, they offered additional toothbrush kits, Flurocarril mouth wash, and cloth towels for our use. I watched each time I passenger left the lav, an FA would spray with L’Occitane verbena and tidy up a used lav. On this flight and on my HND-BKK flight, the FAs would hold back the line waiting to use the lav to make it presentable for the next passenger.

When I returned to my seat, YP stopped by to remove my table and placed a white linen down. I had noticed she had changed out of her Thai outfit and back in her westernized FA uniform. As she would return, I could hear other passengers waking up and Sujivan and AP assist them. YP returned first offering me an amuse bouche.

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Amuse Bouche course: Pork Dippings on Fried Rice Cracker

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Table set up

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Where are we now?

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Oh … we're flying over South Central Australia

Now I have had salmon roe and recently enjoyed eating it. This would be the first time I would ever experience true First Class caviar service!

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White Sturgeon Caviar with Garunitures

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Salad course: Fresh Seafood Salad with Orange and Grapefruit

After the salad I declined on the soup as I did not want to chance getting a mild food allergy from the snails from the Mushroom Cream Soup with Snail and Truffle Oil. Instead, we jumped head to the palate cleanser, Basil and Chili Sorbet.

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Basil and Chili Sorbet … I love the basil flavor, and I love the coldness of the sorbet coupled with the heat from the chili. I needed this heat when using those Heinz packets.

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This was my Book the Cook order, and happened to be one of the choices on the flight.

As mentioned on the menu, this is the Chicken Massaman Curry with peanuts along with Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice and Stir-fried Pickled Turnip with Egg and Pak Choy. My only complaint to this was I wanted something different that was not offered to other passengers unless they pre-booked the same meal. Otherwise, this dish was delicious! The chicken really hit the spot and the rice was how I liked it, soft and just a tad bit sticky. I could have gone for another serving, but I would have felt like a pig and not sure if I would need to be rolled off the plane in SYD!

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Fruit plate

For dessert, I could have gone with a trio offered from the menu, but because of my nut allergy, I held off and chose the rice pudding, which was delicious from the coconut and mangoes, one of my favorite fruit combinations.

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Dessert: Rice Pudding with Coconut Cream and Mango Pearls

As YP made her rounds to check on all passengers who partook in the dinner service, she saw that I had finished my dessert and asked if I would like anything else. Requesting a top up on my water, she took my dessert plate and white linen and returned with a new glass of water along with an arrival form, an invitation to Express Path, and a pen with the TG logo on it. I retrieved my passport, finished my documentation, and enjoyed the rest of the flight in a reclined mode while other passengers finished up their dinners and completed the required documentation for Australian Immigration.

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Documentation for arrival into SYD with Express Path invite

I remember booking 2A early on thinking I may be able to see Sydney’s CBD lit up, especially the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. However, as we made our descent into SYD I could not notice the landmarks below nor not sure what routing we took. We landed at 20:10, just 10min behind schedule. I had now returned back to Sydney again, almost thirteen years since I had last visited.

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Yes I've arrived!

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Proposed flight path for TG 471 BKK-SYD.

I took to heed the warnings of declare everything. My last visit I got fined a nice fine for not declaring a Filipino pastry I bought at the airport I thought I would eat as a snack on the plane, but ended up sleeping the entire flight and not enjoying said pastry. When they scanned my bag, I did not know I would get in trouble for that. This time, I made sure I didn’t have anything with me and took the proper measure to get checked this time around. When an agent approached me, she asked what I had to declare and told her I still had cookies and dried fruit, she said that it was fine. She did ask why I went to the declaration line and told her my experience from my first time and how that put me off from visiting Sydney till now. She smiled and thanked me for being a polite visitor and welcomed me back to Sydney.

With that minor worry over and done with, I headed on out to the arrivals area and enjoy my two days in Sydney. First up it was off to Vodofone to pick up a SIM card for my iPad and then tickets for City Rail since my hotel was right off Town Hall station.

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And look at the stamps I got on my Flying app!

Thank you for joining me on this journey down to Sydney! Stay tuned to my next segment on this quick round-the-world birthday journey!
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Verdict

Thai Airways

8.6/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Meal/catering8.5

Thai Airways Royal First Class Lounge

9.1/10
Comfort9.0
Meal/catering9.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Services9.5

Bangkok - BKK

8.5/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness9.0

Sydney - SYD

8.6/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5

Conclusion

Now I had taken two different TG flights in F to do an initial comparison. I could not fault the service received on this flight; it was an amazing flight! So far TG has amazed me mainly because I had flown in F; I do not think I could say whether I prefer SQ or TG, but can say both have made the experience miles above and beyond what I would expect out of UA. Between my HND-BKK flight and BKK-SYD flight, and if I had to really nitpick, the FAs on HND-BKK performed better than BKK-SYD just for the fact the FAs displayed more of a personable service with the little extras. And then there was the Royal First Lounge and the Royal Orchid Spa, truly amazing, and experiences I truly cannot forget!

Information on the route Bangkok (BKK) Sydney (SYD)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 11 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Bangkok (BKK) → Sydney (SYD).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Emirates avec 8.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 9 heures et 13 minutes.

  More information

13 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 98764 by
    Numero_2 TEAM BRONZE 10416 Comments
    Thank you for sharing the next leg of your RTW with us. Gorgeous pictures and great text !

    I took the evening flight from BKK to SYD in business class just two months after your journey.
    If you don't like to walk, you should avoid transits through BKK because you can easily walk 1km from the furthest boarding gate to the immigration desks. ;)

    The main BKK Royal Silk Lounge is one of the best I've ever been in.

    A male masseuse -> What's that ? lol

    The western breaksfast is disappointing for a First Class ground service : You can find exactly the same in the Royal Silk lounges.

    A shame that you got an old B744 with outdated F seats and IFEs for this flight !
    In my opinion the inflight catering is a bit poor, especially regarding the breakfast service.
    Fortunately TG's crew is always perfect and makes you feel comfortable on board.
  • Comment 98824 by
    marathon GOLD 10117 Comments
    Yes, it can be a loong walk to immigration in BKK, and even loonger wait at immigration, arguably my worst souvenir of Thailand, or rather the only bad one.
    Japan has recently lifted it liquid/gel ban (their security scanners now can detect harmful stuff), and this could explain the traveler's negligence (but the duty free shop staff should have known better). Whether a Swiss army knife is a real danger to air transport is up to debate.
    Your account of your lounge experience in BKK could have been a TG advertising feature (no, I do not believe that you are a TG agent ;)
    Thanks for this FR !
    • Comment 290254 by
      AznWrldTrvlr AUTHOR 30 Comments

      Bonjour Marathon:

      Thank you for checking out this latest flight report! It was not a small Swiss army knife that would be end of a keychain or unnoticeable many times through an x-ray, this was a sturdy gadget that was about 20cm long.

      Also thank you for the comment about my lounge experience. I try to be as thorough as I can so the readers feel like they are traveling with me.

      Merci!
  • Comment 98845 by
    lagentsecret 12186 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this comprenhensive FR

    The lounge (and especially the massage) experience is a great one

    Unfortunately the pictures are sometimes of low quality

    The catering looks yummy

    All in all it's a good First Class flight

    See you soon on your next report

    • Comment 290256 by
      AznWrldTrvlr AUTHOR 30 Comments

      Bonjour Lagentsecret:

      Thank you for reading and commenting! Sorry about low quality of the pictures, they were taken with my iPhone4 and feel I get better pics rather than me trying to fiddle with my dSLR. I need to practice more with my dSLR so I can be ready for my upcoming round-the-world birthday trip this year!
  • Comment 98873 by
    Julij 1 Comments
    Thank you for your flight report, for me it looks great!
    I would like to know which flight app is on the last photo?
  • Comment 99049 by
    jetsetpanda 2283 Comments
    Thanks for sharing another great adventure.

    It's always nice to get that special moment when you have a lounge or cabin all to yourself. I can relate with the kid in a candy store feeling. ;)

    • Comment 290259 by
      AznWrldTrvlr AUTHOR 30 Comments

      Hey Jetsetpanda:

      Thanks again for reading and commenting! It usually takes very little to make me feel like a kid in a candy store, especially anything related to airports and airplanes! The continuation of this trip will be posted soon!

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