Review of Thai Airways flight from Perth to Bangkok in Economy

Background

After a brief visit to Perth it was time to head back to Bangkok, once again on Thai Airways International. The flight was ฿19.4k/$550 for a return BKK-PER trip. Interestingly, I realized that this would be my first round-trip international booking since 2017, it's all multi-cities or one ways usually!
The original plan had been to fly SQ PER-SIN-CCU but in the process of trying to use KrisFlyer miles to make it cheaper the SQ fare disappeared. 

Perth Airport

There was a bit of a line for check-in today, strangely Thai doesn't use the self check-in kiosks that most other airlines seem to use in Perth T1.

Surprisingly they even weighed carry-ons.

This flight departs at a quiet time of day for the international of terminal 1. Nothing for almost an hour before this flight and two hours after it.

Security and immigration were extremely efficient, there was no wait at all. The downside to this was that it was almost an hour until boarding started.

Aircraft & Boarding

Our aircraft for today is HS-TQC, also known as Pran Buri / ปราณบุรี… the same aircraft as on the BKK-PER flight! Pran Buri is 9.9 years old and has always flown for Thai Airways International.

After a long wait, boarding commenced. The aircraft was boarded in groups and it was done very quickly.

It was a long walk down to the plane.

There was a bit of a line just in front of the entrance to the jetbridge.

As I mentioned, boarding was very rapid, I was impressed by how quickly they managed to get everyone on-board, it was a pretty full flight.

Seat

I love the colors and designs of TG's cabins.
There is a pillow and blanket at every seat (as opposed to the last flight, where there were just pillows and the blankets were handed out to whoever wanted them).

There was also a personal light, air vent, screen, remote, footrest, tray table (including a cupholder), and power outlet.

I wonder if people actually use the coat hook.

The footrest is a great addition that does a lot to make it more comfortable, it folds up so it doesn't take up any space either.

The tray table can be folded in half.

The seatback pocket contains a safety card, sickness bag, wi-fi guide, and shopping magazine.

Pretty soon we pushed back.

Departure & Breakfast (Brunch?)

You can see downtown Perth in the distance.

Passing a Virgin 737-800

A bunch of cargo planes.

Better view of CBD

And we're off!

It took a while but eventually they started the meal service. This is my pre-ordered VJML:

One extra side compared to the last flight.

The meal was average, nothing amazing. The salad dressing was pretty good though. The dessert tasted a little bit like medicine but it wasn't necessarily bad.

A while after I finished the beverage service began, I got apple juice.

It took a very long time but eventually the trays were cleared.

IFE & in-flight

I have more details on the IFE in my last review, but anyway they have a good selection of movies, TV shows, and music. While it can be a bit annoying to use at times, the content is more than sufficient and the colors are great. Even the little pop-up that appears when there are announcements looks pretty nice.

A bit later I got up to use the bathroom, it was nice and clean and there were dental kits available. I already had two from my last flight (along with two eye-masks and pairs of earplugs) but I didn't get any socks last time, so I went to the back and asked for some.

The lights and windows were all dimmed. As on the last flight, they seemed to be trying to pretend it was night for most of the flight.

There was no mid-flight beverage service at all, which is something I find really annoying. After waiting to see if they would come with drinks I eventually just used the call button to ask for some Sprite. A FA came within ten seconds and got my Sprite, plus a bottle of water.

The rest of the flight was uneventful.

The crew on this flight were more friendly than on the last flight, except for one man who seemed to be a bit frustrated and ready to go home.

Snack

A couple of hours before arrival the pre-landing snack was served.
Behold the grand, glamourous, gourmet snack… an apple!

A big step down from the pizza on the last flight. To be fair to them, it was a really good apple, and also most people got ice cream, but because that had eggs and I'd gotten a vegetarian special meal I got an apple. A little while later bottles of water were handed out.

Soon before arrival the FAs handed out chocolate which was a nice touch. Unfortunately they went by really fast and it seemed like they only gave them to people that asked so most people didn't get any. Luckily I did.

The chocolate was just normal milk chocolate but the packaging was beautiful.

Later they offered everyone more fruit (apples or bananas) and I got another apple.

While the snack service was very underwhelming, at least there were three of them.

Arrival & Suvarnabhumi Airport

Before arrival all the screens played ads for a few minutes, after that the windows and lights were brightened and we commenced our descent.

The long lines of parked aircraft are always sad to see.

Welcome to Bangkok!
Not too many interesting aircraft, just a Spring Airlines A320 and then a bunch of TG A320s and one A350 which we parked next to.

There were a lot of Royal Silk Class amenity kits left behind… you're allowed to take those, right?

Immigration didn't take too long, but there was a bit of a line. Bags also took a really long time to arrive.

I'll just end this with some pictures of the business amenity kit.

Thanks for reading.