As a Thai citizen I like to support Thai businesses, and if I have the option when travelling, I would prefer Thai Airways International to any other carrier.
I support THAI despite the concerns raised by international bodies about the poor state of aviation safety regulation in our country, something authorities are struggling to fix before other countries start banning flights by Thai airlines, possibly including the national carrier.
In the past two months I have had the opportunity to travel to two different ends of the world. In April I took my parents to New Zealand, and earlier this month I visited Sweden for a conference. I chose THAI for both trips. The organisers of the trip to Sweden wanted me to take KLM, but I persuaded them to let me fly THAI, on condition that I pick up the cost of the last leg to and from my final destination. This was fine with me, even though the scheduling difference meant I also had to absorb the cost of a hotel stay.
The KLM flight would have had taken me to Amsterdam and then to my destination in Linkoping. But why do that if I can to go Stockholm and then to Linkoping? As usual, the outbound flight on THAI from Thailand was a great experience, although the return was a different story.
Flying home from Auckland with my parents, meanwhile, was a hell of an experience. Because they are vegetarian and I am not, I had made detailed menu arrangements in advance of our trip. And since they are in their seventies and eighties, I splurged on business class to make sure they were comfortable. I was looking forward to a smooth journey both ways but things did not turn out as expected.
One thing I was looking forward to trying was free WiFi, which THAI began to trumpet in the third quarter of last year. It was not available on the long 11-hour trip to New Zealand, and I charitably put that down to the fact that we were on an older aircraft. But I discovered later that free WiFi was not available on the three-year-old jet that took me to Stockholm.
As for the pre-ordered Indian meals on our Auckland trip, I assumed this would be no problem to arrange, given the sheer number of Indian restaurants in the cities on our itinerary.
I was only half right, it turns out. The meals on the outbound flight from Bangkok were excellent, as I knew they would be. They came from a restaurant run by a friend, although I am not above criticising the service at his place, as you may have seen on my Facebook page. But tasty Indian meals seem to be assured only on outbound flights from Bangkok and a few other short-haul routes.
Thai Airway's so called 'Hindu Meal' for premium economy class from Stockholm to Bangkok. (Photo by Umesh Pandey)
I started writing this piece just after finishing my "Hindu Meal" on TG 961 bound for Bangkok from Stockholm. The only thing remotely recognisable as Indian food was a handful of chickpeas nestled in the salad. The rest was not anything close to Indian, and I have the pictures to prove it.
On the return flight from Auckland -- in business class, no less -- imagine my parents' dismay when they discovered meat in the "Hindu Vegetarian" meal. When they asked what that was, the attendant simply removed the meat from the plate and said, "This is vegetarian."
To Thai Airways staff, removing the meat might have seemed like a simple solution, but a vegetarian would never agree. My parents endured the rest of the 11-hour flight with empty stomachs.
Is this what THAI is teaching cabin staff at its training school these days? I was tempted to write about the experience when I returned home but I wanted to give the airline the benefit of the doubt. But after a second disappointing meal experience on my flight back from Stockholm, I feel compelled to raise my concerns.
If Thai Airways continues to simply smile and not offer the best service, it will never regain the crown it lost long ago to Singapore Airlines and others as the best carrier in the region. In fact it has been falling further behind SIA and others when it comes to inflight amenities for the last few years. Now it must race even harder to catch up, mindful that a reputation takes years to build but only a few moments to destroy.