You know what's wrong with Greece?


Route: Bangkok to Auckland 
Airline: Thai Airways
Date of departure: 9th July 2018
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Flight duration: 10 hours 25 minutes
Flight distance: 9,549 km

 Total distance flown so far this trip: 19,843 km

 "You know what's wrong with Greece?" Duggie says to his family as he and Jeanette arrive back from their holiday in the film Shirley Valentine. "It's not Spain".

If you read travel blogs like I do, you will read a lot of differing opinions. And in some cases it is difficult to know what to believe. In Thai Airway's case, I read quite a lot of reviews, and many of the were written by the same person. Is this someone with a grudge? Actually, difficult to say. He may very well have had a few bad experiences which are true and which colour his opinion forever. Fair enough. But after having flown to New Zealand with Singapore Airlines last summer, I wash"t expecting Thai to come anywhere near that standard either. So the benchmark was set.

Having read very negative views about Thai's lounges at its base in Bangkok, I steered clear and tried out Eva Airs comparatively new lounge, as I have diamond status with SAS and access to almost any lounge belonging to the multiple airlines in Star Alliance.


And I have to say that the food and beverage options were great too! The lounge was very quiet, and as large as it is, I don't imagine it ever being overcrowded. Spotless, comfortable, quiet and relaxing.

A monsoon storm passed over just before we were due to depart, delaying our departure. Boarding was not as orderly as in Hong Kong, but not a free-for-all either. Business class passengers were asked to board first, but that message didn't seem to get across as the agent manning the door turned back three of every four people who hadn't understood the message, or had decided to ignore it.

The aircraft on this leg was the same type and layout as on the flight from Hong Kong, although it was slightly newer. So no repeat pics here. A flute of champagne later, and we were set for our departure which was with a delay of about 45 minutes.

I was again addressed by name and was to told to ask for a certain cabin attendant if there was anything I needed during the flight. Seems that Thai takes frequent flyer status seriously. By this time, I was starting to get tired again, so I forgot to take pictures of the dinner service. There were four choices for the main course, and I chose a Thai red curry with beef which was very good and beautifully spicy!! The starter was prawn-based, there was a plate of cheese and an amazing dessert with caramel rice. By the time the meal service was over (about 90 minutes), I was ready to sleep. A cabin attendant offered to make up my bed, but I did it myself. It took about 10 seconds. And I slept for around 6 hours. The beds are 183cm long and that's the same length as me, so I had to find  position so as not for be hemmed in like in a coffin and not being able to move. When I first found that position, I conked out and slept soundly.

I had asked to be woken for breakfast and I was. And I even remembered to take a picture! This was the Thai breakfast, one of a choice of three. The soup had rice and duck. Again, everything was very good.

By the time breakfast was over, we were only 50 minutes from Auckland.

Crossing the northwest coastof New Zealand.

And a lap of honour round Auckland.

So, as Duggie said, Greece is not Spain. And Thai Airways is not Singapore Airlines. They both have their own style and reflect their own countries. Thai Airways has recently decided to promote its "Thainess", something it does very well. On both of my flights I encountered genuinely connected cabin crew who did everything they could to make me feel comfortable and welcome. The food was very good and the seat was roomy and comfortable. I am certainly not going to believe all reviews I read on the www in the future.

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