bwiadca

Welcome to my another trip report. My semi yearly visit to Thailand with the weekend hop to Vietnam.
For the first time I've decided to fly via Europe. Usually I fly via China, Japan or Hong Kong, but this time I wanted to close the world circle and fly in the opposite direction. In July, United had a sale on miles. Buy miles and get 100%. So for relatively small amount of money I had economy flight from US to Thailand with Business and First Class on the way back.

During my visit to Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away. I knew that Thais loved their king, but I had no idea how really they loved him. From the lounge in our hotel we could see the Siriraja hospital and Grand Palace where they took his body to.
I don't know how many people went to see the car with King's body going from the hospital to the palace, by my rough estimate there were hundreds of thousands. All the boats on the river were full. I'm talking about boats that carry up to 80 people. There were about 5 boats every 10 minutes. All of them full. Everybody wanted to say final goodbye to the King. All TV channels had the same program. It was like that from the day he passed away to the day I left the country 5 days later. After watching TV in the evenings, now I know almost everything about the King. I'm not kidding. They were showing King's biography from the time he was born to the time he passed away.

October 8 2016
IAD - LHR
United Airlines
UA924
Economy Class
Boeing 777-200
N217UA
Seat 44H
Actual flying time 6:35hrs



The trip started with some bumps. My United flight was scheduled for 10pm departure. My family members were going to a wedding and were planning on dropping me off at 7pm. That would be fine, however they thought that the wedding is much later. It turned out that it was at 6pm. They've offered me a ride but at 4pm. I didn't want to go to the airport this early so I took Uber. From DC to IAD I've paid $35. Not bad comparing to a regular taxi which would cost me around $80.

Got to the airport shortly before 8pm. Quickly dropped off my lagguage and went to the train to terminal C. From the time I was dropped off to the time I was in United lounge it took about 15 minutes. Then the disappointment. I forgot that United lounge is just glorified waiting room. I had one glass of house wine and went outside to get actual food.
Boarding started on time. I was happy that in my row there was only one passenger in the window seat. I guess he was happy too

Take off right on time, drink service and food service. I've picked chicken (I think it was chicken)



What a disappointment! They should serve this to Oscar Munoz. I guess after eating this, he would need another heart transplant. I'm lack of words...

The only positive thing was the cabin crew. They were very friendly, and despite serving crap to the customers they've made the flight pleasant.
Hour before landing at LHR they've served croissant with jelly, coffee/tea.
We've landed on time at gate 44 in Terminal 2. I saw my Thai Airbus A380 at the next gate 46. It took exactly 1 hour to walk from gate 44 to gate 46 (or 46 to 44 I'm not sure now which combination). The only reason why I transferred via LHR to Thai was to try the A380 for the first time. I had better connecting options via FRA, MUC, BRU or MXP, but those airports are served with B777 or B747.
After the hike to the gate I had some time to kill before my flight to Bangkok.
When they announced the boarding I was standing near the front for economy class upper deck gate.
It looks like Thai Airways contracts BAA people to work their flight. The lady took my boarding pass and then gave me 3rd degree burn.
- Why are you going to Fuk-it?
- It's Poo-ket, and I'm going there for vacations.
- How long are you going to stay there? I don't see your return flight. Can I see your ticket?
- I'll be there a week.

What if I was planing on staying in BKK for 30 days then moving to another country for 30 days and didn't have return ticket? WTH was her problem? She could see that it was one way ticket. What if I didn't have it? She would deny me to board the flight? I took my sweet time to pull up my return one way ticket on United application. The network speed was 2G so it took a while. She was satisfied when she saw my Business and First class return ticket. Not even talking about this incident, she was very rude. I don't know if that was her personality or if she had a bad day.
I was trying to think of any other rude employee of that magnitude that I have experienced during my years of flying, but I can't think of any other.
I was going to my favorite place in the world so I didn't think anything of this. Didn't want her to ruin my vacations.

October 9 2016
LHR - BKK
Thai Airways
TG911
Economy Class (upper deck)
Airbus A380-800
HS-TUF
Seat 81C
Actual flying time 10:56hrs



Boarded the plane at the front of the aircraft. Had to walk all the way down to the end to take the staircase upstairs.
I was seated at the very end of the upper deck, in the row of 2 seats in seat 81B. There was already somebody in the seat. After the boarding was completed I saw lots o empty seats. Moved to 81C, which was the isle seat in the row of 4. Some people shuffled around, and at the end I had 4 seats to myself for the entire flight.
Pushback was on time. It was nice to watch take off on the tail cam. About 45 minutes after the take off we were served drinks. I think I had some local Thai whiskey. Even pushing it with the Coke didn't taste good
They had nice selection of the movies, but I wanted to watch my show on the iPad. Shortly after meal service started.
My choice was pork curry with pasta. It was actually very tasty. After that second drink service followed. This time I had a beer.



Throughout the flight, the cabin crew was very attentive doing drink runs every hour or so. I had couple of more beers before I hit the lay flat bed on 4 seats I slept very good. Woke up couple of hours before arrival.



About 2 hours before the arrival, breakfast service started. It was also pretty nice. Poached egg with ham, tomato and some bread. Croissant with jelly, fruits and OJ. Overall not bad.



During the end of the flight I had to fill up arrival form and watched "transit" procedure on video. The entire crew in my section was very nice and attentive. Much better than on my previous flight with TG in Business class.

We've landed at BKK few minutes before scheduled time. I thought that walk at LHR was bad. Our arrival gate was at the very end of the BKK terminal, there were signs for transfer to Phuket showing 1600 meters distance (1 mile).
That walk also took a while. Then I had to clear immigration. The line was busy but moved fast. I've got sticker pinned on my chest "International Baggage Claim - Thai", and was told that I will clear the customs at Phuket.
Still had plenty of time to kill. The monitor was showing gate B3 as my departure gate. Took that 15 minutes walk to B3, and by the time I got there they've changed the departure gate to A6! That took good 25 minutes to get to my new gate. After arriving at the gate I had only 20 minutes till the boarding.
Went to the desk with the agents and asked if my seat was a window seat. She looked at the computer and scratched my original assigned isle seat, and with hand writing she wrote 41K - which was window seat.

October 10 2016
BKK - HKT
Thai Airways
TG203
Economy Class
Boeing 777-300
HS-TKA
Seat 41K
Actual flying time 1:01hr



This time I had a seatmate. The flight was uneventful. As this was last day of the Vegetarian Festival, Thai served veggie wrap and a drink.



I've asked for a coffee, and was pleasantly surpised when I got it. They had very tasty coffee. I was hoping for second cup, but by the time they got to my seat again we started descending.



We've arrived way before scheduled time. It was actually my first time arriving at the new terminal. They kept postponing the opening, and finally opened it in September of this year.
Walked through a jet-way and made my way to the baggage belt which is downstairs. I've queued for the customs lagguagge check but after X-raying 3 bags they gave up and let everyone go.
I walked to the money exchange place and went outside to look for our hotel shuttle.

michlflyer

Thank you for sharing.

Look forward to reading the next part.

redadeco

"What if I was planing on staying in BKK for 30 days then moving to another country for 30 days and didn't have return ticket? WTH was her problem? She could see that it was one way ticket. What if I didn't have it? She would deny me to board the flight?"

Yes she has the right to ask you about an exit ticket from Thailand within 30 days, I personally was denied check-in with Thai at CDG 3 years ago without showing a proof of exiting Thailand given that I was a tourist.

I had to purchase a cheap ticket on AirAsia to Cambodia (I discarded it) and showed it to the check-in agent to let me on the flight.

deniah

actually yes, as stated above, the airlines have *some* obligation to ensure visa/travel/immigration compliance. dont take it personally.

once i checked-in on BKK-BNE totally ignorant that australia required tourist visa for even americans. check-in staff caught it and whipped one up for me on her computer. if they hadn't caught it, it would likely given me non-insignificant headache 10 hours later...

bwiadca

I'll keep posting as time permits.

Didn't know that. I was thinking what if I didn't have return ticket with me, and was really planning on taking a bus to Malaysia. Then departing from Malaysia some time later.
Instead of buying AirAsia ticket, you should have bought full fare ticket on Thai or any other airline and later cancel it. You wouldn't have to waste money.


I've been flying out of Thailand to the neighboring countries on one way tickets. I don't recall Nok Air, Tigerair, VietJet or Jetstar asking me to show return ticket. On this trip Nok Air staff at DMK asked me for my Vietnam visa, that's about it.

You learn new things everyday

JVPhoto

I've had OZ at JFK ask me for my onward ticket flying JFK-ICN-BKK. I've had EVA ask me for an onward ticket flying JFK-TPE-NRT. I've had the NH people at the JFK BA lounge ask to double check my Australian e-visa (they basically asked if I had one) flying JFK-NRT-BKK-PER.
I didn't take it personally, I had onward flights so it wasn't an issue.

If you got to Thailand you could have been asked for an onward ticket. If you didn't have one and immigration didn't like your story and denied you entry...would the onus be on TG to ship you back off and pay the "denied entry" fine for a pax they brought there?

adampenrith

The reason you are asked at check in or boarding is that if you arrive in a country without the correct valid passport and visa, or proof of onward journey, the airline will need to arrange for you to be returned to your point of departure.

So a last minute seat from BKK to IAD pretty expensive. Also the airlines can be fined up to (i think) $10000 USD for carrying you to a destination without the correct documents

So the airlines do police this pretty smartly.

So the general rule is if you are travelling on a one way ticket - have the return or onward available for sighting.

As wifi or phone coverage is not always working or available, I alway print out my tickets as you may be required to show them at check in, boarding or a immigration or security check point along the way

Travel is wonderful its a learning experience.

offerendum

nteresting one! Will be interesting to see more!

bwiadca

When exited the arrival hall we've proceeded throughout the maze of people holding hotel/taxi signs. I didn't see my name so stepped aside. Few minutes later I've spotted person holding sign with my name on it.
He was actually bell boy from the hotel. When I approached him he called for the hotel van which was parked near by.

Ride to our hotel took about 5 minutes. Drove via streets which were very familiar to us, as we've stayed in that area in April of this year.
Our hotel, Dewa Resort is located in Sirinat National Park. Right by the airport and right on the beach.
The check in area is outdoor. We were greeted with cold pomagranate juice and cold wet towels.
Couple of minutes later we were being walked to our villa with private pool. I think I've paid $70 a night for the villa. It's so cheap because is still out of season. During high season, price for the villa goes between $175-$300 a night.
The manager explained everything, showed us what is where and left us alone. Shortly after our bags arrived.













The pool is nice, but you can't swim in it. The deepest part is 1 meter deep. However, if you want to swim, they have two full size pools on the property.
The nicest part of this stay was outdoor bathroom (toilet is inside). But the shower, bathtub and sinks are outdoor. It's so cool to take showers outdoor

After unpacking, we've wandered around to check the hotel sites. They have big outdoor (covered) game room. You can play biliard, fusball, pingpong, take a cooking class or yoga class.
The next mission was to search for the convinience store. Less then 5 minutes walking distance from the hotel there is Family Mart, 7-11 and day market. We've got some snacks, drinks and returned to hotel to rest for few minutes.

The weather was nice so we've decided to go to the beach and relax a bit. We found nice spot on the beach where I could watch airplanes take off over the Andaman Sea. However, after about 30 minutes I fall a sleep.
That was the queue to go back towards our hotel and get some lunch.

Right next to our hotel is Boss Bar. We've been there couple of time before during our last stay.
The food quality is nice and the prices won't kill you like in any other touristy areas.

I can't be watching my weight while on vacations in Thailand, so I went full throtlle
This is what we had: Warm minced pork salad, fried shrimps, fried calamari in garlic and pepper, and farmers pork.












When we got back to our room I wanted to take a nap. That was around 5pm. Next thing I know its 3am and I can't sleep anymore

My girlfriend was still sleeping, so I was enjoying whiskey by the pool


=to be continued=

manymany

Nice report again - i enjoyed your report from earlier in the year. We just missed each other, I flew out of BKK on 10th October. The food pics are making my mouth water!

As others have said, carrier has an obligation to check you aren't violating visa rules or else they can foot the bill you returning you. The check in agents are always surprised when I check in at LHR on a Thursday for BKK and they ask "when are you returning?" and my reply is "Monday!" when I do weekend trips!

bwiadca

I miss the food. That's the best part of Thailand.

bwiadca

The next day I was anxiously waiting for 6am. That's when they start serving breakfast. Hotel have nice little restaurant where they serve breakfast. You can eat indoor or outdoor right by the pool. It was pretty steamy in the morning so we've opted for indoor meal. Typical western breakfast. Eggs, cold cuts, sausages, fruits etc.

They also have few Asian dishes which you have to order from the card.
After loading on the food we went back to our villa. I've booked car with the driver from Phuket Shuttle to take us to the Monkey Hill at 10am. (I would recommend Phuket Shuttle if you want to tour the island. Much cheaper than getting a taxi. For the first 4 hours you pay 1500 Bahts and each additional hour after that is only 150 Bhts)
Few minutes before 10am, front desk called to let us know that the driver is waiting for us. We got ready and went to the reception area. Our driver was a lady in her mid twenties. I was expecting old, tired driver, but got young energetic one

So the first stop was at the Monkey Hill in Phuket Town. The drive from our hotel took about 30 minutes.
When we got there, we saw only one monkey on the top of the hill. I was also looking for a lady selling bananas and nuts. However she was nowhere to be found.

At the very top they have visitors observation deck. You have a nice view on the town.



Before going there, I was reading a lot about that hill. All the reviews indicated that there is huge amount of wild living Rhesus macaques monkeys. However, we only saw one. She (or he) was also little pissed off
So we didn't approach her/him.




The driver told us that there is another place where local people go and feed the monkeys (she didn't know about monkey hill despite being local Phuket resident, but she knew about other place by the river or lake).
We drove back down hill and 3 minutes later we've ended up at another location. That location didn't have single monkey in sight. But there was a lady selling fruits from her cart. I've purchased 30 lady finger bananas (20 Bahts = 52 cents) and asked the driver to go back to the hill.

As soon as we got to the hill, and I went outside with couple of bananas, troops of monkeys started appearing from nowhere!



At first they were shy, approached us slowly, then they would stick out their hands asking for food
It was soooo qute


















At any time we had few monkeys around us. They were watching my every move. I kept bananas in the car, otherwise they would jump me and take them all at the same time.
I think we spent there about an hour watching big and small monkeys. On the way down I saw one monkey sitting next to the security guard. I've asked the driver to pull over. That security guard was eating candies with the monkey. She was so smart. She knew how to unwrap her candy






The next planned stop was pier at Kathu. They have 3-4 seafood restaurants along the pier. We've picked one and had tasty lunch.



Again we had a shrimps, calamari, fish and crabs.











After the lunch we've decided to go back to the hotel. It was very hot and the food was putting me to sleep
For the rest of the afternoon we were just chilling in the pool and relaxing.
Late evening we went to get some food from the Boss Bar next door. Just few small things and my girlfriend had tom yum seafood soup.



=to be continued=

nequine

Those monkeys look very cute!

bwiadca

The next day I woke up also little early. This time didn't have to wait long for breakfast.
Same story as day before. Eggs, some cold cuts and coffee. We went back to the room and relaxed for a bit before we had to pack and check out.

October 12 2016
HKT - BKK
Thai Airways
TG208
Economy Class
Airbus A330-300
HS-TEP
Seat 38A
Actual flying time 1:22hr



Our flight to BKK was at 1pm. We've checked out at 11am. When you book your room directly at Dewa's website you get transfer from/to the airport included in price. When we were waiting for a shuttle I saw that check in person paid 200 Bahts to the taxi driver who took us to the airport. I guess the hotel's shuttle wasn't available. After enjoyable 2.5 days at the hotel it was time to leave.

Trip to the airport took about 5 minutes. We were dropped off at the old terminal. They brag about that new terminal but the only flights that are using it are some arrivals and few China bound departures.
There was a line to get inside of the terminal. You have to X-ray your bags (like at IST). After that we were at Thai check in. Not many people were checking in so we were asked to the business class station. Got our boarding passes and headed to clear security.
After clearing security I had dejavu. Holly crap. I forgot how bad is the old domestic part of the Phuket terminal. About 10 gates, 500 people and 200 chairs. We've made few rounds before we found two empty chairs.
1.5hr in that terminal is waaaaay too much. There is absolutely nothing to do. Dunkin' Doughnuts, Subway, Burger King and couple of small stores.
Time flies when you have fun. After about 2 months that one and a half hour passed
There was a trick to the boarding. Our boarding passes were showing gate 6, which is right between bathrooms and newspaper stand. However, after some investigation I saw sign for gate 11 which was displaying our flight number. Took a gamble and went to gate 11, which is actually at gate 10. I was right, that was our gate.
Watching other people I knew they were as confused as we were. The boarding started on time, after boarding pass check we were directed to a hallway which lead us to the new terminal. The aircraft was parked at gate 11.
Warm welcome by Thai flight attendants. Quick safety demonstration and we were taxiing for departure.
Departure was from runway 27, meaning lift off over the Mai Khao beach. We could actually see our hotel.



Soon after they were serving lunch boxes. This time was cold pizza bread with chees and orange juice.



Landed on time, and started the 1 mile walk to the baggage claim. When we got our bags I've requested Uber and met the driver at the arrival level. Our destination was Hilton Millennium hotel. My favorite hotel in Bangkok. The reason for this hotel being my favorite is the amazing breakfast in the lounge.
Uber ride to the airport took about an hour. The damage was only 300 Bahts. Only, because earlier this year I took the taxi from BKK to the hotel and paid 600 Bahts on the meter.
I've used points for this stay (executive floor) and requested upgrade to superior suite for about $25 a night.
When arrived at the hotel we were told that our upgrade request is confirmed.
Last time when we stayed there we had a suite, this time superior suite. The only difference that I could see is that superior suite has extra toilet in another part of the living room. I loved it












After we finished unpacking it was time to visit the lounge for evening happy hour.
Happy hour starts at 5:30pm but that day they were running little late. After having glass of wine, the food started arriving. They serve finger food. Like tuna tartar, or shrimp ceviche.
This food woke up my stomach. We've decided to go to the restaurant which we have visited during our last time in Bangkok. Neverending Summer. This restaurant is located near our hotel and also near restaurant called The Never Ending Summer - go figure.
Last time this restaurant was packed, and they were asking for reservation. This time it was half empty.
We've ordered pretty much the same thing as last time. Shrimp basil and grilled fish filet.
My girlfriend's food arrived shortly after and I was still waiting for my dish (she had hers with wild rice, my was regular rice). Then she said to me that they stopped cooking (you can see kitchen behind the glass).
We've called our waitress and asked where is my food. She was confused. She thought that all we've ordered was one shrimp basil. Anyway, few minutes later they brought to us my dish and grilled fish.
Even they had that small hiccup, I will still keep going to this place Food is amazing. They serve on the side fried/baked garlic chips. This is very nice addition to any food







This dinner concluded our first day in Bangkok.

offerendum

Well invested 25$!