I have just completed a return trip to Bangkok from Manchester with Qatar and i have to say that their in flight service and on-board entertainment was not 5 Star and emirates beats then by a mile.
the entertainment on the Airbus 333 on the Manchester route was out dated and some of the buttons on the handset was not working, a real let down from what i was expecting.
Then came the drink selection. Asked for Rum and coke and was told that they had no rum, asked for wine and given a bottle of white without the Top, I asked if i could have the top so that i could put it back on the bottle, i was told that it was not possible. on my way back home on the in bound flight, I asked for another bottle of wine, Only the 2nd during the flight, The purser came to me and asked were i got the wine from, i pointed to the FA and the Purser had a word with the FA!!!!
The food on the flight was OK regarding dinners but breakfast was very bland,
Regarding the Blinds on the windows, I was told to close the blinds on all the four sectors, even on the night time flights.
Doha airport was a Joke, Had to be taken by bus to the Transfer terminal which was only across the runway, But seem to take for ever. I am not sure how long they have been using buses for transferring and i understand that the new airport will be open soon and i know that emirates also need to use buses too for transferring.
The Flight from Doha to Manchester was 45 Minutes late at departing due to waiting for luggage to arrive from the terminal and when we arrived at Manchester, we landed at 13:20 and i finally got my luggage at 14:50 and missed the train that i was booked on. that was a record for waiting for my baggage.

Overall i rate Qatar and Etihad about the same, I would not look forward to flying with them again, but with Emirates they seem to offer that little bit more, No questions asked if asking for another drink, entertainment is very good with on-board Cameras for when landing.
The reason for trying Qatar and Etihads was due to the points that you earn for the Skywards frequent flyer program and felt conned by Emirates by introducing 50% reduction in miles earned by buying a saver ticket, But i believe that Etihads are now doing the same.

one good thing about Qatar and Etihad, they do some good offers of approx £500 for a return flight to Bangkok.

Malc