Introduction
This trip was 5 months in the making, having made my booking last October after chancing on their ridiculous economy promotion fares (S$400 SIN-BKK-HND return). A very good price, although on a tight connection especially in Suvarnabhumi Airport where we had 1km+ fast walks to the transfer desk, unless one wishes for a stopover in Bangkok.
fyi, the super saver fares are still available ex-SIN to Asia/ME/Europe, and given that the prices are wayy better than what some budget airlines (e.g. Scoot) is offering for a similar flight (SIN-BKK-NRT/SIN-TPE-NRT), Thai is worth giving a shot.

A few whatsapp messages later, it was a confirmed trip as tickets were secured, although a couple of weeks earlier than the main senbonzakura crowds. Little thought was given the the aircraft types since we had to schedule around a few people, although the insistence was to fly to Haneda since it was a more convenient train ride into Tokyo. Naturally, being on TG, we were booked on 773s for both SIN-BKK and BKK-HND sectors. Nothing special there.


Well, first the bemoaning after confirming my tickets when I realised TG was flying their A350s on the SIN-BKK sectors, scheduled till end of Feb'17. What a missed opportunity, I thought. Then the BKK-HND sectors were changed to a 747. There goes my nice seat selection. How much worse can it be? Only better, as the A350 service for SIN-BKK were extended, and hence, this trip report was born (although unintentionally, didn't think that far 2 weeks ago, but seems like a good idea to reminisce my trip). I'm not a flowery narrator, so apologies for boring anyone here, すみません!

6th March 2017
Singapore Changi Airport - Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport
TG410
Aircraft Type: A350-900
Aircraft Registration: HS-THC
Departure: 2112H (GMT +8)
Arrival: 2201H (GMT +7)
Flight Time: 1:49

As usual, I may be running late to the airport as I knocked off from work at 5pm, before rushing home to pick up my baggage and heading to the airport on the other side of this very small island. It's a small island when you have time to spare, but gigantic when in a rush. Picked up my boarding passes, checked in all the way to Haneda on 2 very full flights (I asked, and verified while on the planes but hey, window seats). Turns out I wasn't running late at all in the end, so we ended up idling at DFS (yay whisky tasting!)


Boarding passes for today, checked in all the way to Tokyo. Unlike some other airlines, Thai retains their coloured boarding passes. I approve.


Today's ride for the short flight to BKK, aboard HS-THC. Delivered in Oct 2016, this is Thai's latest plane and still smells new. Their A359 service is currently scheduled for SIN-BKK and SIN-FCO, although I believe there were plans for SIN-MEL scheduled for Oct 2016 previously.


My economy seat for the night. Legroom was not bad, I had 2 small Thai ladies next to me, so at least it was not that bad. Pillow and blanket were both placed on the seat, as opposed to being handed out by the crew pre-departure. Noticed this was not consistent, as on the return flight, blankets were given out on demand.


First impressions - CHECK.
IFE screen - Looks modern, 2 earphone jacks (meant for the airplane connectors, but works with my Sennheiser HD 598), USB charging available.
Variety of flight views available, which was a significant upgrade compared to my previous Thai flight (on their 772 in Jan 2015).
IFE itself - Not a lot of variety, as compared to SQ or EK. They do have Thai-centric movies (naturally), and who won't enjoy a comedy or two? If only they had horror movies..


We are in the skies. Admittedly, I wished I had a better take-off photo, but my only shot turned out blurry and bad. Thus, I can only share this rather grainy photo of the winglet with the Thai logo on it, different from that of their 744 (only purple, no logo). The plane is indeed extremely quiet upon take-off, personally I feel it's quieter than the 787. Then again, my sole 787 experience was on Scoot, so there may be some bias going on here.



The seat. Personally, I dislike the seat leg, it felt extremely obstructive and unnatural. I don't recall it being there on other planes, and admittedly, it bothered me quite a bit. The footrest itself was in an awkward position when let-down. It was as if my legs were resting on an extremely high stool while sitting down, and it was generally an awkward position. After taking this photo, it was promptly stored in it's original position. Again, I don't recall such an awkward footrest on other planes.

In comparison, on the same plane in the return flight, I was seated on the right side of the plane this time (Seat K). The seat leg was not there and I felt it was much roomier instead of hitting the leg every time. And I'm not what most people will call a tall person, so I think it might be an issue for a lot of people. Lesson learnt: fly Thai on the right side if I want a window seat.



Tonight's menu. TG serves a dinner for the SIN-BKK flight and although there were 3 options available, in reality, it was either the prawn or the chicken. There were no physical menus, so you could either find out about the menu through the IFE, or when you are served. You can also search for meals on other flights, based on either destination or by flight number (if you can remember them all!). Admittedly, I wished I could have tried the squid ink pasta, it just sounded so exotic to be having squid ink pasta as an in-flight meal.


Took the healthy yellow noodle option. If I remembered correctly, I had a relook at the menu on the BKK-HND flight, and it reflected the actual menu served i.e. no squid ink pasta, appetiser was changed to tri-colored pasta salad. I don't have an issue with the food, I find food served on TG generally OK. If I have to nitpick, the vegetables were poorly cooked (what I really mean is that it's overcooked and yellowish), and the pasta salad tasted a bit weird. Dessert was a tiramisu cake though, wasn't too dry so it was still acceptable. Washed down my dinner with a G&T (Bombay Sapphire, as compared to Beefeater's on SQ). Didn't like the fact utensils were plastic instead of metal, but that's really just nitpicking and personal preference already.


A closer look at dessert, so guess I actually really liked it, huh. It was honestly pretty good, or perhaps I was just hungry.


Flying into Thailand's airspace. This was probably after trays were cleared, which meant meal service actually went by pretty fast. This was on a full plane, no less. Kudos to the crew.


Kinda regretful that I took so little photos in flight. This shot from the tail cam after landing. This reminds me, they only have 1 angle as opposed to the nose gear cameras on EK. Nonetheless, couldn't see much in the night, so I didn't really play with it on the flight.


Waiting for the aerobridges to connect. I have a short connection, but somehow still more patient than many others on the plane. Wonder how much of a difference it makes, really.
From this shot, there's no air vents on the A350 for Thai, which means one is at the mercy of the pilot. Indeed, I felt the plane was very stuffy and warm at my seat, although my friends remarked that it was actually alright further up in the plane along the aisles. Well, warm and stuffy planes seemed to be a theme as the next sector also featured a very warm plane, to the extent that I was almost sweating in my seat. Curse of the window seats, perhaps?

Final Notes
This marks the end of my A350 flight. I could probably do a BKK-SIN but it will be rather repetitive, so rather than bore the crap out of everyone, I'll end it here. I'll add some photos at the end so we can all enjoy the plane just a little bit more.
If the A350 was a wine, I would say that Thai has a rather good vintage going here. I love the distinctive raccoon-mask feature and the flex on the wings, it just seems impossible for any airline to go wrong with them. For Thai, personally I was glad I didn't get TG-ed. My personal preference would go to the right window seats for one very big reason - there is no obstructive seat leg. It simply made the seat feel a lot roomier and whilst it may be no big deal for a short flight, I would be extremely turned-off if I was flying to Europe or even Australia in that seat. So seat ##K, folks!
Catering wise, I feel that you can't go too wrong with TG in Y. Never had issues with it, but it could just be my easygoing palate in the skies.
If I am to point out a fault, it would be that the A350 has windows that fog up upon landing. Noticed it when landing in both BKK and SIN, resulting in blurry photos that were promptly deleted. Not sure if this was an oversight, or a new feature from Airbus.
For a S$400 flight, getting 2 full meals and a snack on 2 sectors each way definitely was a bargain. Aboard similar redeye flights on SQ/ANA, it will probably be a snack and breakfast, and while you depart slightly later from SIN, arrival to NRT/HND would be around the same time - too damn early! To me, there is simply no reason to fly budget while Thai's promo is ongoing, cheaper than what Scoot can offer, yet offering more. Perhaps the only downside is the rushed transit and extremely, extremely long walk, but one can mitigate this with an early flight into BKK, or a stopover in BKK.
With this, signing off on the A350 sector, and if you're interested, a short write-up on TG 747-400, BKK-HND in Y.

And as promised, more photos of the A350 (and less of my ramblings).

Day shot on the return TG409 sector. If only I could get more up close and personal, perhaps boarding from a remote stand.. You really can recognise a A350 even from the runway with that distinctive raccoon mask.


Shot of the cabin, this time from the right.


Flying into the sunset, that Thai paint job looks good.


Positioning for landing in SIN. Never a welcome sight for SGreans. Not me, at least.


Yet another tail cam shot, whilst waiting for the aerobridge at Changi Airport. Hello Singapore, hello reality once again. Back to the daily grind.