Oh Thai, Why oh Why....

Old Apr 13, 2013, 3:08 am
  #1  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
Oh Thai, Why oh Why....

We flew out of BKK yesterday during what could possibly be the busiest day I can remember. Row B did not have a single aisle open when we walked in and most aisles had lines. We stepped up and the agent took our passports without uttering a word.

After a few minutes at the keyboard the best the agent could utter in handing my wife's documents back was, 'This is for her.' Or, 'Give this to her'. Finally to me he said, 'Here you go' with obvious overtones of loathing.

Are you kidding me?

The flight to SIN was equally pathetic. For a 2:20 blocked flight we saw C cabin crew serve exactly 3 times. During a 20min stretch of turbulence, enough for the seatbelt sign to come on, FAs could be seen walking around in front of the curtains but they never came into the cabin resulting in the main course being served some 35 minutes after the appetizer was put out.

At one point I asked for a drink refill and this was accomplished 15 minutes later when the cart came through. I can say that this was, bar one experience, the worst crew I've dealt with.

[/rant]

Kudos where it is due: The shoulder massage was the one of the best I've had... and I find the masseurs to be excellent.

Sawadee pii mai krap
dsquared37 is offline  
Old Apr 13, 2013, 4:28 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Portland OR & Bangkok
Programs: United GS, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 662
Curious - what was your response to the rude check in agent?
kittiyut is offline  
Old Apr 13, 2013, 2:24 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Programs: SQ AA TK
Posts: 1,438
The crew does sound like the ones I got on SIN-BKK last Dec in C. Was even served my main in a economy style tin container. Drinks were only offered once from the trolley and the empty cup conveniently ignored until landing. Crew seemed busy hanging around the empty F section. (A380 flight)
dfs24 is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2013, 12:15 am
  #4  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK & Phuket
Programs: TG Plat
Posts: 314
I think we have all had this crew one time but I have never had a really bad check-in. Maybe she drew he short straw for all of Songkran working?

I had a great crew LHR-BKK in C on Friday, just a shame my IFE on a newly re-fitted 747 did not work.

My only complaint and this would apply to all crews on long-haul is would they please serve us a drink then attend to snack and meal preperation (which is their reason for the slow service when asked), it is normally 30 minutes plus from seats belts off before we see the drink trolley and this is also true in F. You get a drink quicker in Y.
andyptrav is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2013, 1:26 am
  #5  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Singapore
Programs: TG Platinum, SQ Gold, Gold - you're indestructable...
Posts: 433
Originally Posted by dsquared37
We flew out of BKK yesterday during what could possibly be the busiest day I can remember. Row B did not have a single aisle open when we walked in and most aisles had lines. We stepped up and the agent took our passports without uttering a word.

After a few minutes at the keyboard the best the agent could utter in handing my wife's documents back was, 'This is for her.' Or, 'Give this to her'. Finally to me he said, 'Here you go' with obvious overtones of loathing.

Are you kidding me?

The flight to SIN was equally pathetic. For a 2:20 blocked flight we saw C cabin crew serve exactly 3 times. During a 20min stretch of turbulence, enough for the seatbelt sign to come on, FAs could be seen walking around in front of the curtains but they never came into the cabin resulting in the main course being served some 35 minutes after the appetizer was put out.

At one point I asked for a drink refill and this was accomplished 15 minutes later when the cart came through. I can say that this was, bar one experience, the worst crew I've dealt with.

[/rant]

Kudos where it is due: The shoulder massage was the one of the best I've had... and I find the masseurs to be excellent.

Sawadee pii mai krap
Sounds like a bad crew on the ground and in the air. Rare I have to believe: I tend to get one or the other (especially ground crew sucking a bit recently out of Singapore).

I just had a great flight up from SIN-BKK on the Jet 773, with good service and great food. This flight is catered out of Bangkok, so the fish with basil and chilli was excellent. As were the full cans of Perrier being thrown liberally around...

Sawatdee bee mai chengan krub.
aislealways is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2013, 12:51 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NE & SE Asia, N America
Programs: TG ROP Gold, Lifetime OZ Diamond Plus, BA Gold
Posts: 3,105
I'm wondering if a lot of TG workers simply didn't want to be working, but rather enjoying the Songkran holidays, and it ended up showing in the performance of a few of them. I also had a flight over the weekend, and experienced the rudest TG employee I've ever encountered. The problem employee was an FA aboard a flight I was on, and she was going through the cabin handing out arrival forms. One passenger seated at the window was talking to her friend, and when the FA had gone past her by two rows, her friend must have alerted her, and she then asked the FA for the arrival form. The FA snapped back, "I already asked you if needed a form.", which wasn't totally correct as she was just walking through the aisle saying, "arrival forms" every so often, and didn't specifically ask the woman in question. After standing there with a scowl on her face for a few seconds, she finally took a few steps back to give the passenger the form. The flight load was very light, so it wasn't like she had a lot of work to do.

I almost felt like saying something, or putting in a complaint. But it wasn't me who was involved, and I just figured maybe she was having a bad day and it wasn't worth trying to get her in trouble if that was the case.

On a different note, had the worst (or at least one of the worst) TG meals ever. A chicken salad with absolutely awful wilted lettuce, and horrible tasting chicken which was 99% fried coating and 1% meat. It looked so awful I wasn't really even interested in trying it, but did just to confirm it tasted as bad as it looked. Again, I shrugged it off to perhaps being regular workers had the holidays off and someone prepared the food that didn't know what they were doing, or there was a difficulty in getting the proper meal from a supplier.

On the flight with the FA with an attitude, the other FA's were fine, as were the FA's on a second flight I took over the weekend, and the food on that flight was also fine.

I also dined at a restaurant over the weekend and had horrible service, and most all of the workers in the restaurant were too busy throwing water on each other and other playful activities among themselves to even be bothered to do their job. They were screaming, running around the restaurant while the customers just looked on with their mouths open at how the manager could allow such nonsense. So it seems the problems with workers wasn't related only to TG. It was my first, and I think last Songkran I'll spend in Thailand. Maybe I'm just getting too old to have to put up with it all.
A_Lee is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2013, 1:37 am
  #7  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: UA GS>1K>Nothing; DL PM 2MM; AS 75K>Nothing>MVP
Posts: 9,337
Did BKK-NRT in F on the 380 today. Very pleasant no complaints, except had anyone else noticed the have poor screens for the IFE system. Very dark!
5khours is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2013, 2:59 am
  #8  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Melbourne/Bangkok
Programs: A3*G, QF PLATINUM, BA GOLD, VA GOLD, HH DIAMOND
Posts: 2,245
the next time i get served a meal in a foil container in J I am going to refuse to eat it and I won't leave the airport until I speak to someone senior (if arriving in BKK).

It's atrocious to hear this again mentioned by dfs24.

I might have made a comment to the check-in agent dsquared, no excuse for that kind of poor service.
Aussie_flyer is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2013, 9:07 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Singapore
Programs: TG Platinum, SQ Gold, Gold - you're indestructable...
Posts: 433
Originally Posted by Aussie_flyer
the next time i get served a meal in a foil container in J I am going to refuse to eat it and I won't leave the airport until I speak to someone senior (if arriving in BKK).

It's atrocious to hear this again mentioned by dfs24.

I might have made a comment to the check-in agent dsquared, no excuse for that kind of poor service.

I've had two meals in J on SIN-BKK in foil, but it's been fried fish with basil and chilli and quite delicious...
aislealways is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2013, 9:46 am
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Programs: SQ AA TK
Posts: 1,438
Originally Posted by Aussie_flyer
the next time i get served a meal in a foil container in J I am going to refuse to eat it and I won't leave the airport until I speak to someone senior (if arriving in BKK).

It's atrocious to hear this again mentioned by dfs24.

I might have made a comment to the check-in agent dsquared, no excuse for that kind of poor service.
You got the tin foil treatment also? On what route?

I fly C for the seat, so am not particularly bothered. I fly almost weekly so complaining gets tiring. To date, I've been quite lucky with the TG aircraft lottery, but not so with the crew lottery.

I don't bother with TG anymore. For me, MH though also inconsistent, it is more consistent than TG, so MH is the preferred 2nd tier carrier. If I expect good service, I shell out for SQ, else I just fly with low expectations. I'm probably one of the easiest C class passenger. Functioning seat and punctual flights and I'm happy.
dfs24 is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2013, 11:47 pm
  #11  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Melbourne/Bangkok
Programs: A3*G, QF PLATINUM, BA GOLD, VA GOLD, HH DIAMOND
Posts: 2,245
Originally Posted by dfs24
You got the tin foil treatment also? On what route?

I fly C for the seat, so am not particularly bothered. I fly almost weekly so complaining gets tiring. To date, I've been quite lucky with the TG aircraft lottery, but not so with the crew lottery.

I don't bother with TG anymore. For me, MH though also inconsistent, it is more consistent than TG, so MH is the preferred 2nd tier carrier. If I expect good service, I shell out for SQ, else I just fly with low expectations. I'm probably one of the easiest C class passenger. Functioning seat and punctual flights and I'm happy.
Myself and a friend have had it on BKK-MEL on separate occasions.
Aussie_flyer is offline  
Old Apr 18, 2013, 4:49 am
  #12  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
Apologies for the delayed return; we've been inundated with family activities.

Originally Posted by kittiyut
Curious - what was your response to the rude check in agent?
My wife simply shrugged it off and walked toward security/immigration while I attempted to speak with an agent who appeared to oversee the checkin area. After waiting about a minute for her to finish her walkie talkie conversation (without once acknowledging my presence) she listened to my quick review, smirked, said something inaudible and walked toward the counters. At this point I dropped it.

Originally Posted by dfs24
The crew does sound like the ones I got on SIN-BKK last Dec in C. Was even served my main in a economy style tin container. Drinks were only offered once from the trolley and the empty cup conveniently ignored until landing. Crew seemed busy hanging around the empty F section. (A380 flight)
Drinks were only offered from the cart by this crew as well.

Originally Posted by andyptrav
My only complaint and this would apply to all crews on long-haul is would they please serve us a drink then attend to snack and meal preperation (which is their reason for the slow service when asked), it is normally 30 minutes plus from seats belts off before we see the drink trolley and this is also true in F. You get a drink quicker in Y.
This is typically my biggest gripe; upon takeoff that salt and preservative laden snack package is not my first desire.

Originally Posted by aislealways
Sounds like a bad crew on the ground and in the air. Rare I have to believe: I tend to get one or the other (especially ground crew sucking a bit recently out of Singapore).
I agree my experience is not the norm but I found it rather annoying all the same. At least we laughed when remembering a flight from a few years ago with an equally deficient crew: my wife was told quite perjoratively, when she asked for mama, 'I'm sorry, we only have that on big planes' (we were on a 772).
dsquared37 is offline  
Old Apr 18, 2013, 4:50 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: HHon Diamond, IHG Plat, SPG Gold, TG Gold, QR Plat, OZ Gold, AF Silver, Hertz #1 Gold, Priority Pass
Posts: 447
Did HKG - BKK on 12th Apr in C on the 747 lower deck, just before the closet. FA kept opening and banging the door into my seat with no remorse. FA and Purser (female in her 50s, male in his 50s) began chatting loudly in the aisle next to my seat with a half full cabin.

Full and drinks service was fine, except when FA spent a significant amount of time standing in front of my IFE screen to pour drinks for the window seated guest.

Service to the TIP seated a row in front seemed to be done with the Thai Smile though.
EzzerBKK is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.