Couldn't agree more. Old Thai Airways used to be unbeatable in my childhood. The meals and services it provided were not at all the same level as now. The food was the best I've ever had in economy class on any Asian airline. They even gave every kid on the plane a Boeing 747 metal model THAI toy airplane when I was a kid. Until the last time, I flew Thai Airways because of the good impression I had of them as a child. I chose Thai Airways to fly from London to Bangkok. The flight from London to Bangkok was an experience that destroyed my childhood memories. Thai Airways is not as good as it was before in every way. Thank you Sam for being so bold, to tell the truth. I hope this video will inspire the management of Thai Airways and hopefully, Thai Airways will become better in the future.

As a Thai, I agree with what you review in this video. Nowadays they need to survive. So everything that used to be premium becomes average. But the staff hospitality is always memorable.

It was correct to point out that Thai’s massive decline is due to bad management. Could have also mentioned epic amounts of corruption! But the Thai crew and staff are usually wonderful and remain so loyal and dedicated. They deserve better and so do the customers who pay very high prices to fly TG!

I flew Thai airways about 4 years ago from Melbourne to Bangkok. I am not a seasoned traveller by any means. But I flew economy and found it to be pretty comfortable with decent room and good service

Hopefully, the airline will be profitable once again and bring back the exceptional Thai hospitality and food. Years ago, I flew my first A380 from CDG to BKK thru Thai Airways. It was unforgettable and a great experience. A FA accompanied me to tour the whole aircraft despite not being a stature of Sam Chui.

Thank you Sam! Love Boeing and Thai hospitality is just as nice! Not their fault changes at the corporate level. And that Tea looked so good!

In Thai airways’ defence, Kuala Lumpur is a very short flight, and the crew actually have to change their uniforms before landing. Given the fact that there’s very little time between the end of service and landing, it would be impractical to change their uniform to the Thai dress during the flight. It’s a stupid rule that only Thai dresses can be worn onboard and at their lounges, essentially they want only people flying Thai to see the beautiful Thai dresses.

Not just Thai Airways, they are all cutting back. Great to see the Flight Attendents still smile and friendly.

Thai Airways used to be one of my most favorite airlines. I took a lot of the flight TG601 from Hong Kong to Bangkok and I love their A380 especially on the business class. The last time I flied with them was in March 2022, still taking the TG601 but there's no more A380.😓

Thai Airways was at its best during the early 90s. The last time I flew with them was way back in 2013 and I was quite shocked to see how bad they had become (food, service by cabin crews, cleanliness etc).

HI Sam, your a master of your craft; there is no one better. I like the generous use of the over-the-wing engine camera-shot, when the product may not have much to offer, well done. Keep it up, Sam. Your the best...

FYI At SVB airport For 787 all series.-8,-9 or even -10. The aero bridge can be connected to the door 1 left only. They say due to the design of the aero bridge here. When the bridge swings from parking position. It is too close to the left engine if the bridge is going to connect to the door 2 left. They don’t want to take any risk hitting the engine while docking. So the bridge will be connected to only door 1 left. Boarding the -10 with full house passengers will take very long time to complete and makes discomfort to the passenger in the front. Every airline suffers from this issue!

Sam I like it when you’re more critical and honest of a airline; you’re almost always very nice but sometimes you do have to point out the deficiencies

Thai Smile will fly to Surabaya from the 1st of February, this is quite interesting since Surabaya-Bangkok route is actually an old route which ever flew by AirAsia Indonesia in 2010s

Though I have flown Thai airways but I grew up reading a lot of their inflight magazines and I really feel in love with the airline,I am so happy to watch this video, thanks a zillion Sam Chui and the lovely crew

I love your reviews, you have had a lot of amazing flight experiences yet you stay humble and reasonable with your reviews. I hope to be able to have some cool travel experiences in the next few years as I have just started commercial flight school!

Sam, I have lived in Thailand for the las 7 years and this typical. I never fly Thai Airways. I have a new outlook when it comes to life in Thailand: Low Expectations. My last Thai Airways flight was in 2013.

Back in the early 80's, I few on one of the new A-300s with Thai. They were awesome back then.

Thanks for the honest opinion Sam. I can see you actually have a lot of love for Thai Airways but I do agree a lot must be quickly improved for the airline's competitiveness and survival.

I remember this day...I was the arrival engineer in KUL..Good to have seen you in person.

Totally agreed with your comment, Sam. I flew on a Thai airways from BKK to ARN last September, 2022. Cabin crew were understaffed. They served only two meals during the entire flight and didn't offer drinks proactively. You had to call cabin crew for the drinks. On board entertainment system didn't work properly and bathroom was not very clean. Hope they will listen to your feedback and improve its services.

Would have liked to have seen a bit of the KL airport interior at the end! Thanks for an informative video. Hope Thai Airways can get better.

Hey Sam, always like your videos, positive and uplifting. Thank you!

It’s always enjoyable to follow your trips everywhere.. keep up the good work!

I'm impressed that Thai Airways and even Thai Smile, the landing of the flight is very very smooth 👍

Regarding the crew uniform for the ladies, you must know that the beautiful and traditional Thai silk dress that the female attendants some wear are only permissible when they are inside the aircraft. When they leave the aircraft they must put on the standard "western" two piece that you see in this video. The latter is the uniform that is recognised by immigration officials worldwide when clearing immigration to enter or exit a country. The reason why the Thai silk dresses are not recognised is because there are too many varieties of these (in order to exhibit the richness of colors and texture). Because there is no standardized color, it cannot be worn as an official female cabin crew uniform. Therefore you only see these worn on longer flights. What happens is that the ladies will wear the official crew uniform to clear immigration and enter the plane. Only when they are inside, do they change into the traditional dresses. Before arriving at the destination, they need to change back into the official uniform before they can deplane and clear immigration. Thus, for short regional flights, it is too time consuming to put on these traditional dresses. I know this because I used to work as a ground services manager in Singapore and if there is a crew change, you'd see the outgoing female attendants requesting to board the plane 15 minutes earlier ahead of the male crew just so that they have time to change into the traditional dresses before passenger start boarding. On a final note, I think Thai also stopped giving each female passenger an orchid when disembarking the aircraft. Cost cutting everywhere is evident, not just at TG.

Hello Sam. Love your channel ! I have flown in and out of Bangkok many times over the years. First Class used to be more than an experience, it was an event ! Arriving from Narita, as I was usually the first to depart the plane, I was greeted at the exit by a man with my name on a sign. Then, the few of us in first class were guided to a large Golf Cart where escorted smoothly the long distance to customs. Such a long way had we had to walk. Then were shown the expedited customs desk which also had a quick carry on baggage check. Then, the same guide took us to our baggage carousel and waited with me for my two large pieces of luggage. He loaded them on a luggage carrier and declined a tip ! Right to the exit with the taxis.. Departure was even more special. The Bangkok taxi took us to the furthest left departure gate. We walked through the First Class greeting and sign in. While we waited, which was only for a few minutes. we were treated to Thai Tea...your favorite ! Then, once sign in was completed, they walked us over to immigration while carrying our carry on bag. Once through , we found the First Class lounge. We had what looked like our own private living room with large screen tv and special ordered breakfast. After it was served, we were guided to the First Class Spa for an amazing spa followed by shower and shampoo. We were notified when it was time to go to the gate, where our A 380 awaited. The seat and accommodation was incredible and so special. There was no waiting for our champagne, nuts and hors d'oeurves. The three point seat belt was comfortable. We were supplied with comfy pajamas and so many extras. Food was amazing, service was so right, the lie flat feature was terrific and, the A380 offers the smoothest airplane ride I have ever experienced. The only competitor in First Class was Cathay Pacific. And, it cost me nothing because I was able to use my United Airline points. How many flights have you taken where it was as good as your experience once you arrived at your destination in Bankok ? It saddens me that the only way to have this experience now is if you hire a private jet and pay an extraordinary cost

Both my flights were canceled late time. They rebooked me via Singapore and back via Manila to Jakarta. Instead of a 3 hour flight one way, it was 9 hours.

Like you Sam I remember TG from those good old days. Sadly it's not only TG where the service standard has dropped, take a look at SQ. My recent experience on several SQ flights revealed a big decline in service standard. 😪

I ❤Thai Airways , they can pass this problems! Missing them a lot and hope to fly with them this year again 🛫

This is very sad, Thai Air were always great! I flew to Thailand with them for so many times over a 20 year period, so I hope they recover and gain back that great reputation. The staff have always been amazing.

My first 747 flight as an avgeek was with Thai back in 2017, flew a 777-200 on the return flight. The economy cabins were indeed a bit dated, so it’s good to see a really up-to-date on on this 787-9. The food was a bit meh, but on my flights, the crew was the standout aspect. One was kind enough to take me to see the 744s upper deck and first class section after landing and I still have the photos after all these years. Thai should be coming out of bankruptcy procreation very soon, here’s to a brighter future for them. Their employees deserve better for sure.

Sorry to hear your flight experience wasn't great! Take your point on the management bit although airlines are extremely complex businesses to run - even good management teams sometimes struggle. Surely your next flight will be better, Sam☺

Love this channel. I rarely hear a critics from the AMBASSADOR OF FREEDOM 🏆🏆🏆🎖🎖🎖. KEEP THESE WONDERFUL VIDEOS COMING SAM 👏👏👏

great video with great background music not played to loud,,great thai airline crew as always hope to see them back on their feet asap

Sam you said it right. What I remember is Thai airlines used to be one of the top notch airlines from Asia. It used to be very hospitable and reasonable in old days.

My last experience with Thai airways from Munich to Bangkok in July 22 was horrible. The Shrimp salad gave me a horrible food poisoning. My 2 hours layover on my way to Melbourne turned to 2 days sleeping in a hotel and seeing doctors frequently. I had to fight staff to get a replacement flight and accomodation for their fault.

Love the fact you've always loved Thai Airways ❤️

so nice to see you again sam , you really make great videos , they are really enjoying , I hope you enjoying your journeys

Back in 2014 I went on Thai Airways 747 Sydney to Bangkok to London, I loved it. ❤

The exterior of the terminal at Suvarnabhumi airport reminds me of the Emirates terminal at Dubai

I used to fly Thai Airways long haul regularly back in the late 80s/90s, connecting from HK to BKK and then LHR. They were excellent in both business and economy classes. Then they went downhill in the 00s and I stopped flying them. I last took a Thai Airways flight in 2013 and it was just not good enough. I then switched to Emirates and have stuck with them. Much better.

This is wonderful, Sam. I - like you - used to love flying Thai from Sydney to Bangkok, so many times. The Queen Of The Skies of course, ruled. Thank you, Sam McNally, Australia.

Yeah my last Thai trip, lounge was closed, flight was expensive and completely full with dozens or planes parked in Bangkok Airport. Disappointing experience vs the last 15 years flying business with them.

Was on this flight to and fro KL to BKK over the Christmas period and I felt a bit let down by the service....this was a connecting flight to Zurich. On the long haul it wasn't any better either.... certainly a tad below the pre-pandemic days. Not only that, wasn't spared the notorious delay, last minute gate change that had us walking from one end of the airport to the other end.....and aircraft change.....

I went to Thailand last May and booked Direct there (Phuket) and back to London. Not long before it was time to go home, Thai Airways changed my flight and I had to stop in Bangkok before flying back to the UK.

That shrimp fried rice look great! Not to mention the lounge food, looked awesome!

I'll be flying on a Thai Airways flight 777-300ER from Sydney to Bangkok. It'll be the first Thai Airways flight in just about over a decade (last time was one of their old 747-400s) and my first intl flight since 2018. This is some great insight on what to expect for next week. And I do agree, it still looks tragic seeing lots of their planes grounded on the midfield. Hopefully business starts picking up for these airlines soon.

Sam you arent alone i left bangkok yesterday and there were heaps of planes parked :( hopefully thai can come back strong!

Welcome to Kuala Lumpur, Sam. How I wish if I, by chance, meet you at the airport. ☺️ Hope you enjoy your stay in Malaysia, and all the food here. Being on Thai Airways flight for quite a number of times, Thai Airways is rather disappointing. The glory time isn't there anymore. Hope to see they show improvements in the near future. And I can't agree more on your statement, "notorious on aircraft swap at the last minute" that's so true!

Between 2009 and 2012, I've flown their 747-400s on almost all of my flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (the morning flight was a busy flight), and even got to sit in their First Class nose sections on these flights as a Business Class ticket holder. Their service, even on these domestic runs, was amazing. My last time on their 747-400 was in March 2017 from Chiang Mai to Bangkok also in the nose section, and it was on their newest First Class cabin they had on their 747s before they were all parked. I've also flown in the 747-400 Upper Deck Business Class on a roundtrip from Frankfurt to Bangkok back in 2011. Their A380 Business Class seat is one my favorite Business Class seats I've flown on.

I always fly Thai Airways and love it. The Service is great and the staff is the best. I will fly Thai Airways today over any other. I fly the Bangkok Jakarta A350 fairly often. It's not as nice as the 787, but still very nice. Over all I am on Thai airways about 3 or 4 times a month. Its a great airline.

Sam: "Everything about your airline is awful now." Flight attendant: "Thank you so much!"

Hi Sam, I'm new on this channel. I like your videos very much and I feel you are a really kind person. Regards from 🇨🇭

Hello Sam! Nice video! I wondered how some of the klm boeing 747’s went at JetOneX. If possible, I think it would be great if you could take a look there. I can find very little information or videos about it myself! I've seen a lot of unique videos from you that can't be found anywhere else, so keep it up! Nice day.

As a Thai and aircraft enthusiast. I still like Thai Airways. But I do understand the downfall they had during Covid-19 outbreak and internal issues (from inefficient aircrafts, engine problems and management) Hope that we are back to Skytrax top ten some day

We nearly crossed paths at the BKK Thai lounge; however, when we were there (Monday evening - five days ago) the lounge was absolutely packed! We left. Our overnight A330 Tokyo flight was, as you said, far from the previous brilliant experiences we were use too with Thai Airways biz class. So I guess it’s not just your one flight. Additionally, we flew three Thai Smile flights in prior weeks, some in Thai Smile Plus and it should be noted that for a regional airline, they were better than others in SE Asia (even if we didn’t earn UA miles 😂).

Sam. Where ever you go, I will follow you! ... This is my oath. You are the baseline for the perfectionist aviation journalist. Long Live!

Great flight review once again.

Currently, Thai Airways brings less than 50 aircraft to serve, sometimes there will always be a problem with flight delays. It will soon be able to bring the rest of the aircraft back into service for sure. I also want to pray that Thai Airways can be restored to become one of the top airlines in Asia as well.

This airline scammed me back in Nov by oversold ticket, refused boarding, refused to refund, refused to give refusal doc, even refused to let me talk to their supervisor over the counter.

Love your video especially like you said. You cannot sum it up because only a flight after the worst situation. Hope Thai Airways gets the game up.

Glad to see you Sam at Thai Airways I like to see the "purple"old livery from Thai Airways.Sadly Thai Airways is not what it used to be..

I think some flag carriers in Asia suffered a lot during pandemic plus mismanagement as well. Garuda Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways are the most impacted.

Thai Airways have suffered Turbulent times recently. It's really sad but back in 2005 I thought i'd flown with the Worlds best airline , It seems now the likes of Qatar and Emirates are now a World Class choice and, You even get a stop over from London ! Great Work Sam 🙏🙏 SAWADEE KAB 🙏🙏

ADORABLE crew. I pray for better times for Thai.

My only experience with Thai Airlines was in the mid 70s as a high school student. The flight attendant addressed and served me as I was someone special. I still remember that as well as the asparagus wrapped in ham meal I ate, it was so tender and delicious. In the same time period when flying on TWA, I was told to “hurry up” in a snarly way by a FA. I wasn't sad when TWA went out of business.

Been watching you for 2 years love the content keep up the good work

The good thing about Sam's reviews is that he is very balanced. Unlike other channels that review airlines.

Great video

Thank you Sam always for your video

Sam, i flew business class a month ago from Sydney to BKK return, i used to fly Thai 1st however not currently offered from Sydney. Not what it used to be and im looking at going through Singapore in the future. Great Review

9:15 The only non-flat bed aircrafts in the current fleet is 777-200ER. There are 6 of them and they are used only on regional flight (mostly to India). The rest are all offering full flat bed in Business class (777-300ER, 787-8, 787-9, A350-900, retrofitted A330-300). Actually, this is better than the airline that Sam always praise like Emirates where there are 100+ 777-300ER with angled lie flat bed flying around.

I first flew Thai airways back in 2007 from kathmandu (tia) to bkk and from bkk to New York (jfk). My flight from ktm to bkk was on a Boeing 777 and from bkk to NY (jfk) was on airbus a340. Though I flew economy, the things that were given in flight was top Notch. A few years later (I guess it was after 2013) I had shifted to Thailand and took Thai airways from ktm to bkk. For some reason, I did feel the service of Thai airlines wasn't good. I actually preferred Nepal airlines service better (though they were still using the b 757 combi) back then. I must say, I was very lucky to fly over the north pole.

Always a pleasure to follow you on a flight, Thank's. Oh, this year is the 120:th anniversary of the Wright brothers first engine driven flight. Duration: 12 seconds.

Amazing plane spotting mate. Lovely catch!

Thai Airways always had such a sophisticated image, it’s so sad to see it hitting tough times, the staff are lovely it’s such a shame and they always had such a major presence at BKK Airport. I missed out on a final 747 flight SYD-BKK which was a shame. I thought their livery looked like a giant lollipop 😊

Sam - good to see you get back to honest balanced reviews. The customer experience for normal people isn't great and the airlines standards are slipping all across the board. Granted they are not helped by ridiculous legislation and costs being imposed on them.

Thai Airways is one of my favorite airlines . All these years, I had great experience on flight from KUL to BKK. I know there were so many unhappy cases in the past 3 years. I wish situation will be improve for everyone of us.

Just had a flight from Singapore to BKK. Once up in the air, the announcement said no earphones were on board. Feel sad for an airline one time was so good. Hope they can get their act together soon.

i just want to point out many inaccuracies with this video. 1) Thai Airways has NOT retired their A330 fleet, it wasn't publicly announced and they are used on Asian routes to Japan and Korea. The older 777s are still used occasionally on routes to the Indian sub-continent and sometimes European routes. 2) When Sam mentions the bit about the "aircraft cemetery", most of those aircraft have been sold to buyers and they will be in use shortly with other operators. 3) Only the senior cabin crew will wear the Thai traditional dress, this applies for long haul flights as well. 4) There are printed menus, newspapers and magazines on longer routes. 5) Thai Airways does still fly domestically. 6) Sam, just because you don't listen, doesn't mean something is unclear. Thai Airways states clearly in their boarding announcement that masks are NOT mandatory on flights, but they are strongly encouraged.

They are definitely struggling. Flew 3 times with them and more misses than hits. I try to avoid them on any of my flight segments. They do have some new planes with a new First and Business class that I got to try. But the service and offerings were a bit lacking even on the new plane. The other planes I flew in were really worn and dirty as well. I flew HKT>LHR, BKK>LHR, NRT>BKK.

Sam i can see you greying a bit here..well it happens to the best of us..have fun..and more flights to look forward too.thanks 😊

@ 10:30 Very true and yes plus mismanagement etc…and with regards to late departure, I took many flights in 2022 (Departures from Europe) and Not One flight took off on time, we all still need to be patient as things hopefully get more and more back to normal

Hello Sam! I am from Thailand and live in Thailand when I was younger Thai Airways was a amazing airline but now my family avoid using it. It's just too old now.

Thai Airways have lots more to improve as the Airline is indebted and reconstructed from Bankruptcy. Hopefully with the new management. Thai Airways will be back on the Top Tenth best airline soon. Thai Airways hopes to get back onto stocks market exchange as earlier or later in 2027.

Like you, I am so sad at the decline and hope they can sort themselves out 🙏

Another great video sam Cheers

Unfortunately, Thailand has bigger problems than Thai Airways at the moment. Hoping for a brighter future for both Thailand AND the airlines.

Flew to Bangkok - Paris - Bangkok frequently, FYI the menus are given to passengers (smaller version indeed and no wine list yet). Cabin crews in First and Business class are wearing the traditional Thai dress. The food quality of the food and the portion especially from Paris were excellent. Yes, TG have experience financial issues and they are try the best to improve their standards.

Flew with Thai airways last December going to Singapore, not a pleasant experience though. Both flights out/in were both delayed by 4 hours.

I love how positive attitude is the crew!

About to leave Bangkok now!

Thanks for your honesty Sam. I do trust your reviews to show the reality as it is. By the way, I would have flown Air Asia to KL. The only difference is that Air Asia uses Klia2 and Thai Klia1. Thai is no longer up to the task of being a premium airline

i loved thai airways when they use to fly the 747 domestically from Phuket to Bangkok vice a versa

Thanks for sharing very informative video and excellent photography congratulations 👌

very luxury

Sir, good evening from India Mumbai i fly on the same route from Bangkok to Kaula Lumpur in 2016/17 with my wife flight no TG 415 Aircraft 777-300 19th November 2016 Dep: 8:45 Arr: 11:45 duration 2:10. I came to Bangkok Thailand by Thai Airways than went to Malaysia returned back to Bangkok and finally back to Mumbai by Thai Airways. Very nice experience i had no issue at the airport in Suvarnabhumi International Airport & in Malaysia KUL. Peaceful journey it was 🤣 I still remember the staff of Thai Airways and Crews. Good Experience.. yes, good content in your this video almost most of the flight in the world due to COVID they have to cut off the expenses for unwanted services to manage their balance sheet.

I'm thinking about flying TG business class in a few months from now, possibly from KUL. One of the shocking things I discovered was that they don't offer lounge access there for business class passengers any longer. And yet their fare is much higher than Malaysia Airlines'.

Thank you Sam . Great video