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karatecatman · Guest

Thai Airways
MAA-BKK-SYD

It was time again for the annual pilgrimage Down Under to visit family and preparations began in late September. Leave was an issue as usual and the Boss had to be worked upon in stages.

A quick visit to the travel agent and the choices were the same as last time. In the first trip it was Indian Airlines connecting to Qantas (the good’ol A300 linking to the Qantas Jumbo at Changi).

The second trip was SQ all the way – 777 linking to the 747. As the 380 was flying on that trip, was lucky enough to fly back to MAA on SQ’s second A380 and which was just two days old!

This third trip, there were more choices. ; Jet linking to Qantas; Cathay and Thai. Another option the agent said he would work on was to get Emirates which would mean we flew to Dubai and get on the non-stop service. Malaysia was another attraction and one more choice was Air Mauritius and Sri Lankan. The agent wanted us to work fast as fares were climbing fast because of the Christmas rush.
Finally after knocking off the choices, it was a call between Thai and Cathay. Cathay was offering a steal but the problem was it meant a 14-hour transit halt at Hong Kong.

Thai was finally chosen as it would have three aircraft types. The classic A300 and then what the MAA Gang calls the Pencil – the A340-600. Return would be 777-300 linking back to the A300.

***

The bulk of the family left on December 18 in time for the NextGen’s school end functions Down Under. KCM would be flying solo. Boss finally cleared leave with the mandatory long face, probably half expecting to get a call to say that I had emigrated!
Saw the family off on a Friday at MAA, which is the day to be avoided at all costs. Passenger lines flow out of the terminal as there are a bulk of departures.

The days flew past till it was December 29. Had been packing in phases and it was one mad rush with things to be bought. Made sure it conformed to tough Aussie quarantine rules.
Time to leave for the 0025 departure on TG.

December 29, 2009, 7.45 p.m.
Flight: TG 338
Airbus A300-B4-622R (HS-TAN)
(J46+Y201; “Chiang Rai” 18 years)

Left home early as the bag was overweight by 8 kg. Traffic was also an issue. Reached on time and marched into the terminal straightaway. Hung around in the sea of confusion. Expected tight security after the “botched NorthWest/Delta plot” but everything was cool.
Saw some activity around what should be the Thai counters and sped across. Was the first in line! Watched Thai staff place the baggage tags, orchids and carpet out for J pax. Finally the 5 counters opened. Was greeted by ... an Air India staffer.

Had checked earlier with Thai-MAA about an i-check-in but was told that AI’s systems aren’t compatible for that!!!

Was greeted warmly and told that Sydney is a wonderful place!
Told to get a fresh boarding card at BKK though bags would be through checked-in.
After quick immigration with a few questions, time to get to security. Was 2.30 hours ahead of departure at this time and the crowds just kept coming in.
There was 9W, AI, SQ, MH, Lufthansa, UL, EK, Tiger and a very delayed Kuwait.
The shops are a scam at MAA. Usual handicrafts con! Food stalls another rip-off.

Security had more pat downs and noticed one CISF asking all guys in his lane to lift the shirts!
SQ was delayed by 38 minutes as 17 pax were missing, SQ staff made their ‘nth’ final boarding call but to no avail. Finally they found the lost bunch and rushed them across.

Same drama for Tiger and the TR A320 was delayed by 40 minutes. 9W and AI were perfect. Passed the time watching CISF doing checks on UL. Hand baggage was checked inside out and every food item opened and looked into. A firang was making a spectacle of his lady friend on a wheelchair.

Finally, boarding for us. Gate 5. Massive rush and row-wise boarding was tossed to the winds. Fight broke out between ground staff and irate pax as the lines broke. J pax found themselves at the middle as Y surged forward. Finally Thai had to radio to CISF as it was getting a bit out of hand. To make matters worse, a Tamil actor was travelling in J with family and that was adding to the tamasha. Turned out that a Tamil film unit was also on board travelling for ‘a song and dance sequence’ and they wanted priority as well.

Down the aerobridge to the aircraft. More checks on the way and then ... a deep Sawasdee. Thai cabin crew wrapped in purple silk greeted us.

On Board ... the A300.

Old world seat ...but in an aircraft in great condition.

TG has its A300 in top condition and the cabin was a delight. Found my way to the window 15A – its 2x4x2. The men crew were in dark suits.
Settled in and began clicking. TG’s inflight service and map was already working. Looked out and noticed a tired looking Lufthansa A340-300 in the next bay, UL 330, 2 AIXs, one AI A321, 1 9W 738 and the TR A320. UL had gone tech and was flashing its strobes as it was pulled back to the gate.

TG crew played out the Thai ads, handed out the cold towels and newspapers. Some more announcements. Next run was for blankets. Purple Thai blankets. When all had settled down, one TG crew went around handing out the immigration cards and clarified to a dazed desi that it was not a Visa form. The safety video must be mentioned. Its peppy Thai signature tune and demo is on par with SQ, if not better.

Safety card

Cabin view

Cabin view

The vents hissed and time for take-off. Captain on line to cabin crew. The moving map flickered to life. Pushback and the A300-600 began its journey.
Taxi and to active past Reco Spot. Deep rumble from the 2x PW4158s and off ... and as the captain said “over the Bengal Sea”. Lift-off was smoother than the older A300B4s. Over MAA, the sodium vapours soon faded and then darkness.

Dinner ... or an early breakfast? Standard fare.

TG staff immediately rolled out the trolleys. Quite a spread. Soon the aroma of biryani filled the air. Crew were very visible right through and didn’t bunker down into the galley as usual. Water runs were done regularly. A juice/wine round just after dinner.
The IFE was nothing to be talked about. Regional flights are minimal. Community screens that drop down and all huddled around it with “disposable dual-pin” headsets. One more cold towel run.

The A300 rumbled on over thick cloud cover. Soon the time zone diff and the sun was already making hints of an appearance. Onto the mainland and the captain announced that we were 15 minutes away from Suwarnabhoomi.
Grinding and deep thuds. The wheels were down and we descended. Past a United 747 and lots of Air Asia 737s.

Docked in and the scramble began. 3/4ths were terminating at BKK. The Tamil actor’s Sumo wrestler like mom had forgotten something in J and was pushing her way back into the aircraft.
The rest of us were connecting.
Quickly hopped into a restroom.

***

December 30, 2009, 5.25 a.m.
BKK is not exactly Changi and even with the travelators, it’s still quite a walk. Finally made it transfer. Even at 0530, it was a shocker. The queue was like first day for a Harry Potter release. TG staff had not yet reported and when they did at 0540, they too were stunned. Saw one staffer sticking her tongue out seeing the transfers.
Half the bunch on duty seemed clueless and kept looking back to a senior guy for instructions. Constant irritant. A Korean pax had no idea where she was to go to and TG had to call the Korean Embassy for assistance after TG asked half its staff to translate for her and she didn’t understand a word.

Finally as more TG staff reported for duty, the lines were broken up and things began to move fast. Noticed that TG kept asking Manila transfer pax if they had enough money with them.
Didn’t have the time to admire BKK but Suvarnabhumi is massive!!!
Was cleared quick. Requested window again but was told aircraft was completely full and so to forget seat requests. Didn’t bother to look at the boarding card.

Reported to Level C for security. Didn’t have a shoe scan, which all the others had! When I asked staffer about this was told “No need for you sir!”.
And then went to Gate C5. Hand baggage was checked and wished a happy flight. Descended down a stainless steel gangway and to the waiting area.

December 30, 2009, 7.45 a.m.
Flight: TG 451

Through the iron and steel ... the Pencil.

The Pencil was there. And marked the first of triple daily (and packed flights to Sydney.)
It gleamed and the engines looked huge. A lot of cargo in the hold that day. Managed to get a pic through the glass. Noticed 10 more pax from MAA who were on the same flight.
Rest were firangs.
Boarding was announced at 0650 for the 0725 departure.
Disciplined boarding here!

‘J’ on the A346.

The Pencil is another stunning aircraft. Rich colours. Went past J and then into Y.
Only then noticed that I had got 42K. Window again! No pax next to me ... but right behind were the lav modules!
Again 2x4x2.

On the A346 ... flight path.

Safety card

IFE was not much of an upgrade. 10’ screen. No USB. Again “disposable dual pin headsets”.
Seat pocket, as on the MAA flight, had Dutyfree, magazine, airsickness and safety card.

Heavy rain.

Would the weather gods help? ... but great view of the Thai 747.

Boarding was over quickly and could hardly see much out of the window. Thick clouds were releasing fat raindrops. We were 12 deep in the midst of 747s and A330s. Behind too were 330s.
Appreciated the beauty of a Thai 747 next door. Crew member came around with the headsets and then followed by a cold towel run.

Flightdeck announced departure in 25 minutes. Most had already removed the blankets and were wrapped up.
Pulled out the footrest/massager.
Towels were collected. Looked around and there seemed to be just 5 seats vacant.

Firang wasn’t happy with his seat down the aircraft and crew offered him the vacant seat next to me. An exchange of glares and he backed off.
IFE was already working and had a choice of Thai as well. Other than that, the usual works though the business channel had the sign “To Come Soon”.
Moving map was basic with zoom facility.

Time for pushback.
It began and then stopped. Noticed ground crew many feet below frantically signalling and then radioing. The tug resumed after 15 minutes. The rain was pelting down.
The engines rumbled to life and sounded deep. We began a slow taxi, past the traffic that was piling in. Qatar, UL, Cathay ... all widebodies. More Thai. Then Air China.

Air India A321

Kingfisher

Then the narrowbody show. Spotted 2 9W 737s and looked back to find VT-PPE, the Air India A321. Past a row of Thai aircraft and then the Cargo area. Air China was out in full strength. There were 2 all-white 747-400s with their strobes on. No sign anywhere else.
Then, a huge surprise. The Kingfisher 727. Mallya in town?!

The Pencil must have burnt off a tonne of fuel as the roll from pushback to active took 48 minutes. There was a long hold behind traffic just before active. That’s when we spotted an Afghan aircraft in what looked like a modified Ariana scheme.

***

We got to active and the fans growled. The Pencil surged with the power as the roar filled in cabin from the 4x RR Trent 556A2-61s. Powerful acceleration as we soared. After the hairdryers on the A343, this was awesome. We cut through the rain and shot off like a rocket. The wings flexed as it got lift and we were off.

Superb and powerful lift-off and ...

... Soaring

It cut through the clouds as we began a sharp ascent, then a sharp bank to the right after 4 minutes an d then further ascent. The cumulous clouds were a massive blanket and we soared above it. Soon we were riding far above the cloud blanket and the sun made its sharp appearance.
A real contrast to the lousy weather gripping the region.
The crew made another quick cold towel run before getting ready for breakfast. It was to be a 9.40 minute journey Down Under.
The map showed us slowly inching towards Cambodia.

The crew then got ready and handed out the special meal requests. It appeared that MAA had bungled with mine and I settled down for the printed menu card.
Fears of being caught between smelly lavs on all sides all the way were dispelled as the crew sprayed an orange citrus smelling liquid into the lavs at frequent intervals.
The trolleys rolled out and the food service began.

IFE

Mix-up at meal time ... many parts of it became part of the new meal.

An error! Opened the casserole and turned out to be meatica exotica!
Waited for a while till all the trays had been handed out and had a word with the crew who jumped into action. Something was quickly done in the galley and got what was worth two normal meal trays. After that was plied with juices and dessert!
Enjoyed the pampering.

The sun was now sharp and the crew made it clear that the shades would have to be down. Gentle Thai persuasion, that can be seen in the Thai ads. Unlike robotic SQ!
The shade behind me was also drawn.

But curiosity gets the better of the cat (!) and had a sneak. Noticed a Dubai-like city. We were over Brunei and then making our way across the dense jungles of Indonesia/Sumatra.
Time to explore the IFE.
After an hour of audio and video, it was game time. Chinese Checkers! Maybe the moves were too strategic ... for the system hung. Frantic waiting and then touchscreen was abandoned. Attacked the handcontrol and that seemed to do the trick. The system started to reboot after a minute.

Rebooting

Must have dozed off at this point in the cozy seat after lifting the handrest and spreading out. For 4 hours had passed. Woke up with a start, startled by the vacuum hiss of the lav behind.
The crew meanwhile were carrying out another water run.
The lights came on again.
Snack round. “Crispies” which were “poppadams”/Fryums.

Over Australia ... cloud and the sun

Looked out ... and we were inching across Darwin. Dense clouds again and the weather map showed it to be a huge cloud patch/low pressure across Indonesia-Australia. This meant that Oz landscape gazing was out. We began a gentle climb and reached 37,500 ft now, highest level in the flight.
Seem to have dozed off again and woke up hearing loud chitchat in the rows behind the lavs.

Two hours left. The carts rolled out again. Second meal. More exotic than the first and the crew took more care. More pampering and many enquiries on whether the special meal was fine! At this point the seatbelt signs came on and the captain said there would be a rollercoaster for about 20 minutes.

The engines fought the turbulence and the Pencil charged into the clouds. But the luggage bins began their creaking and groaning. Seemed to be quite tough!
Crew quickly stopped meal service and began collecting some of the trays.
We rode out of that one soon enough and the clinking of metal cutlery filled the cabin. Juice/wine run.
Trays were collected after 30 minutes. Another water run. We gained lost time and the Captain said we would be arriving before time thanks to generous tailwind.

Chinese Checkers once again got the better of the system and it froze permanently. Quickly switched on the unit in the next seat and watched sideways! Sri Lankan family across the aisle was wondering what was going on.
Twilight and then darkness. The shades began to go up and the crew handed out the immigration cards. Made an entry in the column for wanting a quarantine check.
One passenger from MAA was continuing further on --- to Christchurch!

Quarantine ahead

Thai cut off the IFE to play out Australian quarantine rules and videos of people being fined on all te screens.
One more juice run after this and the crew checked on all of us.
Forty minutes into Sydney said the screens.
Descent began after 24 minutes and the lady co-pilot hoped we had a pleasant flight.

***

The moon was out and managed to get a few wing shots of that. Still more cloud cover. The lights of NSW began to emerge as we cleared the cloud base.
Soon ... Finals.
Unlike last trip’s narrow escape when the SQ 747 captain had to do 3 go-arounds, narrowly missed a wing scrape and then cleaned out a few runway lights on landing, which resulted in emergency surrounding the aircraft after it halted, this was different.

Touchdown

Thai lived up to its name of being “As Smooth as Silk”.
It was like ABV – Auto Brake and Vacate. We glided down and a dual bump. Then a firm deceleration that was stunning. Half expected to roll till the end but we must have stopped in the first quarter. Past Cathay A330, Qantas’s 747s and then an EK A380 before docking right next to an SQ 747.

Next to SQ

Pleasant goodbyes from a splendid crew. We filed out in order, well fed and looked after.
After deboarding, had a quick look from the narrow aerobridge at “Chon Buri” (HS-TNB; Airbus A340-642; F8+JC60+Y199; 4.5 years) proudly sporting its gold paint logo of “60th Year of the King’s Ascension” on the entire front door. Couldn’t take a pic as the crowd was right behind.

***

December 30, 2009, 8.25 p.m.
Immigration was pleasant ... and over quickly with Australia immigration fanning out people and maintaining line progress. Baggage took 25 minutes by which time the Thai crew had joined the line. Australia customs then brought out their star Beagle “Cindy” and asked all pax to step back from the carousel and leave all bags. The dog sniffed all bags. Stopped at one and wagged its tail. Man was made to open his bag and food items and some banned substance were pulled out. Was warned severely, fined heavily on the spot with an entry made in the system with many queries on why he had “mis-declared in the form”.
Went to quarantine, --- wood articles in bag but noticed that all passengers were being scanned. Family from Bangladesh had about a tonne of food items being examined and Quarantine was having a tough time over the deciding over the lentils.
Had bag x-rayed and the wood articles checked separately.
Wished a nice stay and out of Kingsfordsmith after 52 minutes.
Huge welcome by family and off home!

***
(To be continued)

con spirito · Member Joined: 07 Apr 2007 Posts: 577 Location: Inflight

This explains why you were offline for a couple of days! Nice TR of the pencil though.
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me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Luvly TR KCM!!
Amazing shots, especially the wing view shots from the 'PENCIL'!!.
I just have a couple of questions-
> Has anything been done or is being done in MAA's intl terminal??
> Which are the other TG A300 operated Indian dest??
Have fun in Sydney!!

Cheers
me111993
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AirIndia0001 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391

Great read.... and splendid shots. Enjoy your vacations. Very Happy

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Geat Report liked the way you refer to the aircraft as "Pencil"

"Unlike last trip’s narrow escape when the SQ 747 captain had to do 3 go-arounds, narrowly missed a wing scrape and then cleaned out a few runway lights on landing, which resulted in emergency surrounding the aircraft after it halted, this was different."

Can you elaborate why SQ 747 had to do 3 go rounds? Was it weather related or aircraft issue?

Look forward to Part 2.

Sri_Bom

77wfan · Member Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 21

Great read!
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Aiel · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 927 Location: Bangalore

Nice TR and pics!
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:03 pm Post subject:

Good one there, KCM! But those A300s don't look too inviting.

Can you explain how that UL option to SYD works?
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avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Nice TR KCM, Hope you enjoyed your flights!

How was your experience at the BKK airport? Has the "uneven" cooling got any better?

rutvij · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:25 pm Post subject:

That A300 looks (unbelievably!) well maintained. Lovley TR.

Nimish · Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:16 pm Post subject:

Great TR and one of my favorite airlines! The A300 may be ancient, but TG does such a good job on the interiors, it's always a pleasure to fly. Plus the loo at the end of the a/c is really unique...
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karatecatman · Guest

Thanks!!!

Still in Ozland!

***

@me111993

leigh0180 · Member Joined: 20 Jan 2010 Posts: 4

I love Thai Airways, I enjoy flying with them because it's cheap and I feel really comfy.
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