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Flight Review: Thai Airways – Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok

July 18, 2018 By James Clark

Flight Review: Thai Airways – Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok

Flight: Thai Airways TG 551
From: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) To: Bangkok (BKK)

I flew with Thai Airways from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok. There are numerous airlines flying this route, so I compared airlines with Skyscanner to find the best option.

Skyscanner

At the time of booking the airline options included Thai AirAsia and Nok Air to Don Muang Airport (DMK), and Thai Airways, Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air, and Jetstar Pacific to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK).

Normally I would just go with one of the low cost airlines as Thai Airways and Vietnam Airlines are usually far more expensive. On this occasion the airfare was $91.60 USD, which was not much more than VietJet and Jetstar at the similar time of day. I like flying with Thai Airways so I was happy to see a cheap flight.

I checked in online to secure my preferred seat, at the airport the queue for online check-in was small.

Thai check in

Flight TG departs at 10.05 and arrives at 11.30. Actual flying time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Gates 15-16

Thai Airways arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Thai at SGN

The flight departed pretty much on time, and then we got stuck on the tarmac for 30 minutes while waiting for a take off slot. SGN airport is getting increasingly overcrowded, and delays are common.

Waiting at SGN

This flight was on an A330-300 aircraft, with seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. I love the colour scheme of Thai Airways seats.

A330-300 cabin

Newspapers in English and Thai are available upon entry.

Newspapers 17 July 2018

Sawasdee – the inflight magazine of Thai Airways.

Sawasdee

There is personal inflight entertainment availabel onboard, though with such a short flight you will barely have time to watch a TV episode, let alone a movie.

Inflight Entertainment

The Thai Airways route map for destinations in Southeast Asia.

Asia route map

A simple lunch service is provided on this flight, with only one choice of meal.

Lunch pack

Todays meal was a fried rice and chicken sausage pack, and a chocolate brownie cake.

Fried rice chicken

Tea and coffee is also served after the meal.

Coffee

Thailand immigration forms are provided onboard.

Immigration card

In addition to departing late from Tan Son Nhat, we also ended up circling around Bangkok for a while before landing.

Circling BKK

A rainy season arrival at BKK Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.

Rainy arrival

Suvarnabhumi is a big airport, and on this day we must have got one of the far gates. The walkways have updates for how far immigration is, and it started at 450 metres. That’s nearly half a kilometre.

Walk to immigration

This is a good flight time as you arrive at Bangkok at midday when it is not so crowded. There were only three people in from of me in the immigration queue. I’ve arrived at BKK to see people spilled out down the hallway, so I was glad to not experience that again.

Baggage claim 9

Overall this was a good flight option to Bangkok or connecting onward flights.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: bangkok, ho chi minh city, thai airways, thailand, vietnam

Welcome to Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

I’m currently based in Vietnam, writing about transport and infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

More about me and Nomadic Notes.

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