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Munich Franz Josef Strauß Airport

I headed to the FTL Lounge at the Schengen part of the Lufthansa Terminal at Munich. I had phoned rcs85551 and we decided to meet at the airport for a quick dinner at the “Airbräu Restaurant” in the afternoon and I did not want to pass security and customs twice, so I remained in this FTL Lounge. In Munich you have to pass security if you are transferring form Schengen to the Non-Schengen Area and vice versa. The lounge was full, but became less crowded after half an hour and I was able to get a lounge chair in the rear part, were sockets are located and I could do some work on my laptop.

Before the scheduled meeting with rcs85551 I left the lounge and had strolled around the shops and did some window shopping before I headed downstairs to the open but covered yard, where the Airbräu Restaurant with adjacent beer garden is located. We chatted about miles, the upcoming flights of cathaana and me and had dinner together. Time passed quickly, and I decided to return to the Terminal. rcs85551 accompanied me to security and wished me a good flight.

Security was fast, as nearly nobody was queuing, but it is always nice to see the special First Class and Star Gold area for security. It is time to become Star Gold (and this one of the purposes of this trip). They searched my carry on manually, but it was only the camera and the adapter for the plug which caused their attention. Immigration was also fast, nobody in front of me.

I headed to the Gate and ask about my seat and if it was possible to have another, perhaps better seat. I was told, the plane was nearly full, but the middle seat should remain empty, as nearly all passengers had checked in at this time. I headed to the FTL lounge to get something to drink and take a few newspapers with me before I left the lounge at scheduled boarding time.

18 May 2006
MUC – BKK
[Munich – Bangkok]
TG 925 (Thai Airways); Boeing 747 – 400
Gate H 28
21:10 – 12:40 [effective 21:20 – 12:10]
Economy Class
Seat 46 H

Boarding was scheduled to begin at 20:30, but began a little bit late without priority boarding for First / Business and Star Gold Passengers, but they used two boarding desks, with the second one starting a few seconds later and this was not as crowded as the other desk, so I was on my way to the plane with the first boarding passengers. First and Business Passenger could board through their own jet bridge, while Economy had the other.

Storing my trolley and my laptop in the overhead bin and watched the other passengers passing. Pillow and the blanket were placed on the seat, while the headphones were distributed on the ground after most of the passengers had boarded the plane. Watching fellow passengers boarding the plane is especially on the flights to Thailand very interesting, I do not want to go in details, but I assume you know why …

Push back was at 21:20 and we headed for the runway and took off at 21:30 with a short delay of 10 minutes. Later, the captain came over the micro and informed us, that we will be in Bangkok before scheduled arriving time.

After the fasten seat belt signs were switched off, the flight attendants jump in action and began after a hot towel service a first beverage round and distributed some pretzels.

Meal service began approximately an hour after start in Munich.

I had the salmon, which was a little bit dry, but tasted good, especially it was really spicy and the portion was large. Again, it was the good quality of food I expected on a Thai Airways Flight in Economy.

Red and White Wine were available and refilled during the meal service very often, also for the dessert, Whiskey, Cognac, etc were available in addition to the normal tea and coffee. Thai is one of the last carriers, who had also a good selection of alcoholic beverage for Economy Class. Though the seats and the inflight entertainment system are not up to date any more, the food and the seat pitch on Thai is not that bad. Regarding the quality and quantity the food of Thai in Economy is in my eyes now better than SQ and LH.

Lights were switched off after 2 ½ hours flight time and I tried to get a couple of sleep. Again, I cannot sleep very well in a plane and so I had all together only round about 3 hours of sleep.

This time, there was no beverage round during the night, as on my previous flights with Thai on the route Frankfurt to Bangkok and vice versa. But you can help yourself in the rear part of the galley, where beverage (water, orange juice) was available.

The flight itself was nothing special, very calm and I listened to the music on one of the12 music channels. Though, Thai had no AVOD System in Economy, I could life with it, if the choices are okay. A mixture of classical music, Jazz, Pop and Thai Pop is in my eyes okay.

I walked through the cabin several times, I noticed several free seats. The plane was full, but not 100%. I would say load was 90 %.

90 minutes prior to landing, the lights were switched on and after a hot towel service the breakfast service was begin to start.

Unfortunately, as it was my turn only the Omelette with Roasted Pork Loin was available. Well I would have opted for the other option, but eat it anyway. Croissants and rolls were distributed during the breakfast service. I got this menu without any comment, why the other passengers and I had no choice between the two menus.

Soon after the tablet were collected, we began our descend to Bangkok International. We landed at Bangkok ahead of schedule at 12.05 and were at our gate five minutes later. Interestingly, Economy Passengers on the left side were not hold back; they could exit the plane even before all Business Passengers from the upper deck had disembarked the plane; passengers on the right side had to wait.

The service of the flight attendants was friendly, but not as good as on previous flights. For example, I got the Omelette for breakfast without any word of the flight attendant that they ran out of Omelette with mushroom. I had to ask, why I had no choice. On the other hand, they refilled wine during the meal service very often, also tea and coffee during breakfast. You also get metal cutleries instead of plastic.

The plane itself was in a very good condition, it seems, they at least clean and repair the Economy Class Cabin if they refit the Business Class and First Class of their planes. This plane was fitted with the new Business and First Class as I noticed passing this cabin in Bangkok.

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