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Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
The taxi driver who drove me offered a flat rate of 500 THB for the drive from the Plaza Athenée Royal Meridien Hotel to the airport including tolls. Although I am usually not into this sort of scam, I accepted it. It was around 100 THB more than I paid the last time and it seems that the airport express caused a decrease in fares. I remember that I was told of a flat rate between 800 THB and 1000 THB before the airport express service started.
The taxi driver dropped me at entrance A, where the First and Business Class counters are located. I approached the dedicated area for passengers travelling in First Class and immediately an agent assisted me with luggage and directed me to the seating area next to the check in desks. Another agent verified that I was indeed travelling in First Class. She asked if I was going to check one item of luggage and if there was any connecting flight in Frankfurt, which I declined. I was also asked if I wanted to have a complimentary massage and I choose a foot and neck and shoulder massage instead of the available oil massage.
My boarding pass was printed and brought to me before I was escorted through security and immigration and the entrance to the Royal Orchid Lounge where a cart drove me all the way to the First Class Lounge. There was no need to walk. My boarding pass was checked at the entrance to the lounge. The Spa was currently not very busy I was told and so I headed over to the Spa or better a lounge attendant brought me to the Spa and handed me over to the attendant at the check in desk of the Royal Orchid Spa. There was no waiting time and the next hour I enjoyed then joys of a food and shoulder massage.
The remaining time before my flight departed I spend in the lounge, checked my e-mails and did some other work related stuff. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit and left the lounge ahead of boarding time and walked till the end of the c concourse. There were not many flight scheduled to depart from this part of the terminal and it was not very busy. Around 23:00 I walked down the ramp and entered the waiting area. Boarding had not started yet and it was not going to start for another ten minutes. Time for me to see, if I am able to see the registration of our Airbus A 380-841. It was HS-TUF, delivered to Thai Airways on November 29, 2013. The maiden flight was more than half a year earlier on April 24, 2013. Like all A380 in the fleet of Thai, it is powered by Rolls Royce Trent 970 engines.
Two Passengers with wheelchair assistance had boarded the plane earlier and now passengers in the premium cabin as well as Star Golds were allowed to board the plane.
20 May 2014
BKK - FRA
[Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Frankfurt International]
TG 920; Airbus A 380 (HS-TUF / ‘Kamalasai’)
Gate B
23:45 – 06:00 [effective 23:49 – 05:59]
First Class
Seat 03 K
I was among the first passengers boarding the plane and the first one in the First Class cabin. I walked to my seat and a flight attendant approached me and asked what I like to have as pre departure drink. I asked for a glass of champagne. Before the agent with a glass and the bottle of Dom Perignon arrived, a hot towel was brought by another flight attendant.
Pre Departure Drink
Dom Pérignon Vintage 2004
I stored my belongings in the overhead compartment above the middle seat. The A 380 does not offer overhead compartments at the window seats, smaller items fit in the space at the window but not larger items. Of course in a cabin with only 12 seats, there was no problem to find a place for my carry on.
In the meantime other passenger travelling in the first class cabin had arrived and also my glass of champagne was filled by presenting the bottle and filling the glass in front of me. The Rimowa amenity kit was placed in the one of the many compartments at the seats along with the headset. Blanket and pillow were placed on the seat. Later the flight attendants distributed the printed menu which came in a nice folder and also offered the pyjama. The safety video was shown at the gate and during push back. Push back was nearly on time and we taxied to the runway. During the taxi a flight attendant asked we already had made our mind for the main course and drink after departure. I decided to stay with the champagne and also had decided what to have as dinner and breakfast before touchdown in Frankfurt. I was also asked if I would like to be woken up for breakfast or wanted to sleep.
During taxi the announcement made earlier in English was now played in German language from a tape. In the meantime we had reached runway 19L and there was only one plane ahead of us. The captain requested that the crew had to be seated and a few minutes later at midnight he powered the four Rolls Royce Trent engines and we climbed into the mostly clear sky above Bangkok.
I did not have pre ordered anything for this flight,time to read the menu 
and wine list 
(click on icon - opens new window)
Twenty minutes after take-off my champagne was served and ten minutes later the tray table was laid with linen and cutlery, napkin, a small plate for the bread as well as the bread basked was brought.
First Course
White Sturgeon Caviar with Garnitures
Dom Pérignon Vintage 2004
Second Course
Duck Liver of Two Pepper
Onion Marmalade and Cherry Tomato
Domaine Tournon 2009
Main Course
Stir Fried Prawns with Chili Paste and String Beans
Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice
Thai Omelette
Domaine Tournon 2009
Fourth Course
Fresh Fruits
1795 Extra Cognac OTARD
Dessert
Duo of Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream
Meal service started with the Caviar service, which was done using the cart to present everything to the passenger. The service started in the aisle A / C from the back before the seats at the other aisle were served, which was slightly different than on the flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok. But this was certainly not a problem.
Used plates were cleared individually by one of the flight attendants passing the aisle. The in-flight manager also introduced herself. The most passengers had dinner, but there was one passenger who went to sleep shortly after take-off and one crew member had made her bed.
I asked the flight attendant if the Australian Red Wine was available which was and so I asked to have a glass with the second course. The bottle was presented to me and I got a little bit poured in the glass to try it. It was a little bit too cold – a problem not uncommon in planes - but otherwise okay and so my glass was filled.
The second course was not quite my taste, since I am not a huge fan of liver The plate was cleared along with the used knife and a new one was brought with the main course which was tasty and especially spicy. My glass was also topped with the Australian red wine.
Cheese and fruit were served from the cart. I decided to skip the cheese and only have some fruits. Later ice cream was offered and being a fan of ice cream I could not pass the offer for some ice cream. After I had finished my meal it was close to 1:45 Bangkok time and one of the flight attendants asked if I wanted to have the turn-down service, i.e. converting my seat into a bed. I decided that this seems to be a good time and I agreed.
While I visited the huge front lavatory, my bed was made. At this time there were no toothbrushes available in the lavatory, but after another visit during the flight these were now available. Not a problem at this time, as I had my own toothbrush just for a case like this.
I slept with some interruptions for the next five hours before I decided to get up and put some work into this report and update a few other things. I was offered a cup of coffee by one of the flight attendants passing through the aisle.
Our flight path took us over the Gulf of Bengalia, India and the Caspian Sea towards Germany. We were cruising in an altitude of 12192 meters or 40000 ft.
About 1 hour and 50 minutes before our scheduled arrival into Frankfurt I was asked if I like to have breakfast.
Time for a last look into the menu and wine list (click on icon - opens new window)
More and more passengers were not awake and instead of only serving breakfast to me the crew decided to start the general breakfast service. This means, I had to wait a little bit longer but one crew member informed me, that they now start the general breakfast service. In a time of about ten minutes everybody was awake in the cabin and demanded the bed to be converted back to a seat. Ten minutes earlier it was only me ... I was asked about my choice of juice and chose a guava juice, which the flight attendant brought shortly later.
First Course
Fresh Fruit
Coffee
Main Course
Poached Egg and Toasted Brioche Bread with Mornay Sauce
Grilled Back Bacon, Park and Cheese Sausage
Pnache of Mushroom in Herb Crea, Sauce
Coffee
The tray table was again laid with linen and soon later another flight attendant brought napkin, cutlery, salt and pepper shakers and a small plate for the bread with the pre filled break basked. Available was a soft roll, two croissants and some sort of apple pastry. First a fruit plate was brought. In the meantime the flight attendant passed the aisle with a cart offering cereals and Bircher Müsli and yoghurt. I declined this offer and received soon later my poached egg. It was rather tasteless and missed any sort of spice, so I added salt and pepper myself.
The in-flight map showed now an arrival time of 06;10 instead of the earlier noticed arrival time of 05:53 but after a couple of minutes the time switched back to the earlier announced arrival time of 05:53.
My plate was cleared and around 45 minutes prior to arrival the captain came again over the intercom and updated us about the arrival time. It was a rather short speech with more or less only the remaining flight time and the weather in Frankfurt. Round about 15 minutes later the crew began to prepare the cabin for the arrival, collected the headphones and all other remaining items from the service. Prior to that I had received an in-flight survey about the experience with Thai Airways and received now like all other passengers a small gift by the flight manager thanking me for flying with Thai Airways.
We approached Frankfurt from Eastern direction over Prague, Bayreuth and thus get views of down town Frankfurt during the final stage of the approach. We touched down at 05:49 and taxied for our gate at the B concourse of Frankfurt’s terminal 1.
Business Class Passengers were held back until everybody in First Class had left. In the terminal I headed to immigration and was lucky to find the Iris Scan facilities working, so I was able to skip the longer lines at immigration.
Down at the luggage belt the screens showed belt 21 for TG 920 but to the surprise of me and other passengers the priority labelled luggage arrived on belt 20. After a quick stop at customs, where I was only questioned but my luggage not searched, I was on my way to the Railway station to catch my train to Düsseldorf. My experience shows that if you travel with laptop bag you are not a confused with a tourist.