Sawadeekah Thailand Board. It's been alsmost a year since my first trip to Thailand when this board made planning the trip so much easier and fun. Unfortunately I'm not planning another trip there this year but still like to keep "in the know" of what's going on there.

Thought I'd pass on a report from Thai Airways regarding their new flight frequency from the states.....

Effective 29OCT2006, THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL PCL is pleased to announce an increase in flight frequency between Los Angeles and Bangkok and New York and Bangkok, adding extra flights to their current non-stop flight schedule to Bangkok. Beginning 29OCT2006, passengers can enjoy the comfort of THAI’s A340-500 with the new Royal Silk Class and Premium Economy Class five times per week between Los Angeles and Bangkok on MON / WED / FRI / SAT / SUN and between New York and Bangkok on MON / WED / THU / FRI / SAT.

Envy all of you who get to use it!

thanks

For those of you interested on Thai Air the Premium Economy is well worth the extra $400 RT.

Does the Thai premium economy seat recline way back or is it only wider? Any other differences?
Thanks

That's good to know that they're adding another day to the L.A. schedule. Happy Travels!

In PE there is more leg room, slightly wider seat width and a little extra recline. The in-flight entertainment everywhere is excellent.

I believe the added flights will NOT be non-stop - they will make a stop in Seoul, Korea.

I can't find this info on the Thai website but I know I read this somewhere on FlyerTalk - let me try to find the details and post them.

123Go if you have a link to the source of the schedule info, that would be really helpful too!

Well here's the link to the schedule info I saw:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=592210

but now the Thai Air website says LAX-BKK-LAX beginning 29 Oct WILL be nonstop daily except Tues/Thurs.

Sorry if I'm only adding confusion to something that was clear to begin with!

JohnH
I don't have a link but I cut and pasted the info directly from an email I received from Thai International.

I checked out the flights:
The LAX/BKK on Mon/Wed/ Fri/Sat/Sun is non stop. On Tues/Thurs there are some options: Air Canada LAX/Tokyo Narita then connect with Tai to BKK or Aeromexico LAX/Seoul Incheon then Thai to BKK.

The JFK/BKK also non sotp buth there are other Thai Intnl flights that connect via London Heathrow.

I Agree with StanKase about spending the extra $400 for PE, I thought it was worth it. My traveling companions didn't go for it and thought their regular economy seats were fine. But when I do it again, I'll still go PE.

Tengohambre
The PE seats don't go all the way back like the photos you see in airline ads. You'll pay the big bucks for those, but the extra room in the PE seats as well as the legroom in front of the seats is considerably more than economy.

Craig's right about excellent entertainment. I watched 5 movies on the BKK/JFK non stop, plus a choice of about 250 music CDs, documentaries and regular TV shows. Hardly had time to read my books.

123Go:

So, essentially, the 17 hour JFK-BKK flight just flies by??

Seriously, I would like to go for PEconomy but, at $600 more or so per tkt, times four, that is too steep. And, two of us are kids. And, the upgraded food is not of interest to us, though the extra space sounds great. We just flew Virgin in economy and, although a brand new huge Airbus, the seats in steerage weren't particularly comfortable, neither were they very roomy (though the video, etc., was great). Luckily, the flight was half empty and we could all spreat out.

Do you know if these JFK non stops are generally going full to the brim? And, how long does it take you to get over the jetlag, coming and going? Thanks.

I didn't find the 17-hour,10 minute L.A.-Bangkok flight to just fly by. I took it in Dec 2005. About the last five hours for me were hard. But, I paid the extra and flew in Premiere Economy which was worth every last penny. Howevever, I had bought an economy class ticket and then when I got to LAX, there was a sign saying that an upgrade to Premiere Economy was on sale for $398.extra round trip. I, as many others, jumped on that one and fast. One didn't have to upgrade round trip, but could also just do it for one way if that's all one wanted. It's good to get to the airport early as sometimes these specials just pop up when you get there. On my Bangkok-Singapore-L.A. route the other day, I flew the old route of Singapore-Tokyo and then off the plane and then Tokyo-L.A. I like to get off and walk around. Happy Travels!

tengo, OK, maybe it didn't exactly "fly" by, no pun intended, but I've been on shorter flights that seemed longer. But maybe that's just me.

About jet lag, have to say it seems different on each trip. Into BKK wasn't too bad. Many people take an Ambien or something similar when they finally get to bed at their destination to assure that they get a good night sleep. Conversly, the same thing seems to help when you get home. If you're not a frequent long distance traveler, it can take a good week before your body clock gets back to home time. You can find youself waking up at 3-4 am ready to get up since sleep isn't an option. You may find yourlself being very productive on those days of getting up early. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) you'll gradually get back to your normal wake up time.