Come Aboard on Thai Smile Economy

23rd Jul 2013

When was the last time you took a Thai Smile flight? How would you rate the overall performance of the low-cost airline from the ground up? Let's take a closer look at a short-haul Krabi-Bangkok flight.

On board the A320-200 aircraft, I was on an economy class occupying seat 44H, near the window. The estimated total flight duration was 1 hour and 20 minutes.

First off, the check-in process at the airport could have been improved to make it a little bit faster. I would have opted their mobile check-in option which is available from 24 hours to 1 hour before the scheduled departure time.

As with its mother unit, Thai Smile allows their passengers on economy class to bring up to 20 kilograms of checked luggage in addition to the free 7 kilograms for carry-on luggage.

As with any economy class on most airlines, there was not enough legroom so I found it to be a little bit uncomfortable. But maybe that would be okay for a short-haul flight.

The cabin interiors are tastefully designed especially the color scheme used in the seat upholstery which evokes the vibrant urban life of Thai's marketplace and crowded streets.

Thai Smile was so named for nothing less than a sunshiny smile radiating from the happy faces of its flight crew. The youthful-looking cabin crew all looked great in their bright tangerine uniform that compliments the bright smile on their faces.

The inflight food is nothing to crow about but it was good enough, thanks in part to the quick service. It comes with a 350ml bottled water plus a choice of orange juice, coffee or tea to finish off.

The in-flight entertainment dishes out something you would want to watch only once or maybe twice. The syndicated practical jokes won't make up for what has been lacking in the in-flight entertainment menu.

Our flight touched down at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport 15 minutes earlier than its ETA. That's about 10 minutes earlier than its supposed arrival time because our flight also left Krabi 5 minutes earlier.

I give the airline 4 planes out of five, which is the maximum rating. Thai Smile has dubbed itself a premium budget carrier which is trying to blur the lines between a full-service airline and the low-cost airline and for that, it has achieved its goal. The airline is now looking forward to expand its international network with the planned addition of 5 more routes.

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