Thai Airways accused of favouring foreign passengers over Thais

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A Thai passenger who recently flew from Paris to Bangkok in Thai Airways business class accused the airline of favouring foreign passengers over Thais after a flight attendant provided services exclusively to a foreign passenger. The attendant told the Thai man that the foreigner was a Gold Status member.

Thai consultant doctor Watcharaphol Alexandre Kamnerdsiri, who works in Brussels, Belgium, shared his disappointing experience with Thai Airways on Facebook on Thursday, March 23. He started his post by saying…

“I have something to tell you all. I debated with myself whether I should say it or not. I think I should, and let’s think that this is constructive criticism.”

In the post, Watcharaphol revealed that he flew with Thai Airways from Paris to Bangkok in business class, also known as Royal Silk Class, and arrived safely at Suvarnabhumi Airport on March 23. He said he appreciated that the flight arrived 30 minutes before the scheduled landing. However, he was not impressed with the service from the flight attendant team.

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Watcharaphol claimed that an attendant focused only on a foreign passenger sitting behind him. She responded to every request from the foreigner and was not even offered a drink.

After 10 minutes of waiting, Watcharaphol said he tried to get attention from the cabin crew member by saying excuse me in three languages, Thai, English, and French. Then, he decided to ask directly in Thai…

“Why do you ignore me? My seat is in front of him (the foreign passenger). I paid for the ticket as well. What are the differences?”

According to Watcharaphol, the attendant said that the foreign passenger behind him was a Gold Status passenger. He was confused and showed his boarding pass to her, explaining that he was also holding gold status. Watcharaphol then said…

“What does that foreign passenger have that I don’t? I have both a French and a Belgian passport. I can speak three foreign languages, English, Greek, and Russian. I got overlooked because I am speaking Thai, right? Can you clarify this for me? Do I have to buy any coupons to receive the same standard of service? Where can I get it?”

The senior flight attendant then came to Watcharaphol’s seat to pacify the situation and apologise, offering him the required service. Watcharaphol believes he was discriminated against for being Thai and hoped Thai Airways would be concerned about equality. He added that he would review Thai Airways’ service again when he flies back to Paris this week.

Some Thai netizens commented on his post, sharing that they faced similar experiences and avoided flying with the airline. Some criticised the airline for being expensive and not worth the money, while others urged Watcharaphol to check his airline membership status because it might have been deactivated if he hasn’t used it for a long time.

Some defended the flight attendant team, saying that sometimes the system is not updated, confusing the attendants. One woman who claimed to be a former attendant added that the flight attendant always took the best care of Thai passengers. She added that some Thai passengers were very demanding compared to others.

Thai Airways accused of favouring foreign passengers over Thais | News by Thaiger

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Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.

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