News Forum - Thai Airways accused of favouring foreign passengers over Thais

[Thaiger]

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, …

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[Ramanathan.P]

No matter how many passport you hold or how many language you speak, you are still a Thai in her eye. In the eyes of Thai girls, foreigner are superior even if he is a truck driver in his home country. That is the deep rooted culture in Thai people's mind. Just see how they honor all those foreign culprits who caused havoc on the Thai streets and to Thai people in Thailand. Yet they are either given a smile and settled amicably or a tap in the wrist. I am yet to see anyone receiving a painful kick in their butt. At least finally some Thais have done a good job by whacking the trouble causing foreigner in their restaurant. That should be the way to teach these people the value of Thai people. Yes, I really appreciate Thai culture as the people are very nice and polite to everyone. But that doesn't mean that one has to keep quiet always. When some thing is not right, then it has to be fixed immediately without any delay. Most of the time those things that are concern with these foreigners has to be fixed instantly. "The money will only dance if you take the cane in your hand"

[Wackamole]

Ah man. Business class problems 

[HolyCowCm]

  On 3/28/2023 at 4:50 AM, Wackamole said:

Ah man. Business class problems 

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If you hit the link it sends to his FB page and there he shows the food given for the flight. Now that is the real problem. 

[Wackamole]

  On 3/28/2023 at 4:52 AM, HolyCowCm said:

If you hit the link it sends to his FB page and there he shows the food given for the flight. Now that is the real problem. 

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I'm surprised they brought him food at all. Maybe they mistook him for a foreigner in the end.

[Karolyn]

It's interesting Thai people are allowed to accuse Thai businesses of this. You aren't allowed to accuse businesses of preferring foreigners, in England

[Fanta]

So petty…. 

[Guest1]

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? 

No inferiority complex?

As a "Thai" (doesn`t he have the Thai passport as well?) he should no the hierarchy system is very important to other Thais: Gold(member) is the important number one!

[HiuMak]

White supremacy is evident in Thai airlines and some asian airlines.

Did not see it coming from Business class. Take first class next time.

For me I have zero expectation of service in my seat back in coach. 

The airline service industry has just deteriorate so much imho. 

[Aussieroaming]

I flew business on Thai recently and it was sub par to say the least  but the onboard staff were nice and I saw no sign of foreigners receiving priority treatment. I did notice that certain passengers were served as a priority but it wasn't based on ethnicity. Pathetic to hear this passenger whining and carrying on in a xenophobic manner.

[Marc26]

  On 3/28/2023 at 4:23 AM, Ramanathan.P said:

No matter how many passport you hold or how many language you speak, you are still a Thai in her eye. In the eyes of Thai girls, foreigner are superior even if he is a truck driver in his home country. That is the deep rooted culture in Thai people's mind. Just see how they honor all those foreign culprits who caused havoc on the Thai streets and to Thai people in Thailand. Yet they are either given a smile and settled amicably or a tap in the wrist. I am yet to see anyone receiving a painful kick in their butt. At least finally some Thais have done a good job by whacking the trouble causing foreigner in their restaurant. That should be the way to teach these people the value of Thai people. Yes, I really appreciate Thai culture as the people are very nice and polite to everyone. But that doesn't mean that one has to keep quiet always. When some thing is not right, then it has to be fixed immediately without any delay. Most of the time those things that are concern with these foreigners has to be fixed instantly. "The money will only dance if you take the cane in your hand"

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I don't think it's a case of treating the foreigner better

I think it is pure jealously 

The Thai was in business class and the Thai staff was jealous, plain and simple 

Stuff like that has happened to my wife many times

When my wife had her business and was doing huge jobs for hotels

The petty nonsense she'd have to put up with the Thai staff because this younger Thai girl was doing these big paying jobs was absurd

Thais can act like petulant children 

[Highlandman]

  On 3/28/2023 at 5:51 AM, Karolyn said:

It's interesting Thai people are allowed to accuse Thai businesses of this. You aren't allowed to accuse businesses of preferring foreigners, in England

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You can if you want and I certainly do it all the time.

[Highlandman]

Sounds like another high maintenance, w oke "me me me" passenger. What kind of treatment was he looking for? Was he expecting a free massage and having his hand held every step of the journey? 

As long as they served all his meals and drinks and any (reasonable) additional requests were attended to, what else could he possibly have wanted?

Cabin crew aren't your servants.

[Marc26]

  On 3/28/2023 at 1:46 PM, Highlandman said:

Sounds like another high maintenance, w oke "me me me" passenger. What kind of treatment was he looking for? Was he expecting a free massage and having his hand held every step of the journey? 

As long as they served all his meals and drinks and any (reasonable) additional requests were attended to, what else could he possibly have wanted?

Cabin crew aren't your servants.

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Well if he bought a Business class seat, he should be treated exactly the same

This BS about who has higher status is ludicrous, if you paid for a Business Class seat, you should get the same service

Happened to me before on Delta. I paid for business class, I was in Aisle 1 and the hostess asked the guy next to me and many other passengers behind me what they wanted for dinner

Then came back to me and gave me only 1 option that was left.

I asked why she skipped me and she said they had higher status.................

Then wrote me a God Damn note that "sometimes you just need perspective"

I ended up getting a free business class flight by showing what she did............

[LuckyStrike]

Back in cattle class, we're all treated the same.

[Alavan]

Much to do about nothing.
I am also a gold member, and the only difference with non-gold members (business or cattle class) is that before departure a flight attendant welcomes you and asks which you menu you desire (if there is a choice). And yes you are served before other passengers, and there it stops. You can start eating your mediocre meal before the others, but they remove your plate together with the others, which means that you are just sitting there with your (sometimes) empty plate waiting till all the others have finished. So what is the big advantage/better service?

[Marc26]

  On 3/28/2023 at 4:48 PM, Alavan said:

Much to do about nothing.
I am also a gold member, and the only difference with non-gold members (business or cattle class) is that before departure a flight attendant welcomes you and asks which you menu you desire (if there is a choice). And yes you are served before other passengers, and there it stops. You can start eating your mediocre meal before the others, but they remove your plate together with the others, which means that you are just sitting there with your (sometimes) empty plate waiting till all the others have finished. So what is the big advantage/better service?

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But you shouldn't get any extra service over a paying customer

Recognizing a status member is fine.....

They shouldn't sell a business class seat, then advise you that you are treated as a 2nd class citizen once you sit down

Or it should be advertised you may not receive the same service.....

Like in my case above, I was given a lesser choice of food because I had lesser status even though I bought a fully fared ticket

[TWS60]

Ex-wife got hired on as cabin crew for an Arab/Gulf airline the first year after we started dating, so I got all sorts of behind the scenes stories once she began flying.  

Fairly common knowledge that the largely Asian-origin cabin crews (at the time) had a preference for the long haul, higher revenue prestige routes to/from major cities in the West; perhaps no coincidence these were predominately Caucasian populations stereotyped as more monied and sophisticated, thus airlines tend to assign their newest aircraft or those fitted with the latest cabin interior upgrades. 

Next on the pecking order were the Arab locals, even on intra-regional routes, but that was mostly based on fear of being sacked.   Default assumption was an Arab passenger would easily prevail in a complaint about an (inferior) Asian cabin crew employee, and gawd help you if the passenger had friends or family in government or senior airline management. 

Finally, Asian cabin crew got the chance to feel superior to passengers on flights to and from SW/SE Asian and African countries ferrying foreign labor back and forth.  This is where junior cabin crew were assigned to suck it up and earn their stripes in the first year of probation at minimum.   The Dhaka route was the worst, with some Indian destinations close behind.   

Ex did her time in the trenches and was over the moon when she got selected to train and work on B-767, then flying the more prestigious routes to European cities.   There was also a quiet understanding the Euro routes could render a dreamy new farang boyfriend and/or future husband; not a deal breaker but preferably one sat forward of the economic curtain.   

[TheDirtyDurian]

  On 3/28/2023 at 3:01 PM, LuckyStrike said:

Back in cattle class, we're all treated the same.

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Not strictly true actually. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

  On 3/29/2023 at 5:24 AM, TWS60 said:

Ex-wife got hired on as cabin crew for an Arab/Gulf airline the first year after we started dating, so I got all sorts of behind the scenes stories once she began flying.  

Fairly common knowledge that the largely Asian-origin cabin crews (at the time) had a preference for the long haul, higher revenue prestige routes to/from major cities in the West; perhaps no coincidence these were predominately Caucasian populations stereotyped as more monied and sophisticated, thus airlines tend to assign their newest aircraft or those fitted with the latest cabin interior upgrades. 

Next on the pecking order were the Arab locals, even on intra-regional routes, but that was mostly based on fear of being sacked.   Default assumption was an Arab passenger would easily prevail in a complaint about an (inferior) Asian cabin crew employee, and gawd help you if the passenger had friends or family in government or senior airline management. 

Finally, Asian cabin crew got the chance to feel superior to passengers on flights to and from SW/SE Asian and African countries ferrying foreign labor back and forth.  This is where junior cabin crew were assigned to suck it up and earn their stripes in the first year of probation at minimum.   The Dhaka route was the worst, with some Indian destinations close behind.   

Ex did her time in the trenches and was over the moon when she got selected to train and work on B-767, then flying the more prestigious routes to European cities.   There was also a quiet understanding the Euro routes could render a dreamy new farang boyfriend and/or future husband; not a deal breaker but preferably one sat forward of the economic curtain.   

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Yep. Can go along with most of that. Been flying through Bahrain for many years both long haul and short haul. 

I'd also add that there is less time to rest on the short regional hops as well. By the time the plane is in the air, food given out, plates collected, it is time to descend again, and they're maybe doing 3 flights a day. More downtime on the long flights, both in the air and after the flight. 

Another issue with the regional flights is that many of the Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, etc won't have any English at all which I'd imagine makes being crew more difficult. 

[Alavan]

  On 3/28/2023 at 5:21 PM, Marc26 said:

But you shouldn't get any extra service over a paying customer

Recognizing a status member is fine.....

They shouldn't sell a business class seat, then advise you that you are treated as a 2nd class citizen once you sit down

Or it should be advertised you may not receive the same service.....

Like in my case above, I was given a lesser choice of food because I had lesser status even though I bought a fully fared ticket

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What extra service did I get on the plane? I pay the same price and get the same seat as a non-frequent flyer.
A stewardess greeting me and saying her name? I can do without. You can't call that extra service.
Getting my food 5/10 minutes before the person sitting next to me? It is the same food and I have to support the empty plate in front of me longer. I can do without. I don't get better food, just the same. I don't get more wine.
The advantage of gold status is not on the plane, it is being allowed to bring more luggage (which I don't need since I stopped playing expensive golf in Thailand) and the possibility to enter the business lounge on airports (and in Singapore they changed that from bizz lounge to a specific "gold member" lounge).
Also as frequent flyer you can earn points for a free flight, but many hotel chains do the same: accor, marriott...

[ChrisS]

Sadly Thais service generally has declined almost in direct proportion to its prices rising which is why I for one no longer use them unless I absolutely have to.

[Grumpish]

Only flown business class on Thai once, and that was the result of an involuntary re-routing after Gulf bounced me because of a change of aircraft type. Service was OK, food mediocre (but still way ahead of the complete f...up that was Lufthansa for the FRA-LHR sector). One thing that I did wonder is did this guy know about the attendant call button - I have found that this is much more reliable than trying to attract their attention as they walk past?