Don't Nok It 'Til You've Tried It

[exceladdict]

If I showed you this image, what would you think?

• Friendly Lizard
• Smiling Dinosaur
• Tiny Bird

If you selected (C), you’ve correctly identified the Thai word for bird, and the logo for the LCC ‘Nok Air’. It’s a small-ish operation of 10 aircraft, in which Thai Airways holds a minority stake. I had reason to fly Nok recently, so wanted to provide a ‘quick and friendly’ flight review, which, pleasingly, is also how I’d describe the overall experience.

 

[exceladdict]

Nok predominately fly out of Bangkok’s DMK airport, which is about one hour from the main BKK airport depending on traffic. The night before, I’d stayed nearby so was able to get to DMK relatively close to the flight. However, we arrived to find the check in counters deserted – before realising we were in the ‘international’ area of DMK airport.

Fortunately, someone at the sales desk was able to direct us around to the domestic wing. We decided to all check in our rollers as we weren’t sure what the carry on policy was going to be (if it was a strict 7kgs and a backpack plus roller was too much, I would have been in trouble). Check in was quick and our bags were tagged with priority tags.

We realised at this point that we were booked on a ticket with a few extras included – and had noticed an exciting thing written on our (digital) boarding passes:



Security at DMK was reasonably quick. I did notice at every security point in Thailand, attention was paid to my power bank – I carry a Cygnett Chargeup Pro 27000mah / 99.9wh battery with me in case I need to give my laptop an extra burst; which was within the regulations of most airlines at the time of purchase. After a brief concern I may be parted with the power bank, I was allowed to move on.

 

[exceladdict]

Within minutes we were through into an expansive terminal with just about every chain you could imagine, from Bread Talk to Potato Corner (two of our favourites) plus starbucks, coffee club, subway, and more.



We were also greeted by the first of a few friendly robot cleaners across the airports we’d visit this week:






And we saw a plane that we thought was ours, but turned out not to be. We’d be flying, shortly, on HS-DBY, a 2017-built 738, but with different livery to HS-DBT, pictured here. Our bird had a purple head – a photo to follow later.

 

[exceladdict]

What wasn’t immediately visible was the NOK Lounge. We only had about 10 minutes before boarding, but I figure it would have been a waste of money not to at least check it out. Heading in the exact opposite direction to our gate for what felt an uncomfortably long period of time, we eventually found the lounge which was largely empty, but catered with things I’ve never seen in a qantas lounge:





And a few nice seating areas – one pictured:



The donut was excellent, the free bottled water very convenient, and the coffees a relief for us all. However, the lounge attendant had warned us that we would need to start boarding in 5 minutes, and after 5 minutes in the lounge, we quickly began a stressful 10 minute walk/jog/run (it escalated quickly) to our gate when the lightly-loaded flight quickly went from ‘gate open’ to ‘final call’.

 

[exceladdict]

Despite being the last to board, we were safely on the flight with about 10 minutes to spare before the “boarding closes 20 minutes before departure” time was met. I was comfortably seated in 5C, which appeared to be the ‘premium economy’ section, as denoted by the headrests:



The cabin crew started preparing for departure, and one thing I noticed was they went very hard on turning mobile phones off (not just flight mode) before departure. It’s always really interesting comparing the rules of different countries/carriers, where we are now used to leaving phones on (but on flight mode) in AU.

Despite the light load and everyone boarding “early”, we didn’t end up moving until the actual departure time, and taking off 7 minutes later. Take off was smooth and the flight was underway (unfortunately from my aisle seat I didn’t get any window shots). Shortly after takeoff, a welcome followed in Thai and English, noting a short flight time and introducing the team.

Now, for the in-flight experience. I had read some reviews online suggesting that Nok air might feel similar to being on public transport. One similarity was that there were lots of ads, just about wherever they might fit. Just about every possible place on this plane was dedicated to celebrating the 19th birthday of someone called Patrick:





I get the vibe that Patrick is a celebrity of sorts; I wonder if he has ever flown Nok air to see these kind wishes. In any case, happy belated birthday Patrick. I won’t forget to smile a lot.

 

[exceladdict]

Complimentary IFE consisted of the ‘Jib Jib’ magazine, where I took a photo of the route map, unfortunately a bit obscured by the binding:



I noticed the power bank I have was well within the carrier’s limits:



And I also saw an ad for the lounge – which would have been helpful to have seen beforehand to know where to find it! At least I’ll be more prepared for next time I visit DMK airport.



But further perusal of the jib jib magazine would have to wait, as it was time for the inflight service! When I saw the cabin crew begin to push a cart, I had assumed it would all be food for purchase:



However we were instead handed these boxes of ‘Gourmet Primo Catering’:



Containing an escargot, slice of cake, bottle of water and some refresher towels. Given I’m used to the ‘cheese and cracker’-level experience on <1hr Qantaslink flights, this was really welcome. The cake was good, the water was exactly what you’d expect it to be, and the escargot or “raisin snail” was saved for later.

 

[exceladdict]

Tea and coffee also came along with a cart of other items for sale, but with our gourmet boxes received, there was no need to buy anything else.

After almost no time, we were about to land. Seats were back upright and cabin crew made another announcement requesting we turn phones off completely (flight mode insufficient). We seemed to hold for about 5 minutes, then landing gear came out and our descent commenced. The landing itself felt quite high-speed, but there was plenty of runway left by the time we were well and truly slowed down. Some radio or ads began to play inside the plane as we were waiting to deplane. Compared to this case, the instrumental reprise of ‘I still call australia home’ might be preferred.

No jet bridge for us today, so some stairs were wheeled up to the plane after we were guided in by traffic controllers with paddles (don’t see that every day!). I then grabbed a photo of our purple-headed bird:



While it did take some time, our bags all followed, and we were on with our day.

I’m always a bit nervous flying an airline for the first time, but the operations felt professional and efficient. Altogether the feel felt similar to Cebu Pacific, with whom I've flown a number of short domestic routes within the Philippines, though there was no fun quiz or associated prizes.

In summary, I’d be glad to fly them again if I needed to make a short domestic hop within Thailand!

 

[OZDUCK]

Despite being the last to board, we were safely on the flight with about 10 minutes to spare before the “boarding closes 20 minutes before departure” time was met. I was comfortably seated in 5C, which appeared to be the ‘premium economy’ section, as denoted by the headrests:

View attachment 353990

The cabin crew started preparing for departure, and one thing I noticed was they went very hard on turning mobile phones off (not just flight mode) before departure. It’s always really interesting comparing the rules of different countries/carriers, where we are now used to leaving phones on (but on flight mode) in AU.

Despite the light load and everyone boarding “early”, we didn’t end up moving until the actual departure time, and taking off 7 minutes later. Take off was smooth and the flight was underway (unfortunately from my aisle seat I didn’t get any window shots). Shortly after takeoff, a welcome followed in Thai and English, noting a short flight time and introducing the team.

Now, for the in-flight experience. I had read some reviews online suggesting that Nok air might feel similar to being on public transport. One similarity was that there were lots of ads, just about wherever they might fit. Just about every possible place on this plane was dedicated to celebrating the 19th birthday of someone called Patrick:

View attachment 353991

View attachment 353992

I get the vibe that Patrick is a celebrity of sorts; I wonder if he has ever flown Nok air to see these kind wishes. In any case, happy belated birthday Patrick. I won’t forget to smile a lot.

View attachment 353993

I am intrigued by the 'mirror image' of the "Premium" written on the seats in the first photo of this particular post.

 

[exceladdict]

I am intrigued by the 'mirror image' of the "Premium" written on the seats in the first photo of this particular post.

Must have accidentally flipped the image in processing or similar! As mentioned I was a 'c' aisle seat and with the flip this looks like row D.

I've been trialing using 'magic eraser' to remove people's faces from images before sharing, probably pushed the wrong button somewhere