Red-hot rooming, writing, reading, relaxing and roaming in rainy Thailand.

[Human]

Readers of my Trip Reports might recall that I’m writing a book. This is not easy, given that I work full-time at a school and am also a carer. It’s difficult to find more than a couple of hours every week to write.

School holidays, though, allow me to get some serious writing done. I’ve decided to try to spend a week or so of each school holidays on a “writing retreat”: getting away from the distractions of home to a nice location, preferably with a water view. I write for half a day or so, and spend the rest of the day recharging: walking along the beach, enjoying nice food, reading for research and/or pleasure, getting some exercise and doing some “tourist” stuff if the opportunity arises.

My first writing retreat in June-July was at the Gold Coast (sans AFF Trip Report!). This one will be slightly more exotic.

Several months back I decided that Da Nang in Vietnam would fit the bill nicely, but then I fell for the Accor “Red Hot Rooms” marketing. Accor was offering ocean-view rooms at the Pullman at Khao Lak in Thailand for THB 1100 (about AUD 50) per night. I found reward flights relatively easily (it’s easier when you’re only looking for one seat) and took the plunge.

How could sea-view rooms at a five-star resort be so cheap?

Well, it’s the wet season. And apparently wet means very wet. But that doesn’t bother me because my first priority is writing. The more it rains, the more I’ll write. And when the rain stops, I’ll be in a great place to explore and relax.

I also suspect the resort is following the low-cost-airline model of having the rooms as a loss-leader and charging full-price (or overcharging) for things such as food. I intend to venture out for my meals as much as possible (weather permitting). Will I manage to thwart the LCC model? Or will the resort make some decent money off me after all? I’m about to find out.

I really don’t know what to expect. Apart from a couple of brief BKK transits, this will be my first trip to Thailand. Hopefully it’ll be both an enjoyable and a productive one!

 

[Human]

On this trip I will be flying on two airlines I have not flown on before, and one airline I would be happy if I had not flown on before. One of the airlines I have not flown is Thai Airways.

Melbourne airport tonight is a breeze. There was no queue at the Thai Business Class check-in…


… and security and passport control were both quick and easy. My only problem was acquiring the mandatory Last Decent Coffee Before Overseas Travel*. The Air New Zealand Lounge was a picture of tranquility…



… but the Lounge stopped serving barista coffee after the last ANZ flight. So I sheepishly explained to Lisa, the very friendly and understanding Lounge agent who had let me in, that I’m really truly honestly not a coffee snob but I just had to go in search of my LDCBOT*. She totally understood.

First stop was the Singapore Airlines lounge, which was a little too crowded for my liking. Barista coffee there is only served until 3pm.

Next stop was the American Express Lounge. “Are you still serving barista coffee?”. “Yes, sir, but I must warn you that the Lounge will be closing in 20 minutes, at 10pm. Could I suggest the Plaza Premium Lounge which is open until midnight?”

So my fourth lounge in what seemed like 10 minutes was the PP lounge. Again, a little crowded, but with reasonably decent coffee. Not amazing, but not bad either. The barista even asked me if I would like one shot or two, which I appreciated.


After skulling my coffee in a quiet corner of the Lounge, I headed back for the tranquillity of the ANZ Lounge. Lisa was interested in whether I had succeeded, and after I explained my coffee odyssey to her she expressed genuine gratitude that she could now advise Lounge guests about how to acquire late-night barista coffee.

I finally sat down in one of the armchairs in the almost-empty Lounge, and enjoyed a cool drink. The icing on the cake was the background music: Carole King’s Tapestry, which I’m sure I must have mentioned previously is one of the greatest albums ever.

Boarding of TG462 to BKK commences shortly.



*Not required for trips to NZ.

 

[blackcat20]

Love Khao Lak, even when it is a bit rainy.

 

[Human]

Thai Airways has a staggered Business Class configuration. I was glad to have selected a “true” window seat, because the people sitting closest to the aisle have zero privacy. None.

The seat itself was showing a few signs of wear and tear…


… but it was comfortable enough, although storage space is minimal, and Thai only supplies pyjamas on flights to/from Europe. I was served a Thai “signature” non-alcoholic pre-departure drink. I forgot what it was called, but it was very nice.


The plane pushed back about 15 minutes early – in fact it was in the air before the scheduled gate departure time!

My normal modus operandi for late-night flights is to eat up in the Lounge, then forsake the onboard meal for the sake of maximising my sleep. But I’d heard a lot of good things about the food onboard Thai Business Class flights, so I figured that I had to give the meal a try. For a 9-hour flight, I wasn’t counting on getting more than 5-6 hours’ sleep anyway.

The menu. I chose the Braised Pork Belly for the “dinner” and the Mee Sua Noodles with Pork for breakfast.


Takeoff was smooth and I settled into my usual in-flight entertainment…


The evening meal was marketed as a “supper” to maximise sleep time. It wasn’t – it was a full 5-course meal (though I skipped the cheese plate).

The Amuse Bouche:


The appetiser:


Main course:


And dessert.


It was all delicious, and served quite efficiently (after an 11:30pm takeoff, the dessert was cleared at exactly 1am).

The lovely cabin crew member then offered to “turn down”"my bed.


It was comfortable enough for a Business Class bed. I slept as well as I usually do on a flight – that is, not well at all. According to my Apple Watch, between 1am and 7am, when I was trying to sleep, I slept for 2 hours and 44 minutes. Oh well. One of the things I appreciate about overnight flights in Business Class is that you can be sleepless and comfortable, as opposed to sleepless and uncomfortable!

Breakfast was served on a single tray about 90 minutes before landing.


I was given a code for free internet, only to discover that it was only good for 60 minutes. On an overnight flight, though, that was more than enough.

We landed at BKK in steady rain at 5:30am local time.


Would I fly Thai long-haul Business Class again? Of course! I don’t think Thai is quite in the top echelon (Singapore, Cathay, Qatar etc) but it’s still pretty darn good. Make sure you select your seat wisely though!

 

[Human]

Given the rain, the landing was exceptionally smooth. After disembarking (does anyone else hate the word “de-planing” as much as I do?) I set out on the long, long walk to the Domestic Transfer area. It was well over a kilometre.



Eventually I arrived at the Domestic Transfer desk and I joined the queue. There was no separate queue for Business Class passengers, but it only took 10 minutes or so to get through.. Interestingly there were no Smartgates at the domestic transfer immigration area, so despite having entered Thailand last year (on a 14-hour overnight transit) I needed to do the fingerprint/photograph thingy again. It was all very friendly and quick though.


I found myself in the Domestic terminal, and entered the Thai Royal Silk Lounge where I am sitting as I write this. I’ve got a few hours to kill here before my flight to coughet, and I have to say that it has exceeded my expectations as a domestic Lounge.




This is the view from where I am sitting right now – one of the better Lounge views I can recall.