Can't go far wrong with Thai or Eva for direct flights. Used Qantas once...nothing special. I've discovered the delights of breaking up the flight by going via the Middle East on Etihad....the short break between changing planes seemed to reduce the effect of jet lag and its nice to get a change of air and stretch the legs. However Abu Dhabi airport left a lot to be desired...of course theres also Emirates and Qatar should you wish to fly via there respective hubs.

Hi ferdygirl,

As usual Sunbear gives good advice. My preference is always for direct flights on the BKK route - mainly because I don't want the extra time (a couple of hours at least) and (wait for the comments) all middle east interchange airports - including Dubai - are pretty poor. See http://www.airlinequality.com/Airports/Airport_forum/dxb.htm

There is another alternative, that Sunbear does not mention, which is China Airlines via Amsterdam. Their Dynasty class (business) is not much more expensive than Eva Elite (premium economy) which, in my opinion, has gone badly downhill since the introduction of the new 777s on the LHR - BKK route.

Check out the Skytrax site for opinions on airlines http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/seats.htm#C .

Good luck - and enjoy Thailand!

Peter

Have done the China Airlines via Amsterdam myself from my local airport...it does cut down the dreaded travelling to and from the London airports. Mind you some of the gates in Schipol are a long way apart. Although they are called China Airlines they are in fact Taiwanese as are Eva. I enjoyed the flight with them, but that was on an MD11 which they may have phased out by now.

I'm afraid coming back is the worst...we've tried daylight flights coming back and night time ones. Seem to get worse jet lag on the day time flights back.

Its a while since I've been via Dubai...seemed an OK airport at the time, has it gone downhill over the years.

There is another option...Thomsonfly are doing flights to Phuket this winter, if you can put up with a charter for that length of flight.

Hi Sunbear,

China Airlines now have one of the most modern fleets of 747 400s on this route.

Unfortunately the flight timings are not the best in my opinion (although I disagree with your view on flight timings, prefering evening departure from Europe and early afternoon departure from BKK).

From memory the AMS - BKK leg is about 2:30 pm departure and the BKK - AMS leg is about 2:30 am arriving AMS at about 6am.

One of the major benefits, as you point out, is that you can depart from several UK airports that have links with AMS.

Check out their Dynasty class (Business) prices on the web - there are some bargains to be had!

Cheers

Peter

We'ed done a couple of the daytime flights back from Bangkok with Thai leaving around midday thinking the jetlag might not be so bad but found it to be worse for us than the dreaded midnight flights.

Our best journey back was this last time with Etihad...leaving about 8pm from Bangkok. Allowed us to do late 4.30 pm check out from hotel after a days sightseeing in Bangkok. Jet lag did not seem so bad..maybe the two hours spent in Abu Dhabi waiting for connection helped.