With the Ko Samui – Thailand airport offering a duopoly choice between Bangkok Airways and fly Scoot Airways operated by Singapore Airlines, we ended up flying Bangkok Airways Singapore to Ko Samui. We would experience a mostly old school no nonsense flight experience, that included complementary seat selection, a free meal with wine, and free checked baggage. Read on to see how her experience was on “Asia’s Boutique Airline“.

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This post is one chapter on a trip with my 82 yr old mom from Canada to Singapore. For informaton on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Air Canada Aeroplan and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Bangkok Airways Airbus 319-1, Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal One – Ko Samui International Airport

This portion of our trip was a nested ticket inside an Air Canada Aeroplan award redemption. With a great Marriott Bonvoy redemption at the W Ko Samui, we paid for a separate air trip to Ko Samui from Singapore.

Since the Ko Samui airport is owned by Bangkok Airways there is a duopoly on flights “in and out” of Ko Samui International Airport. Currently the airport is served by both Bangkok Airways and fly Scoot, operated by Singapore airlines. When I compared the two carriers Bangkok Airways offered a better value when all the ancillary seat selection and checked baggage fees were taken into account.

While Bangkok Airways did offer a business class cabin on the flight, it was priced at double the regular cash fare. Since the flight time was only one hour and forty minutes, and we already had lounge access in Singapore courtesy of Priority Pass, we didn’t bother to spend the extra money on a business class ticket.

As a result, we ended up purchasing a paid cash fare on Bangkok Airways to experience “Asia’s Boutique Airline”. We would end up crediting the flight miles to Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios, which we’d later transfer to British Airways Executive Club Avois program to be topped off as a American Express Membership Rewards partner.

Checking in with Bangkok Airways:

After taking a Grab Ride Share from the family home in Singapore to Changi International Airport Terminal One, we checked in with Bangkok Airways. Changi Terminal One contains most of the One World alliance carriers and all the other non-alliance carriers that service Singapore.

Bangkok Airways has a small footprint at Changi International Airport with the sole daily flight servicing Ko Samui on a daily basis. With a large amount of connecting traffic off international carriers, there is absolutely no line and no people at the check-in counter approximately three hours before our flight.

Our economy class fare contained 20 kg of free baggage allowance. There was an option to purchase an additional baggage allowance at 5 kg intervals, up to forty eight hours in advance of your flight through the Bangkok Airways online portal.

Instead, we opted with the regular baggage allowance. My bags were slightly over at 20.25 kg. With two bags being checked, and a little extra allowance available with a second bag lighter than 20 kg, we were not made to repack or rebalance our bags.

We wandered through the now dated Singapore Changi Airport Terminal one, which was the original Changi terminal built in the year 1981. The legendary split flap display that used to be on display in the departure hall has now been replaced with advertising space. However, the engaging kinetic rain teardrop art display sculpture still remains as one of Changi’s best art displays.

After a visit to The Jewel and The Changi Lounge, we crossed over onto the secure side for a brief visit to the Plaza Premium Lounge Singapore. Our visit to the Plaza Premium Lounge Singapore was courtesy of Priority Pass, compliments of the Amerian Express Platinum Card.

It’s worth mentioning that Bangkok Airways does not appear to offer a business class lounge access in Singapore, as the only “international lounge” service listed on their website is in Malé, Maldives.

Singapore Changi Airport Terminal One was quite busy in the mid afternoon when we departed. We walked over to gate D 36 which was on the far right hand side of Terminal One followed by a left turn all the way out towards the end of the concourse.

All of the gates at Singapore Changi International Airport are behind the security screening cordon. As a result, we had our security screening check at gate D 36 to enter the holding pen.

Immediately after the security screening, our boarding cards were checked and confirmed. While it’s a different way of conducting boarding, and prevents you from bringing on extra bottled water, it’s actually pretty efficient once they announce aircraft boarding as there are no further checks required.

Our Bangkok Airways airbus 319 – 1 had recently arrived during a Singapore thundershower. The plane, entitled Hiroshima, had a decorative Bangkok Airways livery, without being too exciting.

Our boarding time was listed for 4:40 PM. That time trickled past, and it was about 5:05 PM before we actually boarded the aircraft. The call for business class and parents with children needing additional time to board was made first, followed by general boarding.

Bangkok Airways
PG 968 – Economy Class (V)
SIN – USM (Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal One – Ko Samui International Airport)
June 2, 2024
5:20 PM – 6:20 PM
Booked: Airbus 319-1
Flown: Airbus 319-1

On Board Bangkok Airways:

The Bangkok Airways airbus 319 – 1 “Hiroshima” entered service on March 19, 2008. The Airbus interior is a little dated as a result of it being almost 16 years old.

We passed through the Bangkok Airways Blue Ribbon Business Class cabin which featured traditional recliner seats. Since the seats weren’t state of the art, I was reassured in the decision not to upgrade and purchase business class seat for the short leg.

Instead, I wandered back to seat 7F in ecomony class. Row seven was among the first seats in the premium extra space seating. Bangkok airways economy class was a reasonable narrow body economy class seating in the usual 3–3 configuration.

The seats offered a reasonable round of legroom and were perfectly fine for short to medium haul flights.

It is worth mentioning that there are no seat power points for plug-ins or telephones on the Bangkok Airways 319 aircraft. As a result I was unable to charge my smart phone, like I normally would on any flight.

I would also take the opportunity to say that there was no television monitor entertainment on either the seat back or projected from the overhead console. As a result, if you want entertainment, you’ll have to bring it with you in the form of a book, magazine or downloaded content on your device.

The seat arm rest did offer a volume and channel feature. However, it was not in operation during our trip.

Similar to most Airbus 319 aircraft, Bangkok Airways offered individual air nozzles in the passenger cabin. This made for a comfortable cabin and ride up to Ko Samui.

The Bangkok Airways cabin on their Airbus 319-1 offered a reasonably comfortable seating and accommodations for our one hour and forty minute flight. Despite the cabin not having many of the modern conveniences like in seat power or in flight entertainment.

Pre – Departure Services:

While I was waiting for the flight to get underway, I took a look at the in-flight magazine. The magazine contained many advertisements on property for sale throughout Bangkok in addition to highlighting the Bangkok Airways route map. There was also a promotion for singer beer cans on sale.

We had an old school manual acted flight demonstration for the security video. During the safety demonstration, I learned that, surprisingly, Bangkok Airways did not approve of Buddhist monks or novices sitting in the emergency exit rows (#8).

We departed from Singapore on time with minimal wait on the departure runways. We had a nice view as we climbed to altitude. It is always amazing the amount of commercial boats that are in the Singapore Harbor. I’ve never seen anything like it with them all lined up in one direction.

The Meal: A Light Dinner

After we reached our cruising altitude at 34,000 feet, the cabin crew set the in-flight service into motion. The curtain separating economy from business class was closed and they proceeded to serve dinner.

Dinner was offered as a shrimp and noodle dish. With an international flight of only an hour and 40 minutes, I was still impressed that Bangkok Airways offered a full meal too it’s economy class passengers.

Dinner included a bottle of Bangkok Airways water with out a paper label for sustainability reasons.

The shrimp noodle dish was tasty although not super exotic. It was basic and off to cater to a mass audience without coming off as being a poor quality. Brancott Estate white wine was available on a complementary basis. I enjoyed a glass with dinner.

Along with the shrimp and noodles a green salad with Italian dressing was served along with a lychee dessert. Both were excellent and I had no concerns about illness due to hygiene or food preparation.

Arriving to Ko Samui International Airport:

Without much to look at in the way of scenery on the way up, the scenery started getting interesting as we decided into Ko Samui airport. We passed over the islands and descended across the archipelago.

We landed to Ko Samui International Airport without any wait. With an immediate U-turn at the end of the runway we drove to an apron position where we disembarked the aircraft.

The Ko Samui airport does not have any jet bridges or proper gates. After parking next to a Bangkok Airways ATR72, we were loaded onto a tractor for transport to baggage claim.

After arriving to the Ko Samui airport, we passed through Bangkok International immigration. They were only a total of three customs and immigration officers working to clear the entire Airbus 319 flight. It was a smooth but not overly rapid process.

The baggage claim at Ko Samui International Airport was dispensed “the old fashion way”. This meant that the bag was offloaded on a tractor, and then each individual bag was rolled out onto floor space, where they were identified and collected by the passenger. There was no conveyor belts or other fancy retrieval systems here everything was old school.

After collecting our bags, we walked out towards the public area to meet our driver for the W Ko Samui. It was a short walk away from the arrival area through several L-shaped outdoor corridors before we arrived to the public and pick up area.

We transferred over to the W Ko Samui for an excellent six night stay in a spectacular Villa.

My Thoughts on Bangkok Airways:

I didn’t know quite what to expect with Bangkok Airways.

While we opted for the all inclusive option that was the greatest value, we ended up with a pleasant experience. Aside from not having any in-flight entertainment or in seat power, we were fed, watered, and arrived safely to our final destination.

In addition we earned a small amount of Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios miles, which will find useful for a future award flight.

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If you have flown Bangkok Airways, how did you find their service as “Asia’s Boutique Airline” ?

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