Thai Airways is the Thailand’s flag carrier that was founded in 1960. It is headquartered in Bangkok, and its main and secondary hubs of operations are the Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok Airport) and the Phuket Airport, respectively. Thai Airways joined as a member of the Star Alliance group in 1997. Once it held the reputation of being the biggest international airline in Asia; many argue that the airline is just a shadow of its former self today, but this is primarily because of the severe financial constraints that the company is struggling with.
As in the case of most other industries worldwide, the pandemic hit the airline pretty badly, and since then the company has had to adopt cost-cutting measures to do away with some of the in-flight features it had earlier but despite that, passengers are not complaining because by and large, their customer service and onboarding experience are still among the best in the world.
Thai Airways Economy Class has also been consecutively voted as the world’s best in the past. It is not too hard to see that the carrier is pulling a great feat, remains popular, and is one of the most preferred airlines in Asia with all its financial difficulties notwithstanding. Travelers have attested many reasons for the same. The Thai hospitality is commendable, and the in-flight facilities are excellent. You can hardly guess the financial straits of the company from their outstanding lounge services at the airport, the spotlessly-maintained aircraft interiors, and exceptional crew conduct and services on flights.
There are three travel classes — the Royal First Class, the Royal Silk Class, and the Economy Class, each with unmatchable features and services. These include proactive and highly efficient crew at your service; plenty of standard entertainment on long haul flights; provision of branded amenity kits; welcome signature drinks; spacious seats; universal power outlets; frequent servings of high-quality meals and beverages, and more. Thai Airways successfully meets all passenger expectations and rarely disappoints.
Thai Airways flies both Boeing and Airbus. It covers no less than 100 destinations across at least 37 countries that include domestic and international in Thailand and continents like Asia (India, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Japan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Vietnam, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Europe and Middle East (Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Zurich, Dubai, Muscat).
Horror stories of lost and missing bags at airports abound and are true of every airline in all countries. There can be nothing worse than losing your belongings during a trip but it rarely helps to fly off the handle and lose your calm when dealing with authorities who are charged with tracking and reclaiming your things. If you ever find yourself in a sticky situation with Thai Airways, here’s how to go about.
1. Fill Out the Property Irregularity Form at Airport
On arrival, if you do not see your bags on the baggage carousel, do not panic. Approach the Baggage Claim area and speak with the authorities on duty. Explain your situation to them. They will hand out a Property Irregularity Form to you. Fill in the details accurately giving information like your full name; address; telephone; email; duration of stay; travel date; airline code/flight number; departure and arrival cities; baggage report number; baggage tag number; baggage brand name, and its weight, size, color, material; and upload documents like a copy of your passport; copy of airline ticket/boarding pass; receipt of the involved item; and an authorization letter lest you are not available to pursue the matter in person.
Write a detailed description of the items lost and their value in the relevant currency. It is easier for the concerned officials to launch a search when they have a comprehensive description of the items. Please remember to ask for a copy of the report and file reference number if you complained physically at the airport. The process is quite the same for online submission of claims. Here is the link to file a report on the web.
2. Call or Email the Airline’s Customer Service
If you are in a big hurry to reclaim your bags, you can also get in touch with their customer service on the phone and/or send a mail to their official email address so that action can be taken promptly. Click on the link here to find the email address of the Lost and Found offices of Thai Airways across the world. The airline’s main office can be reached at +66 2 356-1111 or [email protected].
If your bag is missing for more than 24 hours, and you are in a foreign city, you will need to notify the authorities for reimbursement to cover the costs of essential items that you need to buy to sustain yourself during your stay till the time your bag is getting traced. Please check their limits of reimbursement by clicking on Thai Airways Baggage Policies.
Fill up and submit the Passenger Property Claim Form if you fear your item is lost. All lost items are kept carefully at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport’s Lost and Found Office. You may contact the local Lost and Found office in your arrival city/country which will relay the information to the office in Bangkok. They could make arrangements to courier your things to you once they have verified and matched your description with the items they have retrieved. Unclaimed items are automatically disposed of after 3 months.
3. Find Help Through Social Media
With social media taking up a large chunk of people’s attention in real-time today, it is no more a million-dollar headache to manage lost items. It is quite common to lose small to even precious things on the aircraft or airport during waiting hours. SOS posts and timely shoutouts on Facebook and Twitter handles can move things faster and save the aviation industry from repatriation costs that include registration, handling customer calls and queries, storage, and postage.
