One night in Bangkok

At least half a night, 8 pm to 1 am, between flights.

The 9-hour flight from Brisbane was absolutely fine. I watched several movies for the entire flight, so the screaming baby in the middle row didn't bother me too much. It's just shocking how business class is turning into a flying nursery these days. Selfish parents who want to live a childless life with small children should be severely punished. Those of us paying good money for some peace, quiet, and serenity do not need to listen to their screaming offspring for hours on end. Even business lounges at airports are adding playrooms. I have already spotted several rugrats in the lounge in Bangkok, I can only hope we don't have the same final destination as I hope to get some sleep on the way. We arrive at 7 am tomorrow and I can't be nodding off during the day. There was an examplary dad on the train from Katoomba to Sydney. He had three kids with him into the quiet carriage, but he hooked them all up to mobile devices and shushed them when they made noise. Give the man a medal!

In Brisbane I got access to Air New Zealand's business lounge (kia ora!), which was recently refurbished and quite nice (they even had showers!). Not having eaten for nearly 12 hours, I hit the buffet straight away. Was a little disappointed with the only hot dish available being a soup, but loaded up on sandwiches. An hour after I arrived, they announced their flight to Auckland and most of the lounge emptied. And then they brought out the good stuff! Pork, chicken, rice, and a lentil daal. Clearly Asian-inspired but not very flavourful. They also brought out a very nice potato salad, no apples, no nuts, nothing weird, just plain potato, onion, mayonnaise, and cream. Yum. I had seconds.

There's nothing exceptional about Thai Airways' business class, although it's a world away from what it was in 1999, when I last flew to Sydney. Food was OK, crew was OK. Only two white and two red wines to choose between. The seating configuration on the 787 was similar to LAN's 787 I flew Santiago-Auckland, but the configuration on the 777 I'm flying to Stockholm tonight looks more interesting; the seats are staggered, so I should not have anyone right next to me. Happy days. 

On arrival in Bangkok, we parked at a remote stand and as I took the steps down to the tarmac, I got a whiff of the Bangkok air. Hells bells, it was like sticking my head in the oven! 32°, the pilot said. Glad I'm not staying here. But even inside the airport it's quite stuffy. Despite it being a fairly new airport (2006), the toilet looked a bit worn and they have put a large fan and a portable air-conditioner on the floor. I haven't been to Bangkok in ages, so it's my first time using Suvarnabhumi.

The weather forecast for Stockholm tomorrow is 16° and sunny! 19° on Thursday! Lovely jubbly!