Thai Airways is the national carrier of Thailand. It serves the route to Thailand from other countries in Asia, as well as from countries in Europe and North America. It is part of the Star Alliance, so it has codeshare route agreement with many international airlines including United Airlines.

We flew Thai Airways for the first leg of our Southeast Asia trip from Jakarta to Bangkok. A low-cost carrier called Air Asia is a popular choice to travel in the region, but we decided to go on Thai Airways since it had better itinerary and because I could earn United Airlines Mileage Plus points for the trip.

The short 3.5-hour trip was pretty enjoyable. They had pretty good in-flight service; but what left a lasting impression was the small gesture before we landed to the Suvarnabhumi Airport. They gave each passenger a boutonniere with fresh orchid — the national flower of Thailand.