Thai Airways’ poor service baffling

2010/02/08

GANENDRA INPARAJAH, Ampang

I AM a Malaysian based in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and I travel back once every two months. I travel Ashgabat-Bangkok via Turkmenistan Airlines (T5) and Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur via Thai Airways (TG).

Unfortunately, I had an unpleasant encounter with Thai Airways staff at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Jan 19.

I was travelling with a pet, a Persian cat from Turkmenistan as I wished to bring it back to Malaysia. I had all the necessary documentation with me, including an international passport for the cat, complete with photo and medical history and an import permit from the Veterinarian Department of Malaysia.

I had no problem flying into Bangkok. I did not leave the Suvarnabhumi Airport and I remained in the transit area for almost eight hours.

At the check-in counter, the Thai Airways staff insisted that I get a special permit from Thailand if I wanted to take my cat with me to Kuala Lumpur.

I told her I was on transit and had all the necessary documents.

She refused to listen and later tore up my boarding pass in front of my face as her colleagues watched.

I asked to see the manager but she gave excuses. Her colleagues, noticing that I was getting agitated, suggested that I just pay for the import permit from Thailand as well as a flight ticket for the cat. As time was running short, I decided to comply.

To my dismay, due to the chaos and commotion and with so many documents involved, my passport was missing. I found this suspicious.

I almost had to cancel my travel plans when I received a phone call from the Immigration Office at Kuala Lumpur International Airport informing that I will be allowed to travel provided I had my original Malaysian identity card with me. I did and I took the flight back to KL.

The points that I would like to highlight are:

• As per international travel regulations regarding pets, no import permit or additional payment is required at the transit point if the paperwork from the origin and final point of destination for the pet is in order. Why did the Thai Airways staff insist on this? I know for a fact that this cannot possibly be true because a colleague of mine also travelled from Ashgabat to Kuala Lumpur via Bangkok (Thai Airways) with a pet cat in mid-Dec 2009 without any problem.

• Why did I have to pay again for transportation of the cat? I already paid for this at Ashgabat Airport.

•Why was I not allowed to see the manager in charge when requested to?

I think the conduct of this particular Thai Airways staff was very unprofessional.

It is a shame that Thai Airways ’ motto is “smooth as silk” when in actual fact, what I encountered was anything but.