Before COVID stopped people from being able to travel around the world. The number of tourists that visited Thailand in 2019 was close to 40 million which was a steady increase from 2018.
Visiting Thailand can be tricky for people due to there being some countries that do not have a direct flight into Thailand.
In this blog, I will discuss how to travel to Thailand from different countries around the world so that you can understand what to expect when travelling to Thailand.
U.K
Visiting Thailand from the U.K can be quite difficult. This is due to England being the only part of the U.K that offers a direct flight to Thailand.
London Heathrow airport is the only U.K airport that flies directly into Thailand. The flight between Heathrow and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport takes around 11 hours 25 minutes directly and the airline used is Thai Airways.
Flying directly to Bangkok from London can be easier for passengers as there is no added stress of missing your connecting flight which means you can sit back and enjoy a long flight.
However, many people can find travelling to London difficult especially if you live in Scotland, Northern Ireland and also Northern England. The other disadvantage is that a direct flight is often more costly than flying indirectly.
The other option is to catch a connecting flight to fly to Thailand but this can add hours to your journey. The most common destinations to use for a connecting flight from the U.K is Amsterdam with KLM, Doha with Qatar Airways or through Abu Dhabi with Etihad.
KLM use most U.K airports meaning that it is a good option as they are widely accessible. However, Qatar and Etihad only fly to Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and London Heathrow airports so this option can is viable if you are flying from a major U.K city.
USA
With Thailand being on the other side of the world to the USA. It can often be difficult to work out a cost-effective yet fairly fast way of reaching Thailand.
With America being such a big country, I will discuss how to fly to Thailand from the East and West cost as they differ in the flight routes that they take.
The main thing that as travellers that you must be aware of is that the cheaper flights can often take longer to arrive in Bangkok.
From New York, Chicago and Seattle, there are two options you can choose from. You can either choose to fly with Qatar Airlines and fly over the Atlantic Ocean to Doha which takes 12 hours. From there, you can fly from Doha to Bangkok.
The other option is to fly across the Pacific Ocean with ANA, Eva Air or Korean Air and fly into Tokoyo, Taiwan or Incheon.
The flight times can vary depending on the stopover time you face when travelling but the average flight time from the USA to Thailand can be between 20-24 hours.
If you are flying from the L.A or San Francisco, it makes more sense to fly directly across the Pacific as it is quicker than flying with Qatar as it takes 16 hours to fly from L.A to Doha and a further 6 hours from Doha to Thailand.
Overall, flying from anywhere in the U.S to Bangkok is a struggle but the beauty you see in Thailand is something that is worth every single second of travel.
Canada
Like the USA, flying to Thailand can be very much difficult and expensive due to there not being a direct flight from Canada to Thailand.
The cheapest and most effective way of flying to Thailand from Canada is flying with Air Canada from Toronto to Doha and then with Qatar from Doha to Bangkok. The flight time here is almost 24 hours.
The other option which isn’t as popular is flying from Toronto or Vancouver to Toyoko, Japan and Incheon, South Korea than a connecting flight to Bangkok but this takes slightly longer and is usually more expensive.
Overall, flying from Canada to Thailand is difficult due to there only being 3 international airports that can lead you to Thailand.
China
Unlike previously mentioned, Thailand is easily accessible from China. From Beijing to Bangkok, the flight duration is 4 hours and 35 minutes which makes Thailand a great holiday destination for the Chinese or people living in China.
The amount of people visiting Thailand from China has grown from 1 million in 2010 to over 11 million in 2018 which does show how much the popularity of Thailand has increased.
Many airports that include Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou all fly to Thailand.
Conclusion
From this blog, I hope you have more of an insight into how to fly to Thailand from different countries around the world and flights can often change prices so if you see a good deal, make sure you act on it!
If you are unsure on what you need currently to travel to Thailand with COVID, click here.