A trip to Thailand would not be complete without a ride on a One Two Go Airlines MD-82. Booking was made through their easy to use website www.fly12go.com and it was an e-ticket. I decided to book a one-way flight from Phuket to Bangkok Don Muang Airport and then fly back to Phuket on Air Asia from Suvarnabumi Intl as I couldn't book a same-day return ticket with One Two Go as the flight times were not suitable. The total ticket price was just 1,200 Baht (36 USD) which is very cheap.

Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

Day of Travel

Check-in opened 2 hours before the flight and was displayed with wooden signs which were hung above the check-in counters. There was a fair few people in line already when I arrived which was interesting as I thought I was early. Once at the front of the counters, I received my boarding pass which looked like a small ticket used to ride the roller coaster at a theme park or similar (See Photo).

Once it was time for boarding there were still no sign of One Two Go staff at our boarding gate. We were sharing the same boarding gate with Bangkok Airways and Nok Air whom both had flights departing around similar times. As you could imagine there was alot of confusion over which flight was actually boarding. Boarding was eventually announced through gate 66 which is the gate used for all stand-off bays. The passengers proceeded through the gate and boarded three busses to take us to our MD-82. Upon arrival at the aircraft, we climbed a set of stairs and passed through the aircraft door which was like taking a step back in time. I immediately noticed the older style interior layout and cabin crew controls for cabin lighting and announcements were all older style switches and knobs. The aircraft which is a former Continental Airlines aircraft, still had the old Continental Airlines seats along with a 2-3 seating configuration. I took my seat in one of the sets of 2 seats beside the window in 25A which turned out to be an exit row with ample room for my legs.

The aircraft was fully boarded by 15:40 however the captain came over the PA and announced there would be a further delay due to the loading of cargo. This was fine as it gave me more time to explore my seat area and cabin, however sitting in the cabin for 15 minutes without any air-con in 30 plus degree heat was not fun as many passengers began to fan themselves with the safety instruction card. With sweat pouring down my face, the aircraft eventually pushed back 24 minutes late and we began our start-up and short taxi to runway 09. At the same time the cabin crew were performing a manual safety demo. We departed without delay and commenced our climb to FL330.

On board there was no IFE whatsoever and no inflight magazine however they did provide a "newsletter" which was part thai and english. A free snack was served 20 minutes into the flight which consisted of a bag of coated peanuts and a choice of beverage.

A shot of the contents of the seat pocket

Our flight took us straight over the Gulf of Thailand and shortly after we were commencing our decent into Don Muang Airport (DMK). Don Muang airport these days is only used for a handful of domestic flights, military flights, cargo flights and is a parking storage facility for many retired aircraft. We landed on runway 21R at 1710 and taxied to a very quiet terminal.

Rather polluted day in Bangkok

An interesting selection of aircraft on the ground at DMK

Once all passengers were off the aircraft, I took some pictures of the cabin and then made my way through the terminal to the taxi rank to transfer to Suvarnabumi Airport BKK for my flight back to Phuket.

Overall a very pleasent experience with One Two Go and the MD-82 which is a must for any classic aircraft enthusiast.

Thanks for Reading,

Simon Coates