Thai Air Asia X – XJ 600– DMK– NRT
Airbus A330
Seat 29C
Flight time: 23:45– 08:00 (23:57-08:00)
Duration: 6 hours 15 minutes
29th August 2015
O V E R V I E W :
This sector is the second part of my unplanned layover in Bangkok on my way to Tokyo. Part 1 can be found here. Having chosen my inbound flight from KUL which gave me a rather optimal 4 hours of transit, I was left with about 3 hours in DMK as the flight from KUL to DMK was delayed.
As mentioned in Part 1, I had to clear immigration and re-enter into the departures area as transit facilities were not available. After having dinner at one of the restaurants at the departures level at DMK and a brief visit to the viewing area (Yes, there is a viewing area at DMK) which was unfruitful as it was too dark to spot any planes plus it was pouring heavily that night, headed to the check-in desks to get my boarding pass reprinted and passport checked.
Queue was rather short and it was my turn in a blink of an eye. 
Time to clear immigration again, which marked my shortest official (stamped) stay in a foreign country, only about 3 hours.
Couldn’t resist to take a shot of this Thailand available only McDonald’s mascot stance at the departures concourse.
A glance into the holding area, it seems like the flight will be quite full, with majority of the passengers being Thais. Also noticed some familiar faces from my inbound flight from KUL, most probably affected by the KUL-NRT cancellation as well. 
Boarding was done on time and I was seated in my seat B praying that no one is occupying seat A but my wish was not granted. Note the slightly better leg room in comparison to the A320.
Obligatory seat pocket shot. 
Load for the flight was about 90%. After take off, a brief F&B service was done but majority of the passengers have slept and the lights were dimmed after that.
About 2 hours before landing, I received my pre-book meal! 
The sticky rice with chicken was absolutely yummy. Very glad with my decision to go with a Thai option. (And if you’re curious, that is actually a cabbage blanketing the rice. :P)
Landing card was handed out after that and I was moments away from touching down at the land of the rising sun!
A rather imperfect shot taken from seat B. (“A” being the window seat)
Taxi was rather long and I was rather sad when we parked at a remote stand. On the bright side, the weather was good and even better, I was greeted by a familiar sight on the tarmac. Notice MH’s As330 in the background? 🙂
Immigration was very efficient with staffs checking immigration forms in the queue at 2 checkpoints. YES, 2 checkpoints. I missed out one information in the form but was only notified at the second check. Queue was moving very quickly and soon enough I was on my way!
Very excited to explore what is outside!
C O N C L U S I O N:
Similar to my inbound flight, I could feel the same enthusiasm from the Thai majority crew on my flight, being very friendly and professional at the same time. While it can be a pain with the seat pitch for a medium haul flight, I guess this is the downside of flying on a LCC? Another thing that I had on my mind was if only the whole Air Asia Group could integrate their in flight menu so that I can purchase the delicious Thai/Indonesian etc. food that is offered on their subsidiary airlines, or would it be too costly to have everything and maintain the quality?
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