Nok Air

Asia Based Discount Carrier

Nok Air has carved a niche as one of Thailand’s favourite discount airlines, offering low fares to domestic destinations like Phuket and Chiang Mai. Part-owned by Thai Airways, Nok benefits from use of its parent’s infrastructure – crew, engineering, etc. – and the economies filter through to ticket prices. Despite the canary-yellow fuselage and what seems to be Big Bird’s beak stuck on the tailfin (Nok is Thai for ‘bird’), the original Thai Airways fit remains in the cabin. This includes slightly larger ‘business’ seats (Nok Plus) that can be secured for as little as US$15 per flight on top of the normal price. As this also includes ticket flexibility, double baggage allowance (30kg), newspaper and free refreshments, it’s almost rude not to!

Another nice facility is “Book Online, Pay Offline”. This enables those who only have access to ‘dodgy’ internet cafes to book a seat, and then pay for it at the airport, an ATM, or even the nearest 7-Eleven. Search!