Seeing as I'm up and awake at 3am it seems only appropriate that I should fill this time with a review of the cause of this bodyclock abnormality: my flight from London Heathrow to Bangkok via Thai Airways on flight TG917. Such reviews should always be taken with a pinch of salt, as each personal flight experience is hugely specific and subjective and occasionally due to factors out of the airline's control (e.g. the snoring of the person next to you!), but I hope that some use can be gleaned from the following.

Since my first visit to the Land of Smiles in 2005 I've used four or five different long-haul airlines to arrive at various times of the year, from various directions, and for various different prices, into Bangkok - all economy. The cheapest I have ever paid for a London-Bangkok leg was £300 ($470) in low season for a two-leg flight with Royal Jordanian via Amman, and the budget-conscious would do well to check out similar Middle-Eastern airlines for the cheapest, if not most convenient, deals.

Last year when planning my current trip, taken in near-peak season at the end of January, I found a two-leg flight via Oman on Gulf Air with a five hour layover for just over £400, which looked my best option (I was hoping to take the sting off the layover by enrolling in an airport lounge program and gaining access to a plush airport lounge, preferably with hot showers); unfortunately, I dilly-dallied with arrangements and when it came to making bookings, the cheapest flight's cost had risen by more than £100, to somewhere in the region of £530. Luckily before I booked anything I searched again for flights, and found that I could go from London by Thai Airways for just over £600 in 11 hours - direct.

When I looked at it, it was "only" an additional £100 ($150) each way from the original price to avoid the hassle of a long layover in a sand-blasted Middle Eastern hellhole of an airport. Whilst £200 can go a long way in Thailand, I quickly justified the extra outlay in my mind. I would advise any travellers on the LHR-BKK route - or any, in fact - to always shop around with a wide range of flight providers rather than just going for the cheapest option. At that later stage of booking it was just £70 more for a direct flight.

I had flown with Thai before regionally - to Ko Samui - and had a reasonable opinion of them. Pre-flight contact was perfectly fine; their website was a bit clunky and amateurish in parts and had some poor English translation littered about, but it was hardly anything to pick them up on. I was able to check in online and choose a seat, although unable to print a boarding card for the London-Bangkok leg. As it was, I waltzed straight up to the dedicated internet check-in desk at Heathrow anyway and was issued one without any hassle.

The plane was an A340 Airbus, certainly an older model of the fleet but clean and not in any state of disrepair. It had been selectively upgraded to keep it up to scratch, including that pimped-out neon lighting in the roofing you sometimes see and large touchscreen entertainment systems for every seat. This was turned on straight after the safety demonstrations, which was most welcome; some airlines only activate it once you're reached cruising altitude. However, both the responsiveness of the entertainment system and the choice of films/TV available was very poor in my eyes, especially when compared with an airline such as British Airways which has a top-notch interface and the latest flicks. The Thai Airways system was frequently completely unresponsive to touch, making it a hugely frustrating experience, and when the chap next to me got the attention of the cabin attendant about the system's non-performance, the attendant advised us to use the handheld controls to select films rather than the touchscreen, as it was "Windows 98" and frequently hangs if you use the touchscreen..!

I'm not a flight alkie by any stretch, but I do enjoy a couple of glasses of red wine on a plane as a sort of self-medication to assist sleep as best as possible in an unsleepable environment. In economy long-haul over the last six years a trend I have noticed is a dialling-down of the amount of booze that is openly dished out to the cattle class; it's always available, of course, but you have to actually go and get it, rather than the cart coming round. A way to save money, I guess. However, Thai were much more responsive to the level of wine in my glass than British Airways have ever been, and I was offered a couple of topups without prompting for them, which I thought was considerate service. The flight attendants were all polite and more than competent in their English and demeanour.

The food was acceptable; again, not as good as British Airways' food in my experience, but still edible, which is pretty much all you can hope for in economy I guess. The Thai chicken main meal was tasty (albeit made with thigh meat rather than breast) and the ricotta omelette/chicken sausage brekkie combo much less so, but both were welcome and I was not hungry in the time in between meals unlike I have been on similar length flights.

In summary, I would say my expectations of Thai Airways have been maintained; whilst I would not put them up with Cathay Pacific and British Airways in terms of quality, they are not far behind and I certainly rate them better than my last long-haul flight experience to Thailand with EVA. I would choose to fly with Thai Airways again.

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