For the domestic markets, there are more than six airlines registered in Thailand. They all have their own policy and different from each other about the price, the loyalty system, the baggage policy, etc. and that’s why choosing and booking for a domestic flight in Thailand is not as easy as it seems to be.

Domestic airlines operating popular in Thailand nowadays are Thai Airways, Thai Smile, Bangkok Airways, AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air, Kan Air and Orient Thai Airlines.

Some general tips when booking a domestic airline in Thailand:

• The popular site for booking is https://www.vietnam-transports.com/. This site helps you to easily secure a good deal without wasting time comparing.
• Check carefully before booking to make sure that you don’t miss any promotional event offering by the airlines.

Following are main features of the domestic airlines in Thailand:

1. Thai Airways

Thai Airways is the only airline that offers the full service for the domestic flights, they have food, drink and entertainment during the flight for all classes. They have the 32-inch seat pitches, the largest one comparing to the other airlines.

Thai Airways offers domestic flights from only 5 destinations, they are Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi, and Samui.

The ticket price of this airline is one of the most expensive, it is about 1.5 times more than the average. But if you book the tickets one month in advance or more, you can get the tickets with the lower price.

There are only 3 airlines in Thailand allowing pets, and the Thai Airways is one of them. You have to contact at least 48 hours before the departure time for this special service.

2. Thai Smile

This is actually a subsidiary company of Thai Airways but with the lower ticket price, different service system and fewer routines, only 11 domestic routines around major destinations, covering all from the Thai Airways, excepting Samui.

With a lower price, services offered by Thai Smile are not as good as Thai Airway, e.g. food and drink, they have only water bottle and snack box instead of various kinds of food and drink from Thai Airways.

However; compared to the budget airlines, the ticket price of Thai Smile is only slightly more but the services they offer are definitely much better.

3. Bangkok Airways

Bangkok Airways in a boutique airline coming with one of the best service system you can receive among the domestic airlines in Thailand. Bangkok Airways has the lounge for passengers of all classes. The seats of this airline are biggest, they are 19.8 inches.

One other great feature of Bangkok Airways is that it offers many flights everyday between all popular destinations in Thailand. They have 20 daily direct flights from Bangkok to Samui (the destination which is not covered in the flights schedule of many other airlines).

The sport equipment is allowed in Bangkok Airways’ flight provided that it is within the baggage allowed. If it is beyond the allowance, you have to pay 80 TBH for each kilogram.

The ticket price of Bangkok Airways is pretty high, it is said to be only lower than Thai Airways’.

4. AirAsia

AirAsia is the most popular budget airline in Thailand, they also offer the promotions throughout the year.

This airline has a wide list of domestic routes covering 19 provinces of Thailand, all the major destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai are definitely included.

The low cost leads many things to be noticed: everything else except the carry-on baggage are not free such as meals, insurance, seat reservation and checked luggage. The seats are small, some at only 17 inches and the seat pitch is small also, 29 inches on average.

AirAsia is especially strict about the weight you passengers should be careful on it or you will have to pay excessive fee.

You are recommended to book AirAsia’s tickets through the website: https://thailand.airasiago.com, especially when you book the flight with a hotel. You can save an additional 10% to 50%, even 70% during promotional periods on hotel and flights.

If you fly without luggage, it is highly recommended that you should check-in online so that you don’t have to wait in a long queue for check-in at the counter.

5. Nok Air

Nok Air is a premium with low-cost airline in Thailand which means that it has budget flight with great services. Except a 7kg carry-on baggage, snack, water, advanced seat reservation and Wi-Fie are available without cost in the flights of Nok Air. Especially, a bike less than 30 kg per person can be loaded for free.

Nok Air is the airline covering most domestic destinations, 20 provinces all over Thailand.

One of the bad things about this airline is the delays. They regularly delay from thirty minutes to five hours.

The ticket price of this airline is higher than AirAsia’s. If you want to get the cheaper tickets, book your tickets a few weeks, at least 2 weeks, in advance. And the best time to do it is from Tuesday to Thursday.

6. Thai Lion Air

Thai Lion Air is also a budget airline.

This airline has the smallest seats, only 17 inches.

Unlike other low-cost airlines, Thai Lion Air provides flights between only 11 provinces all over Thailand, which are all popular ones.

The ticket price of Thai Lion Air is pretty low but it changes based on the dates booked. The sooner you book the tickets, the lower they get to be. Therefore; it is highly recommended that you should book your ticket weeks in advance.

7. Kan Air

If you want to fly from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, it is a good idea because it is only a small local airline in Chiang Main and provides only from 2 to 3 flights from Chiang Mai including this route.

This airline can only contain up to 66 passengers per flight due to the small aircraft.

8. Orient Thai Airlines

This is a small airline which covers only a single domestic route from Dong Mueng to Phuket.

The ticket price of Orient Thai Airlines is surprisingly cheap but there are inconveniences when delaying without telling passengers in advance.

Comparison table for domestic airlines in Thailand

(*) compared to the normal price