Initial Thoughts: Thai Airways Business Class 787-8 Manila-Bangkok

Having just flown on the Thai Airways Boeing 787-8 yesterday I wanted to share my initial thoughts on this product since I don't have time until after the whole trip to write a whole review.

These are the five major things I noticed

The Service

The service on the 2 hours and 50-minute flight was nothing short of outstanding, not necessarily for me but I had someone with a disability sitting next to me. The staff were so accommodating and helped her throughout the flight to stand up and go to the restroom when she needed to and talked her through every part of the flight so she wasn't nervous. It goes to show the level of hospitality on Thai Airways, 5 stars. They were also very nice to me the whole flight although I slept most of the way since I was violently ill with the 24-hour flu.

The Seats

To put this bluntly the seats were battered I'm pretty sure when I put the seat in lie-flat it woke up the whole plane, it was like scraping a knife on a plate. I will say if you choose to fly this plane I would recommend seat 11A as the footwell is much larger than any other row which makes a huge difference. However, I did sleep like an absolute baby, probably because I was so ill but the bed felt like heaven.

The Food

For a 2-hour and 50-minute flight, the food was fine, the choices were a chicken or beef lasagna and I opted for the beef Lasagna. I will note that these were the same options provided to me when I flew CGK-BKK in August earlier this year which is fine but the menu could use a refresh. The Garlic Bread on Thai Airways never fails to disappoint and certainly didn't today either. Thai Airways also served Tattinger champagne which is a nice touch for a short flight.

The IFE

Although I didn't mind too much since I just ate and slept the IFE was extremely old and in need of a refresh immediately. There were a couple of decent options but not compared to United's or Emirates' IFE. Supposedly there is wifi on board although I was too zoned out to even think to check. I mean just take a look at this picture below to summarize the IFE.

The Planes Need Some TLC

What took me back is how beat up the Boeing 787-8 was. Some of Delta's 20+ year old 767's are in much better condition. When the flaps went down and up it sounded like cranking with stops and starts. The seats were also quite beat up as well as the window dimmers. It is good to hear that even though Thai Airways filed for bankruptcy a couple of years ago they have placed a soft order to modernize their fleet so this shouldn't be a problem for much longer.

Conclusion

Thai Airways is a functional way to get from Manila to Bangkok and probably the nicest way direct. The food was mediocre, and the planes were battered but the service was phenomenal which goes to show my hypothesis. A Thai Airways flight is always a good flight. I would recommend it. However, in my next article, you can read about the shenanigans that took place at Bangkok airport and why I might not ever fly Thai Airways again.