Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Business Class Lounge Bangkok
Intro
On the next portion of my trip over to Bali in Business Class, I had the opportunity to check out the Thai Airways Lounge in Bangkok. Over the years, I have had the privilege to spend numerous hours in this lounge on separate occasions while enjoying every minute.
The Thai Airways lounge in Bangkok is pretty good for a lounge. It doesn't feature sit-down dining or the fanciest champagne, but the hard product makes up for it. It's actually sort of funny since when on the plane, it's almost the opposite with a subpar hard product but a fantastic soft product😅.
Let's get into it!
Location+Access
The Thai Airways lounge is extremely easy to find when Bangkok is your original departure destination. Upon heading through the dedicated business class check-in and immigration, there will be signs immediately leading down the escalators to the lounge. It's honestly almost impossible to miss the lounge.
Once you get downstairs, a member of staff will be stationed at the front desk to welcome you in.
If you are not originating in Bangkok, be aware that the lounge can a bit of a trek when on a connecting ticket. The lounge is located by the E gates, around E5 if I recall correctly, and right next to the Singapore Airlines Lounge.
Access at the Thai Airways Lounge follows protocols similar to those of the worldwide Star Alliance Lounges. Passengers flying in Business Class or First Class on a Star Alliance carrier are granted access, along with Star Alliance gold members.
When it comes to connecting tickets, Thai Airways isn't the most generous. When my inbound flight was business, and my outbound was in economy on TG, I was not granted access. That's one of the biggest faults of this lounge.
The lounge is open from 5 am to 2 am daily.
Seating
The Royal Silk Lounge is gigantic and easily accommodates over 300 people. Every time I visit, it seems to be extremely busy, especially in the late mornings and evenings.
Thai Airways has done a great job with the colors in the lounge; it is certainly aesthetically pleasing, to say the least. There are multiple different options depending on where you want to sit, including multiple seating spots in small nooks and crannies.
I found a spot near the First Class Lounge that was quite quiet. At this time of the morning, it happens to just be very very busy.
Food+Drink
Buffets at lounges don't impress me that much in general; it's when business-class lounges have sit-down restaurants that I get excited. With that being said, the Thai Airways Royalsilk lounge was impressive, featuring made-to-order eggs, ramen, and miso, to name a few options.
A couple of different food stations were throughout the lounge, featuring small bites from croissants to cereal and other bits and bobs. The most important part of every lounge, though, is the coffee, and Thai Airways does well with their coffee machines around the lounge.
Two separate bars are located near each of the entrances. The liquors on offer are a bit disappointing and nowhere near high-end. Even the sparkling wine on offer, as well as the red and whites, were of lower quality. I understand the taxes are expensive when it comes to liquor in Thailand, but a champagne would go a long way. Heck, even the First Class Lounge only serves Moet😒.
Other Amenities
Naturally, free wifi is offered to passengers, like almost all business-class lounges in the world. Simply head onto the wifi and insert your first and last name, along with your flight number. It wasn't the quickest in the world, but I did manage to watch a YouTube video.
Lastly, there is a large toilet for each woman and man. Showers are available upon request, and the best part is that the wait is usually not too long!
Final Thoughts
The Thai Airways lounge is that student in school who consistently gets a B across their classes. Every time you go there, you know what to expect, and the service is a form of proper Thai hospitality. The fantastic color schemes, the decent buffet, made-to-order eggs, showers, and free Wi-Fi make for a pleasant stay for a few hours. With that being said, I would like to see TG implement some better liquors and not have bottled orange juice. The quality of their onboard product is night and day to the lounge.
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