Prior to a flight in Thai Airways First Class from Bangkok to Tokyo, I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige First Class Lounge.
Having been to a handful of First Class lounges for other airlines, I was curious to see how this one would hold up, especially since it’s relatively new.
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige First Class Lounge Bangkok – Access
I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, as I wanted to take advantage of everything the First Class lounge has to offer. I’m also not in this part of the world as often as I’d like to be, so this was an opportunity to experience something relatively rare for me.
The Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is the airline’s newest lounge offering. It officially opened in November 2019, only to be shuttered due to the pandemic shortly thereafter, only to reopen again with restrictions in December 2021.
Right after I cleared Fast Track security, the Thai Airways representative who had assisted with my check-in found me, and whisked me away to the lounge.
The lounge is very conveniently located just after the Fast Track security lane. Simply head down a set of escalators to Level 3, and you’ll arrive at one of the entrances.
If you’re accessing the lounge from the main part of the terminal, you’ll find the main entrance located just across from Gate D4.
The Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is open daily from 5am–2am. In my case, I arrived around 5:30am, since I’d stayed at a nearby airport hotel for quick access.
The First Class area of the lounge is located in the western flank of the lounge. In the much larger eastern section is the area for business class passengers, and anyone with Star Alliance Gold status.
Much to my dismay, the Royal Orchid Spa, where both business class and First Class passengers enjoyed complimentary treatments in the past, still remains closed.
I enjoyed access to this lounge on account of my Thai Airways First Class ticket. However, you’ll also gain entry if you’re departing on a First Class flight with another Star Alliance airline, including one guest, or if you hold Thai Airways Royal Orchid Platinum status.
After walking through the business class section, we approached the First Class area, and were greeted by three Thai Airways representatives. As one proceeded to unlatch the cordoned-off area, I was officially welcomed into the First Class section of the lounge.
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige First Class Lounge Bangkok – Seating
After walking through the dining area, you’ll encounter the main seating area, which comes with a plentiful amount of wing chairs, arranged neatly. Each is accompanied with a bright, colourful cushion, which adds nice pops of colour to the space.
The central seating area has single chairs arranged in rows of three, with marble tables and curved lamps resting in between.
You’ll also find tables arranged in pairs facing each other, both along the glass wall that faces the terminal, as well as closer to the dining area.
There’s not a particularly wide variety of seating here, but I found it to be quite comfortable while overlooking the hallways of the main terminal. It’s worth noting that there are charging stations built into each of the tables.
To the right of the main seating area, and just behind the hallway to the restrooms, is another seating area with a similar arrangement of chairs. In this space, there are five chairs against one wall, and four chairs set against another.
Some walls of the lounge are made of faux greenery. Personally, I found this design to be attractive, although maybe not quite what one might expect in a First Class lounge.
It’s also worth noting that the décor in the First Class section largely matches that of the remainder of the lounge; however, the First Class section has nicer seats.
Tucked away in the corner of the lounge is an opaque door labelled “Private Room”. Inside, there’s a private seating area and a flat-screen TV.
The lounge was very quiet during my visit, and I didn’t have a problem finding a space to call my own. I wound up sipping on a cappuccino for a while, before I headed over to have breakfast.
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige First Class Lounge Bangkok – Dining & Bar
After passing through the tall decorative flowers that adorn the entrance of the First Class section, I found myself in a quaint dining area. Here, there’s a selection of small round tables with colourful chairs, each dressed in a tablecloth.
Most of the tables were small, and could only accompany up to two diners at a time.
To the right of the entrance is a self-serve buffet and drinks station. During my visit, there were only a few sweets available at the buffet, and I had someone checking in on me often for drinks.
Just prior to the First Class section of the lounge is the main bar area, which was fully staffed even during the wee hours of the morning.
It’s also worth noting that there were more staff members than guests, and I was offered assistance everywhere I went.
As I took my seat, I was offered a glass of the Thai Airways signature drink, anchan, or butterfly pea flower tea.
The Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige First Class Lounge offers its most premium passengers a fully à la carte dining experience. There are separate menus available for food and drinks.
The food menu during my visit read as follows:
And the beverage menu during my visit read as follows:
Rather than having separate menus for each meal of the day, all meals are available with a single menu.
Breakfast is served in the lounge from 5–11am, and the lunch and dinner options are available from 11am–2am.
There are a handful of options available for each meal service, although it’s worth noting that nothing really appeared to be elevated to a First Class level.
I might have preferred to order some of the Thai dishes from the lunch and dinner menu; however, they weren’t available during my early morning visit.
It’s a similar story for the beverage list. You can choose from a variety of hot and cold beverages, but there’s nothing that really stands out as an elevated First Class beverage list.
In particular, the alcohol selection appeared to be pretty par-for-the-course.
I wasn’t particularly hungry, and I also wanted to save the majority of my appetite for the flight. After enjoying a cappuccino, I sat down in the dining area and ordered another cappuccino, a toasted coconut, a lime smoothie, and a bowl of shrimp wonton soup.
Everything was tasty, although I might have preferred a larger portion of soup. Surely, I could’ve just ordered another one, but I’d sufficiently whetted my appetite, and decided to hold off for the remainder of my stay.
Overall, I don’t have anything bad to say about my dining experience at the Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge Bangkok, but nothing really stood out as exceptional, either.
Thai Airways Royal Orchid First Class Lounge Bangkok – Other Facilities
Between the dining area and the main seating area, you’ll find some TVs with departure information available. First Class passengers have a staff member assigned to them, so there’s not really a need to pay attention to them.
Just to the left of the departure screens is the entrance to a hallway, which is where you’ll find the restrooms and shower rooms.
The men’s room was spotless, although once again there wasn’t anything in particular that made it stand out as a First Class restroom, perhaps aside from the marble countertops and urinal partitions.
In the same hallway are several shower rooms.
The shower rooms are quite spacious, and come complete with an LED-backlit vanity, a toilet with a bidet hose, and a handful of amenities.
Generally speaking, I take every opportunity possible to bathe at airports; however, I opted to skip the showers this time around.
Conclusion
I had a nice stay in the Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige First Class Lounge in Bangkok prior to my flight to Tokyo. Overall, I was happy to have experienced it, but I couldn’t help but sense that it didn’t feel like a true First Class lounge.
The service in the lounge was excellent, which was likely a product of me being one of the only people in there for the entirety of my stay. The food and drinks were quite nice, but there wasn’t anything that stood out as spectacular, either.
In terms of décor, I was quite fond of the furniture and the uses of colour, especially when compared to the other section of the lounge.
I’m cautiously optimistic that the Royal Orchid Spa will come back after being shuttered since the start of the pandemic, which would be a step in the right direction for ramping up the Thai Airways First Class experience a bit more.
