Thai Airways First Class (Suites) Tokyo, Japan to Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) Review

Book your flight on Thai Airways here.

Introduction (Route, Equipment, Configuration)

I booked the flight using United miles as part of my journey from Washington, D.C.. I was surprised to find Thai First Class availability on that Intra-Asia route but really happy about it.

With Thai airlines the equipment and configuration is always a gamble but it turned out well for me - the 747-400 had the new First Class Suites product.













Cabin Appearance

The update to the old product is visible but it's not drastic. The suite privacy screens have changed cabin appearance. Before the upgrade it always had a living room atmosphere - not its more sleek but also less cozy.

There was only one other passenger in the cabin so it felt very private.





Seat (Space, Adjustability)

The seat is an evolution to Thai Airways already good First Class seat. In fact it's very similar to Lufthansa's new seat now. There is an LCD panel that let's you select which part of the seat to adjust. It's not for the uninitiated but a good idea to reduce the ever increasing number of buttons otherwise. There are also shortcuts for takeoff/lounging/flat.


































I found the seat to be very spacious and good for lounging and eating.

IFE (User Interface, Movie selection, moving map)

Very nice, new screen that provides a great display. The user interface of the new system is fickle though. My remote barely worked and the resume function of the IFE just showed a blank screen. Given the strong turbulence during this flight I found the entertainment system very frustrating to use.

Food (Presentation, Taste, Selection)

My experience with food on board Thai Airways has not been too pleasant so far. Most food was bland and unappetizing. Especially on the Seoul-Bangkok Business Class sectors it was downright inedible.

































However the catering on this flight was pretty good.

I really liked the pork green curry and the cheese after the main course. In fact my favorite cheese is Comte and the sort served was fantastic!

Before landing Häagen Dazs ice cream with coffee was served.

Sleeping (fully flat, comfort, mattress, side sleeping)

I wore the pajamas before takeoff until descending into Bangkok. They were soft and really comfortable.

The flight attendants transformed my seat into a bed with an additional mattress. The resulting bed was great! In terms of space and layout it was very similar to Lufthansa's First Class bed. Maybe it's even the same manufacturer? I was able to sleep 3.5 hrs during this day flight. It was easy to sleep on the side and on my stomach.

In fact sleeping was the most enjoyable part of the flight :)

Service (Friendliness, Responsiveness)

Very courteous flight attendants. However I feel the service is not as polished compared to other airlines and communication can be a challenge beyond very basic English. This is/was my experience on almost all Thai Airways flights so far.

Overall

Thai's new first class is great - especially the seat is very inducive to sleeping. Thai's First Class product is not as polished as other airlines but I like the quietness of the cabin and the sheer space that is available in First class passengers a lot. For a 6 hour fight it sure beats United Domestic First :)

Book your flight on Thai Airways here.