Early 2020 AD. Timothy and I embark on a 21st century Odyssey. On the Majestic Princess from Sydney to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. Back to Sydney, then to Melbourne and flying back home.

Between our Swiss flight inbound from Zurich and our Thai Airways flight outbound to Sydney we had a little under 7 hours to kill in Bangkok. The first thing would be to cross transfer security and obtain boarding passes for our connecting flight to Sydney as they had to check we had an e-Visitor for entry into Australia. After going to through the motions we were invited to go to the Royal Silk Lounge, the Thai Airways business class lounge.

Upon admission we were handed a wifi code, for a good working WiFi network.  The lounge looked very purple and a bit tired and dated, consisting of a long room along the main terminal building. There were plenty of seats but almost all of the same design, grouped around low tables and no power plugs.

There were a number of food and beverages stations offering a mix of hot and cold dishes as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

 

Even though there where 2 toilet facilities (with toilets looking like flower pots) they didn’t have shower facilities. As we were keen to shower after the 10 hour long flight we were invited to enter into the Royal Orchid Lounge next door (normally dedicated to the higher tier frequent flyers of Thai Airways) where we could have a shower.

The Royal Orchid Lounge looked a bit fresher and newer than the Royal Silk Lounge, sporting some walls incorporating hanging gardens. The colours used throughout the lounge also had a more contemporary feel. The food and drinks was similar to the one offered in the Royal Silk Lounge.

 

The shower itself had a toilet and a spacious shower cubicle. It was a bit cold inside and the shower did not offer a rain shower head, only a hand held one. The water temperature fluctuated a lot between ice cold and steaming hot which did not invite for taking long showers. While towels where provided and toiletries in big dispensers hanging to be used there were no extra amenities like toothbrushes or combs provided (unlike in the Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong) so we were lucky to have brought a toothbrush from the plane.

 

All business class passengers are also entitled to a complimentary 30 minutes massage in the Royal Orchid Spa, located across the corridor from the Royal Silk Lounge. You have a choice between a foot or a neck and shoulder massage. We both selected the head and shoulder massage and received a thorough treatment. It really is a nice gimmick as Thailand is considered to be the home of massages.

The combined lounges offered a good product for the airline’s homebase, but they are not above and beyond other lounges. They could do with a refresh here and there and maybe a slightly better equipped shower experience for the business class guests.

Have you visited the Thai Airways lounge in Bangkok? And what did you make of it? Let us know in the comments below.