Hello from Tokyo, as Im currently in the middle of a review trip! I just flew Thai Airways Boeing 777-300ER first class on the 5hr30min flight from Bangkok (BKK) to Tokyo (NRT).
Continue reading: Thai Airways 777 First Class: Mostly Awesome
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The only reason TG still has a first-class cabin is because of Rama X and his consorts. The suites don’t have doors because he’s paranoid and suspects treason at any point in time, so when he travels he wants to carefully monitor what’s going on in the cabin.
Did Thai acquire those 777s from elsewhere? Can’t possibly be new aircraft i’d imagine
@ Willem -- Nope, brand new aircraft, amazingly. Some of the newest 777-300ERs in the world. Wild that the airline acquired these while trying to cut costs and retiring other equally efficient aircraft.
Like I've been saying over and over again, I wish more airlines would be creative and introduce some local flair with their desserts as the usual cakes and ice cream do get boring and repetitive. How hard it can it be for the likes of SQ and CX to have sweet soups and puddings for dessert?!
That Japanese meal looks similar to what they serve ex-TYO in J, even with the bento box and rice bowl. The only difference is the plating for the seabass.
Ben the ads are really making it difficult to read those reviews. It was not too bad until 1 or 2 weeks ago.
I may have to read on my phone where I have an ad-block.
I agree its extremely difficult and annoying to read reviews these days because of the ads. But he doesn't seem to care. Countless people have been complaining about this and he ignored every single message. Which is a shame, really.
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Nice short report. Wouldve appreciated pics about the beaten up cabin though.
Right?!?!? Weren’t they literally bankrupt about when these new planes were acquired?
(Would much rather they kept flying the 747s, or even the A380s if they wanted to keep flatbeds in Biz)
This looks like the same seats that were on the A380 upper deck back in the late naughts early teens. Maybe they reused the seats to save money
Absolutely agree with you. Just plain intrusive and repetitive. I've given up on several occasions and just moved on to something else.
That actually makes sense. TG was a loss-maker for the country as "influential" Thais were using the airline as their own personal transportation catering to their whims and fancies. The cretin you mentioned no doubt was using TG to ferry him to Europe to visit his many transvestite lovers there.
They do indeed look the same, but they are not. The a380 seats had more texture and pattern on them. I did think the same thing though, maybe some parts were reused, hence the wear and tear.
@ ben, you rank business class seats, but could it maybe be interesting to compare business class beds? Duvets, mattresses, sleeping area, privacy, etc. Especially transatlantic, there are so many different products out there
@ben - "Chinese crullers" = pa tong ko...Thai fritters that one dips in sauces/condensed milk/custard. So good when they are fresh out of the hot oil!
I was going to post that it was weird he didn't know this—they're everywhere in Thailand, at virtually every food market—but then I remembered that five-star Ben has likely never been to an actual Thai fresh market.
@ Ralph4878 @ Jeeda -- I'm aware of the alternative name, but "Chinese crullers" is also how it was written on the menu and described by the crew, hence why I wrote it that way. Jeeda, is your snide really necessary?
@ Kiwi -- While the concepts and colors are similar, they are in fact different seats, so they weren't reused.
Many years ago that was my First Frist Class flight ever. From Narita to Don Mueang airport. Everything was perfect - the service on the plane, I agree, implacable, they took me by hand (and buggy) everywhere. They got me through the diplomatic channel at the immigration, they drove me to the hotel and when I forgot to reserve the car back they called me to make sure one would be waiting for me.
Once they moved to BKK - the lounge had one hour massages, waterfalls in the spa, private rooms with huge TVs, attendants that would appear as Genies if you just looked at them. You felt like they cared about you every single second.
Over the years - sure other airlines did something better than Thai. Cathay lounge in HK with personal bathtubs and best wine selection on board, Emirates and showers, ANA and JAL with 18 and 21 year old Yamazaki and Hibiki whiskeys and incredible staff as well, and one very very special crew from Air France that made me feel like I was flying PanAm - Thai will away hold special place for me.
He's worth something like $30 billion, so why wouldn't just buy a Global 7500, or use VisaJet. You're right, the King is a very odd cat.
I had the same experience flying BKK-KIX in F last year. Service was incredible and so was the food. It was too short of a flight to enjoy everything on offer. I didn't notice the problems with the hard product but I guess those could have cropped up more recently.
In the lounge in BKK, I seemed to have dedicated staff and there was only 1 other F pax in that area so I thought service was very good there as well.
Thai Airways has been on the verge of bankrupcy for some years now, so I guess maintenance of the cabins has been slashed. Likewise the seemingly permanent closure of the F lounge appears to be a cost-cutting measure.
Regarding the overstaffing of the current F annexe, seems like they could do with less staff, trained up to deliver service akin to the F cabin. The lounge management needs a severe shakeup!
Glenn,
The "lounge management" (wagies) have no understanding of the business or ability to influence it... Please try to think... MANAGEMENT (actual) imposes expectations and plans on the organization and the wagies are to comply. Some Manager in some lounge has no authority to do this!!
@Jeeda why are you even here? If you have a problem with Ben's apparent privilege (I point out that he is a luxury travel writer) then you are free to simply not read what he writes. There are plenty of other blogs that have more relatable content. You must be going through a lot in your personal life if you feel the need to come on here snipe at people from afar. Hope it all works out.
This is the first time I have heard that TG offers again with F to Japan. (after they stopped it with their 744) I flew last December HND-BKK the midnight flight in J. (There was no F class) It was an A330- in TG Service since 2009. The cabin looked accordingly. I ordered a Vegetarian Meal. All I got was a plate of salad, the leaves I could not eat, just a few slices of tomato and yellow pepper. I asked for cheese/bread or anything else, but all they had was some mixed nuts. Sorry-that was all they loaded. Breakfast: The omelet was ok, but the vegetables were cold, the coffee was lukewarm and then I asked for a Perrier, which was served to me with no more gas- (they used a 1-liter bottle and for sure they forgot to close the bottle overnight). And the crew was not friendly at all. Back I flew in J on a 777 which did not have F. The cabin looked also a little aged, the meal was a bit better but nothing like on the BKK-MUC flight. I have the impression TG neglects their Japanese market.
You don't need doors if you have the entire cabin to your entourage.
You don't need a Bombardier when you can have a 777.
But @JohnRossa careful, you can get into trouble with just bad reviews on TripAdvisor.
Interesting, so you consider soft product impeccable because they address you by name and because they added very few small details to the meal service. Service to me is impeccable when they go above and beyond and it is more than what is expected and I will also consider the cost. Seems you should consider the terminology used. I do not think I would use impeccable to describe the service here although it was good or better than expected.
While I find the Thai Airways first class catering between Japan and Thailand (or vice versa) great I never pick the Japanese meal, it just does not measure up to JAL or ANA, even their business class meals on the route are way better. The pictures here just confirm that, the Japanese elements kind of look like a 7-11 Japan bento.
TG only have First Class on selected services due to only operating 3 777s with first class, HS-TTA, TTB & TTC.
The 3 services they send these planes are currently:
TG622/623 BKK-KIX-BKK
TG676/677 BKK-NRT-BKK
TG910/911 BKK-LHR-BKK
All other services will be 2 class, including all HND flights.
I believe these are new seats as the A380s although stored still retain their cabins. I will admit that they are very similar.
For what it's worth, the massages are an option at the Thai Air 1st class lounge again. Was just offered one!