Thai Airways 777 First Class: Mostly Awesome

Hello from Tokyo, as I’m 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).

I’ve flown Thai Airways first class many times over the years, on everything from the A340, to the A380, to the 747, to the 777. However, all those planes have been retired over the years. At this point, Thai Airways exclusively has first class on three 777s, all of which the airline started flying in 2022.

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What was my takeaway from the Thai Airways first class experience? While the hard product is underwhelming (and oddly beat up for a new aircraft), the soft product was phenomenal, from the food and drinks, to the service, to the amenities.

While I’ll have a full trip report soon, in this post I wanted to share some initial impressions of the experience.

Thai Airways’ new first class lounge is underwhelming

Historically the best part of Thai Airways first class was the ground experience. You got escorted every step of the way, and the former dedicated first class lounge was amazing, and you could even book a complimentary 60-minute full body massage.

While Thai Airways still offers the escort through the airport, unfortunately the former first class lounge has been closed. Now first class passengers get access to a dedicated section of the Thai Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge. It’s an oddly large space, when you consider that there’s typically at most one flight with first class at a time, so there are usually at most a handful of people in the lounge.

The lounge is nice enough, and has an extensive selection of food and drinks. What I found worst about the lounge was the service, and it’s feedback I’ve seen echoed by others who visited the lounge. The lounge is overstaffed, with more attendants standing around than guests. Still, service is not at all proactive.

Like, there were no proactive offers to refill drinks, and they even missed basic details. For example, when I was served the food I had ordered, they didn’t even bring silverware, and then when I asked for it, it took them several minutes to bring it.

I don’t get it, because it’s not that the staff weren’t friendly. But they just stand around looking at you, and don’t seem to be trained on how to provide proactive service. This seems like it should be an easy fix, no?

Thai Airways’ 777 first class seats are strange

Let me start with what I’d consider to be the most disappointing aspect of the Thai Airways first class experience — the seats. The cabin has eight seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. The seats are perfectly spacious, and I love the orchid pattern on the bulkhead.

There are a couple of quirks to the seat, though. For one, the seats don’t have doors, which you’d think would be a standard when a product is introduced in 2022. Instead, the seats just have a small privacy shield — you can see the “track” in the bottom right of the below picture.

But here was the most shocking part, for a plane that entered service two years ago — the cabin was in awful shape. None of the storage compartments opened easily, the tray table was really beat up, the controller wire was held together by tape, and the seat had so many stains.

For that matter, when I boarded the aircraft, a mechanic was fixing a couple of the first class seats, so there were even more issues than I would have assumed at first glance

I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a first class seat in such bad condition, let alone within a couple of years of being introduced. Did Thai Airways just choose a cheap product? Is the airline not maintaining these seats? I don’t get it…

Thai Airways’ first class service is impeccable

Now let’s get to the soft product, which was uniformly exceptional. In particular, the two flight attendants working first class — On and Bond — were superstars. They couldn’t have been friendlier, and were also exceptionally polished.

They addressed each first class passenger by name as they arrived at their seat from memory, they exuded such genuine warmth, and they had amazing product knowledge. For example, I ordered the Japanese meal, and they explained the exact details of every component of the meal without referencing anything. They almost made proactive recommendations about what to order, and anticipated any and all needs.

A good crew makes all the difference, and the professionalism of this crew more than makes up for any shortcoming of the hard product.

Thai Airways’ first class amenities are extensive

The amenities on this 5hr30min daytime flight exceeded my expectations. For one, there was a Porsche design amenity kit, with PAYOT products.

There were also lovely Thai Airways branded pajamas, created in partnership with Boggi.

The plane also had Wi-Fi, and first class passengers receive a voucher for complimentary inflight connectivity.

Thai Airways’ first class food & drinks are phenomenal

For a 5hr30min flight departing in the morning, the meal service exceeded all expectations, in terms of both quality and quantity. Thai Airways currently serves Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle champagne in first class — the airline used to have Dom Perignon, but Emirates has an exclusive on that nowadays.

Breakfast was served after takeoff, with Thai, Japanese, and Western options. I selected the Japanese option, which was phenomenal. The meal started with a fresh fruit plate, a bread basket, and Thai-style Chinese crullers with pandan custard and condensed milk.

That was followed by muesli, with the choice of fruit toppings.

Then there was the main feast, which was comprised of a Japanese bento set with appetizers, grilled sea bass, steamed rice, and miso soup. Yum, yum, yum.

Despite the short flight duration, there was a second meal service prior to landing. For this, I selected the Thai rice vermicelli noodles with prawns and peanut sauce, served with Thai sweets for dessert. I also drank Thai Airways’ signature drink, the Violet Bliss, which is a butterfly pea limeade.

I loved the attention to detail with the service, For example, after I was presented with the pre-arrival dish, Bond asked if he could put some shaved bergamot on the plate “for aroma.” What a detail-oriented touch!

Bottom line

I found the Thai Airways first class experience to be delightful, and it exceeded my expectations. The best part of the flight was the service, as On and Bond couldn’t have been better ambassadors for the airline and country. On top of that, the food and drinks were delicious, and amenities extensive.

What I can’t make sense of, though, is Thai Airways’ first class hard product. The airline introduced these seats in the past couple of years. Not only do they lack privacy compared to other first class products out there, but the seats are in awful condition. I’m not sure what’s going on.

Anyway, despite some shortcomings with the hard product, I’d love to fly with Thai Airways again in first class, as the soft product was pure perfection.

What’s your take on Thai Airways’ 777 first class?