Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Bottom Line

Introduction

We arrived really early for our flight on Air India to Mumbai. We had spent the day exploring the near by areas by Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. Around 4 hours before departure, we returned to the airport. When we arrived, the Air India check in counter was closed. We already had our boarding passes. We had obtained them when we arrived originally, since the transfer desk for the early morning flight was still open. Security was fairly quick, but the language barrier was noticeable when they found an extra battery I carry for my phone. I told them that it was within the limits that are allowed on planes, but they did not understand. The supervisor was very helpful, as she served as an interpreter, and we were on our way to Concourse C, where our flight was set to depart. There we would find the Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge.

 

The Lounge

When we arrived at the lounge, the friendly agent checked us in. We looked around and noticed that it was mostly empty. That surprised me at first, but then I realized that this lounge (it seemed) was used mostly by partner airlines, as there was another Royal Silk Lounge a few hundred feet away. The lounge itself was pretty basic. There was one conference room which was locked when we arrived. A large seating area with a TV that was turned off the whole time we were there. There were also two computer stations, with decent internet connection.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK

Probably the best part of the lounge was the view of the terminal. It was located on a Mezzanine level, and you could see the sheer size of the terminal from there. My dad and I kept walking around the lounge, and took time to appreciate the “buffet”. There was one entrée item, a pad thai of sorts, and the other one was a steamer, hopefully for buns, that never materialized. There were also sandwiches, pastries and fruit. The self serve bar was modest, all the basics, but nothing premium. Along side to it was a fridge with a couple brands of beer, soda and juices.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Self-Serve Bar

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Self-Serve Bar

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Food Spread

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Food Spread

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Food Spread

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Food Spread

The Nap Room

The saving grace to this lounge, and the only reason we stayed there for more than 20 minutes, was the sleeping room. The lounge had about four cubicles that you could sleep in. They had a full sized bed, with a pillow and a lamp next to it. I encourage people to use a shirt as a pillow cover just in case, I might be paranoid but better safe than sorry J. Surprisingly, the beds were very comfortable and I slept for a solid hour and a half.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Sleep Room

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge BKK Sleep Room

After going back to see if the food had been replaced, and getting disappointed, I worked on a few things for about 20 minutes and then left to try the much better (and very affordable) food available in the terminal. Soon, we would be off to our next destination: Mumbai, on board Air India’s new 787 Business Class.

 

Landing Thoughts

I had very high expectations of this lounge coming in.The Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge was truly a disappointment. I have heard wonders of Thai Airway’s Ground Experience. This was an underwhelming lounge, with very few amenities and food spread that was, well, almost not there. Granted, this lounge seemed to be contracted off to other Star Alliance carriers, it left me disappointed on Thai Airways product. The sleeping room, though, was the only thing that stood out there, and I would encourage people with long layovers to spend some time there if you want to recover. A solid place to escape the crowds, but not much better than a US based lounge in a non-hub.