Review of Thai Airways flight from Tokyo to Bangkok in First

Hello everyone, welcome back to another flight review. This one was one of the best flights I’ve taken, aboard Thai Airways First from Narita over to Bangkok on the Boeing 777-300 ER. I’ve always wanted to try Thai F, but the service is only offered on three routes nowadays-to and from Tokyo Narita, Osaka, and London. The soft service was arguably some of the best I’ve experienced, on par with the likes of Emirates and Starlux F.

I arrived in Narita off my previous ANA flight from ORD, and with only two hours in between I was glad to see my previously flight arrived early. Check in was really quick, I chose 2K a window seat in the second row. Unfortunately, no First class lounge access was available at Narita. Interestingly, F class passengers on Emirates flying out of Haneda is given access to JAL’s F lounge, today I had my choice between Turkish lounge, United club, or the ANA lounge. I had far too many bowls of noodles on my previous flight so I took some time to plane spot. I took a quick walk around the United Club, which was packed.

 

The corridor down to my gate might as well be Denver, Chicago, or another major United hub in the US. There were at least 12 United birds one after another, this was an epic shot of the clouds!

As I headed to my gate, I was ecstatic to see ANA’s A380 parked right up against the glass. This was the first time seeing it so close-up, oh how beautiful this bird is! I soon realized all 3 were parked here today, but none had a better view than the one here. 

Boarding soon commenced and we were off onto our bird. 

Here is the first glance of the F cabin, two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration.

First class has a stylish yellow color that stands out from the dominant purple of the cabin. The mural matches the yellow color, while the one behind in business returns to the signature purple. The seat was very similar to the one I just took on ANA’s older F product. There is a lack of privacy without any doors but an incredible amount of space.

Waiting for me was a bottle of water, some chocolates, a Lamer amenity kit, pajamas, a duvet, and slippers.

Immediately, my purser came over to introduce himself and welcome me to the flight. He was incredibly welcoming and asked about my travels and any previous trips to Bangkok. He introduced me to all the features of the seat and continued to emphasize never to hesitate to reach out whenever I needed anything.

There was ample storage space around the seat with space under the ottoman, and against the side. 

The duvet also matched the royal yellow color, it was also very comfy. The amenity kit was by Lamer, and featured some skincare products. I just love the Thailand design on the front. 

Here's a look at the extensive menu. T

hai offers lots of signature drinks, and two meal services aboard this 5-and-a-half-hour journey. 

And the drinks

I kicked things off with some champagne, which came with a hot towel. I also tried one of the chocolates, which was incredible. 

Once we began taxing, I got a glimpse at one of the other A380s parked near us. A trip aboard one of those is definitely on the bucket list.

I then asked my purser if there were any souvenirs I could take home, considering this is likely my only experience on Thai F. He apologized for not having anything on offer, but insisted he would put something together. He came back with a small goodie bag with some Thai branded essentials such as dental kits and eyemasks, there was also an awesome Thai branded postcard. These small acts really improve the experience. Two other crew members also came over to introduce themselves and have a quick chat with me, some of the most welcoming and warm crew I’ve experienced. 

Here's a quick glimpse at the purple colored business class cabin

Soon, we pushed out of Narita on our way over to Bangkok. The crew quickly began working on starting the meal service, beginning with three different drinks from the menu. I had wanted to just try one of the alcoholic options, but they insisted I try both. I ordered the champagne cocktail, a fruit iced tea, and the signature lychee cocktail that Thai co-branded with Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. The cocktails were on the sweeter side, but my purser immediately offered to spice them up by adding some vodka to the concoctions, that really kicked it up a notch.

The meal began with the amuse bouche of Japanese tofu and seaweed salad with tomato-thyme jelly and ponzu sauce, beef bresaola and dried apricots with balsamic vinaigrette, and some nuts and raisins. It was strange that no tablecloth was provided, but that did come with our next course. The tofu dish tasted slightly strange, the sauce wasn’t really my cup of tea, but the beef worked wonders. In hindsight, the tofu was literally the only aspect of the meal service that was slightly off, as you will soon see the rest was all incredible.

A small interlude came with the headphones which didn’t seem to work with my IFE system. After changing two different ones, we realized the issue was with the plug instead of the headphones. My purser offered to switch my seat to that on my left, and thus welcome to my new home! The headphones were on the smaller side and couldn't fully cover my ears, which did affect the noise cancellation feature just a tad. 

Caviar service was up next. This was the biggest tin of caviar I’m tried in the air (other than Emirates and their spread), and all the accompaniments were awesome. My purser came to offer a shot of vodka with it, but after sleeping just 4 of the last 24 hours, vodka would have taken me out!

! Then came the starter of a lobster tail tartlet with sauteed mushrooms and shallots, beef tataki, and enoki mushrooms. The lobster tartlet was incredible. The meat was so tender and the sauce reminded me of the gravy from poutine, which was a surprisingly tasty combination. The beef wasn’t as exciting but tasted great with the mushroom and its accompanied sauce. 

I also realized there was a small area to hang your clothes on the left of the seat.

For the main, I went with the lobster in Chu Chee Curry with jasmine rice. This was phenomenal. The sauce and meat worked so well together. The crew kept coming by to check up on how everything tasted, which I really appreciated. The dish was also accompanied by boneless chick wings, sauteed vegetables and gingko nuts with oyster sauce, thai spicy shrimp paste dip, and boiled green beans and a spicy soy sauce. Everything was so wonderful, the spicy kick has always been a huge green flag with Thai cuisine. This meal matched and even trumped most Thai meals I’ve had on the ground, I didn’t leave anything left on my tray.

Once the main meal concluded, I couldn’t for the life of my get around to a huge cheese plate. My crew was insistent, however, I try the dessert trio. The fruit plate was quite small but the melon was the highlight, the dessert trio featured a black sesame ice cream, a Japanese wagashi, and an orange-chocolate tart with chocolate ganache and caramel sauce. Thai was celebrating their 65th anniversary, and that was printed on the top of the tart, a nice touch.

Once the meal concluded, the crew came over to begin turndown service. The bed was extremely comfortable, although on a longer flight I would have enjoyed a slightly thicker blanket. But it was perfect for a shorter one like this. Before dozing off, the crew asked if I wanted to be woken up for the second meal, to which I kindly declined. I really felt I needed some sleep and I genuinely couldn’t take any more food for the day, no matter how much I wanted to try the second meal.

. I went to check out the toilet which had some cloths folded into flowers. There were also some amenities such as towels, dental kit, and mouthwash.

After a solid three hours of sleep, the captain announced we were descending into Bangkok. My purser came around to ask for another round of drinks and helped me set up the QR code I needed to fill in for customs. I again really felt the important Thai places on their customer appreciation as three of the crew tried for around 15 minutes nonstop to help me fix the issue with my customs card. Before landing, all three F crew members went around to thank all of us for flying with them, and asked what we planned on doing and hoped to see us again soon. Never did any of them present themselves without a massive smile. With Thai pulling most of their F routes and retiring quite a significant portion of their fleet, namely their A380s, whether crew or food, Thai’s soft product really stands out as one of the best in the industry.

My first time back in Thailand since 2018, hopefully I’ll get a chance to spend more time here in the future! To my surprise, the F service continued after we landed. A Thai representative greeted me at the gate and took me through fast-track customs. He also took me all the way to the taxi stand and didn’t leave until he saw me safely leave the airport. Hello Bangkok!