Trip Report: Thai Airways PVG-BKK A350 Royal Silk Business Class

Off to Nepal and Bhutan! But first, a stop in Bangkok (BKK).

This year I’ve used BKK as a transit stop a few times. First from Shanghai to Sydney (when I misconnected in BKK and had to stay overnight). Then from Bangladesh to Vietnam, where a Biman Bangladesh flight connecting to a Thai Airways flight was the best itinerary. And now this trip.

Taking us from Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) to BKK was this beautiful Airbus A350. The airplane itself I find nice looking, while I’ve always thought Thai’s livery and brand identity were really pretty.

I bought this ticket last minute, and business class - what they call “Royal Silk” class - was not much more than economy class. So I sprung for “Royal Silk.”

Awaiting me at the seat were a big pillow and blanket, along with a pair of noise-cancelling earphones.

And an amenity kit! I was so surprised, that on a flight with flight time of 3 hour 15 min (though scheduled for 4.5 hrs), there was a full amenity kit.

The contents…

Prior to takeoff, I was offered orange juice or tamarind tea. I took the tamarind tea, which was a little sweet for me. Along with this came a hot towel.

Then it was time to depart.

PVG Terminal 2 always has a nice range of airlines… Turkish, Lufthansa, Emirates,…

There was a nice view of downtown Pudong and Puxi on the climb out.

Already at the seat were menus.

The menu for dinner.

We started out with some mixed nuts and dried fruit (like dried papaya, pineapple, raisins). Before takeoff, I saw someone with this purple drink and quickly Googled it. It’s Thai’s signature drink, “Violet Breeze.” Pea flower tea with lime. The purple perfectly matches the color of the coasters! I also thought this was a little sweet, but cut with some water it was rather refreshing. With the tamarind tea, I’m really thankful that Thai has some interesting non-alcoholic drinks on offer!

The appetizer plate came around, with a slice of beef, two shrimp, and asparagus. There was also a selection of garlic bread, French rolls, and soft dinner rolls. The garlic bread was nice and crunchy and buttery. So PVG flight kitchens are capable of decent bread after all…

I like the Thai metal cutlery… and there were so many forks, knives, and spoons.

For the main course, I chose the chicken in Massaman curry. I wish it were a little spicier, and the sauce was a little oily. It came with egg omelette and green beans.

Then it was a little confusing for me the rest of the service. The flight attendant came through with a cart of fruit and cheese, and offered it to everyone. So I took a plate. I ate all of the grapes; the cheese were ok, which I ate with the bread roll from earlier, as well as crackers.

Then I was sitting around for the longest time, and the flight attendant asked if I wanted dessert. So I said yes. I waited around more, and then she asked if I wanted tea or coffee or dessert. And I said dessert again since I was curious still, and brought out this chocolate mousse. Which I think I had had in economy class on a previous flight.

Then after I thought dinner was really over, a flight attendant came around with a big tray of strawberry and vanilla Haagen Dazs. This wasn’t on the menu! I took a vanilla. It took a while for the ice cream to defrost to an okay texture. I couldn’t finish even this small cup, since by this time I was already on my third dessert! (For the record, I couldn’t finish the chocolate mousse or the cheese either.)

I watched parts of the movie Dunkirk, not finding a lot of other films or TV shows I was interested in on the entertainment system.

At the end of the flight when preparing the cabin for landing, the flight attendants came around collecting the headphones, so I couldn’t watch more of the movie. Interestingly, they also came around and collected the thin paper menus. I guess it’s more environmentally friendly to reuse them. But I’m glad I packed mine away in advance, as a souvenir.