Thai Airways is the flagship carrier of Thailand, one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destinations. The Star Alliance partner offers up to three classes of service depending on the route: First Class, business class, and economy.
Marketed as Royal Silk Class, Thai Airways’s business class cabin can be found on all international flights and on most regional routes as well.
In this guide, we’ll explore Thai Airways Royal Silk business class and dive into everything you can expect before and during your business class flight, as well as a look into cabins, aircraft, and current routes.
Additionally, we’ll check out the best ways to redeem points to fly Thai Airways in its Royal Silk business class at a significantly reduced rate.
The Thai Airways Business Class Experience
While Thai Airways’ Royal Silk class may be a step down from its First Class product, you’ll still be able to enjoy a bed in the sky on certain routes, as well as excellent Thai Airways services before and during your flight.
If you’re departing from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), a unique perk that’s offered with your Royal Silk ticket is the opportunity to enjoy a complimentary pre-flight massage, before further relaxing in one of the Royal Silk lounges.
Onboard your flight, you’ll have access to a spacious seat, delicious Thai cuisine, and attentive service, all of which we’ll go over in more detail a little later.
Ground Experience
As a traveller in the Royal Silk class, you’ll have an expedited check-in and security lane to help speed through these processes.
You’ll also have access to Thai Airways Royal Silk lounges, as well as the Royal Orchid lounges. In these lounges, you’ll be able to relax before your flight and enjoy buffet-style snacks and simple meals, as well as a full bar to help you further unwind.
If you’re flying out of Bangkok, by far the highlight of Thai Airways’ ground experience for business class passengers is the Royal Orchid Spa located at concourse D.
Available exclusively for Thai Airways premium class travellers and elite status members, you’ll be invited to benefit from a complimentary massage before your flight.
As a business class passenger, you’ll be able to choose between a 30-minute neck and shoulder massage or a 30-minute foot massage. The spa also offers 60-minute full-body massages, but these are reserved for First Class travellers.
Seat
While most Royal Silk class seats are similar, there are some exceptions to be aware of, primarily on the regional routes.
First, if you’re flying internationally, you’ll most likely be flying on an Airbus A350 or a Boeing 777-300.
On these aircraft, you can expect to find a seat that reclines into a completely lie-flat bed. You’ll also receive a personal seat-mattress and duvet blanket on long-haul flights to make your sleep more comfortable.
Amenity kits are provided and equipped with toiletries and accessories such as socks, slippers, and moisturizers.
If you’re flying on a Boeing 777-200ER, you may get an older Royal Silk business class seat.
While the service will be the same, each seat will only be able to recline to between 160–170 degrees. This is still great for relaxing, but may not be as comfortable if you were hoping to get a proper night’s sleep.
Thankfully, Thai Airways doesn’t fly the Boeing 777-200ER on their longer routes.
Most Royal Silk seats have a seat pitch of 41 inches, with a seat width of 20 or 21 inches. This is certainly an increase from the 31- to 32-inch seat pitch and 18-inch seat width you’d find in Thai Airways economy class.
Food & Drink
While you won’t get caviar, you’ll definitely still get a delicious choice of pre-selected meals.
In fact, all Thai Airways passengers can pre-select their meal options before departure, and when you’re flying Royal Silk class, you’ll also have a choice of champagne or juice prior to take-off.
Once in the air, you can expect a multi-course meal from a rotating menu that changes month-to-month.
If you’re curious about the food and drink options that you may find available on your flight, Thai Airways has an online menu you can view prior to your departure to help you work up an appetite.
Some of the menu highlights include local dishes such as tiger prawn in panaeng curry, as well as international choices, like beef sukiyaki or Indian-style vegetarian meals.
Thai Airways Business Class Cabin
Thai Airways has six different aircraft types that have a business class cabin: Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777-300ER (77B), Boeing 777-300ER (77Y), Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 787-9, and Boeing 787-8.
Airbus A350
The Airbus A350-900 has 32 Royal Silk class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Rows alternate with window seats either pressed right up against the window or closer to the aisle, and middle seats either being right next to each other or further away.
With this layout in mind, if you’re a solo traveller and you want the most privacy possible, seats A or K will be the best since they are both window seats situated farthest from the aisle.
If you’re travelling with a companion, then seats E and F will allow you to easily enjoy your time together, as they are two seats right next to each other in the middle.
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777-300ER (77B) and 777-300ER (77Y) aircraft have 42 and 40 Royal Silk class seats respectively, making them the largest of the fleet.
The seating arrangements are nearly identical to the Airbus A350, and so are the best seat selections.
As before, seats A or K are best if you’re travelling solo, and seats E and F are best if you’re travelling with a companion.
On the other hand, the Boeing 777-200ER business class cabin has 30 Royal Silk class seats, also in a 2-2-2 configuration.
However, the seats in the Boeing 777-200ER are fairly outdated and can only recline to between 160 and 170 degrees.
Additionally, similarly to the 787s, you won’t be able to get any true privacy regardless of which seat you select due to the 2-2-2 seating configuration; however, seats A and K are the window seats.
With the Boeing 777-200 aircraft being the oldest, you’ll want to do what you can to avoid it.
Keep in mind that airlines do have equipment swaps, and even if you book another aircraft, it’s possible that you’ll still get stuck with the Boeing 777-200.
That being said, regardless of which aircraft you’re on, you’ll still get the same service, food, and attention to detail as you would on any other aircraft.
Boeing 787
Next, the Boeing 787s have a 2-2-2 configuration. With this style of seating arragement, you won’t be able to choose a seat with as much privacy as the other aircraft, because regardless of which seat you choose, you’ll have someone sitting next to you.
That being said, seats A and K are the two window seats, so they may provide some additional privacy.
Thai Airways Business Class Routes
Unfortunately, Thai Airways doesn’t fly to or from North America. If you’re hoping to fly on a long-haul Thai Airways business class flight, you can either fly to or from Australia or to or from Europe.
If we only look at flights that are over eight hours long, Thai Airways flies its Royal Silk business class between Bangkok and the following destinations:
Australia
- Sydney
- Melbourne
Europe
- Munich, Germany
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Paris, France
- London, UK
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Stockholm, Sweden
Thai Airways also operates their Royal Silk class product to many destinations within Asia, including as far west as India, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, and as far east as South Korea and Japan.
How to Redeem Points for Thai Airways Business Class
Thai Airways is one of the founding members of Star Alliance. This means that you can use other Star Alliance loyalty programs to book Thai Airways Royal Silk class seats.
That being said, Thai Airways doesn’t release much award space to partner programs, and you may have to wait until only one to three weeks before the departure date for award availability to show up.
With regards to partner programs, popular Star Alliance airline loyalty programs include Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, ANA Mileage Club, and United Mileage Plus.
Aeroplan
The easiest way to book a Thai Airways business class flight is with Air Canada’s Aeroplan points. Aeroplan points are fairly easy to earn, since Air Canada is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards.
What’s more, there’s also a ton of co-branded Aeroplan credit cards to choose from.
One-way business class flights range from 80,000 Aeroplan points between Bangkok and cities in Europe, to 45,000 Aeroplan points for travel between Bangkok and Australia or Bangkok and Seoul.
As an added benefit, with Aeroplan redemptions, you can also potentially add a stopover to your flight for only 5,000 extra Aeroplan points.
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca LifeMiles aren’t as easy to earn as Aeroplan points, but they do hold some of the best award sweet spots among the Star Alliance airline loyalty programs.
In fact, the cheapest way to fly a one-way, long-haul Thai Airways business class route with points is with Avianca LifeMiles.
A one-way Royal Silk class flight between Bangkok and Seoul can be booked for 36,000 LifeMiles.
You can also book flights to and from Europe for 78,000 LifeMiles, and flights to and from Australia for 50,000 LifeMiles.
ANA Mileage Club
ANA Mileage Club also provides excellent value when booking Thai Airways business class.
Unfortunately, one-way award flights aren’t allowed, making the program not quite as flexible as others on the list.
What’s more, ANA Mileage Club redemptions come with higher taxes and fees, as ANA passes on the fuel surcharges to the traveller.
That being said, if you’re looking to book a round-trip flight to or from Bangkok, then ANA Mileage Club may still be the best choice.
From Bangkok, a round-trip Thai Airways Royal Silk class flight can be booked for 94,000 ANA miles to or from Europe, 72,000 ANA miles to or from Australia, and only 60,000 ANA miles to or from Seoul
United MileagePlus
Despite being one of the most popular Star Alliance loyalty programs, redeeming United Miles for Thai Airways business class flights doesn’t provide value equivalent to that of Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles.
A one-way Thai Airways Royal Silk class flight will cost you 115,000 United Miles from Europe to Bangkok, 66,000 miles between Bangkok and Australia, and 49,500 miles between Bangkok and Seoul.
You’re much better off redeeming Aeroplan points or Avianca miles for your Thai Airways business class flights.
Thai Airways Business Class Award Availability
There are certainly quite a few loyalty programs that you can use to book your flights. However, finding award availability in the Royal Silk cabin on Thai Airways can be quite tricky.
As is the case with any hard-to-book award seat, you’ll need a bit of luck if you’re hoping to enjoy the seat, food, and service on Thai Airways. You’ll have the best chances of booking a seat in a Royal Silk cabin by being flexible and by booking either as far out as possible or quite last minute.
If you do find a Thai Airways business class seat, it’s best to book it immediately, as it may not be available for long.
Tips & Tricks for Thai Airways Business Class
The best way to experience Thai Airways business class is by flying out of Bangkok, which will allow you to get the most out of the ground experience, including your choice between two different 30-minute complimentary massages.
Additionally, even though Thai Airways doesn’t fly directly to North America, by using Aeroplan to book, you can take advantage of their stopover rules to combine a Thai Airways business class flight with another partner airline’s business class flight.
For example, booking through Aeroplan, you could fly Air Canada Signature Class from North America to Hong Kong, perhaps enjoy a stopover in Hong Kong, and then continue on to Bangkok afterwards on Thai Airways.
Similarly, you could design an itinerary where you fly to your preferred European city and enjoy some time there, before continuing on a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok.
One final thing to keep in mind when booking a Royal Silk class seat is that you’ll want to be aware of which aircraft type you’re booking on.
If the seat layout is 2-2-2, you may be on an older aircraft, which will come with significantly less privacy than the newer aircraft and configurations.
Make sure that you’re booking on an Airbus A350 or a Boeing 777 with a 1-2-1 seat configuration to enjoy the newer products and the increased privacy.
Conclusion
Thai Airways business class product, its Royal Silk Class, provides an excellent ground and onboard experience.
You’ll be able to enjoy a bed in the sky alongside delicious Thai cuisine and free-flowing Champagne.
Finding award space can be a challenge, but if you’re patient and flexible, you’ll certainly be rewarded for your efforts.