Trip Report: Koh Samui to Bangkok in Thai Biz Class
I’ve never regretted buying business class. I don’t do it very often and the relief I felt when checking in for the Koh Samui to Bangkok flight made it entirely worth it.  Months before I’d dithered about whether a $60 difference in price was worth it just to fly in business class for an hour.
In the end I decided it was, not necessarily for the bigger seat during the flight, but for the amenities and service we’d get on the ground. I’d lost Star Alliance Gold Status earlier in the year, so we wouldn’t qualify for lounge access and it’s always nice to have the extra free luggage and overage just in case I fell in love with some giant stone carving that I just had to haul back with me.
So, checking in at the Royal Silk desk was a much more relaxing experience than our Firefly flight to Koh Samui. We bypassed the Economy line that was 30 people deep and only had to wait a few minutes before our bags were tagged with the magic Royal Silk and orange priority tags and we were handed invitations to the Bangkok Airways Lounge.
Heading towards our gate we had the option of an outdoor stroll or a complimentary cart.
Had we known it was quite as long as it was, we probably would have taken the cart. But then we would have missed out on the full experience of the Disney Main Street meets shopping ghost town.
Security wasn’t a problem, we made it through in a few minutes, and the gate area reminded me a lot of Hawaiian airports but even more open air. They looked rather like a series of connected mahogany wood huts interspersed with high end shops (which were closed at the time).
There was even, a strange concept, a “lounge” open to everyone with basic sandwiches and snacks.
There was also a kitsch lounge perfect for pictures…
The gate was extremely crowded, even an hour before boarding, and there were enough birds flying around to trigger some fears first started by Alfred Hitchcock, so I was excited to head to the Bangkok Airways lounge.
Which was a wicker wonderland complete with giant bear!
The food spread was basic, but you could order specials from the attendants which wound up being shrimp wonton soup (pretty good).
When the time came, boarding was a hectic process with the only benefit to being in business class was squeezing into the festive trolley first.
The seats were old business glass without much leg room, but our flight time was less than an hour so it didn’t matter at all.
We had the usual welcome drink options, I chose lemon tea, and a cold cloth, quite welcome after the trolley.
They even managed to serve us a light breakfast of some kind of beef crepe-like thing.
By the time we landed in Bangkok we were back to being relaxed and ready to scope out the recently rennovated Grand Hyatt Erawan.
Feeling adventurous? Read about the whole trip!
Checking In and Air France Lounge at IAD
Korean Airlines First Class IAD-ICN
Hyatt Regency Incheon: Great Service, Hard Beds
Accidentally Seeing Seoul Like a Native
Tight Quarters at the Park Hyatt Seoul
Worth a Hike — Bukchon Hanok Village
Checking In for a Flight from Downtown SeoulÂ
Korean Airlines First Class Lounge Incheon Airport
Korean Airlines First Class Seoul to Kuala Lumpur
You Don’t Get Massaged By a Blind Paralympic Everyday...
Great Value at the Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
Flying Firefly Airlines from Subang to Penang
Is Penang Hill Worth It?
Tour Bust in Penang
Campbell House: the Highlight of Penang
Penang to Koh Samui on Firefly
Sunsets & Villas at the Intercontinental Koh Samui
I Went Looking For a Fight in Thailand
After Waiting Years to Stay, Did the Conrad Koh Samui Live Up to Expectations?
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Enjoyed the write-up. Does look very similar to the Hawaiian airports, except a lot nicer! 🙂
I agree! Hawaiian airports have that dreamy look to them, but then not much to do there.
One of the prettiest private airports we’ve seen. We flew Bangkok to Koh Samui last February but unfortunately just Economy. Thanks for sharing!