Thai Airways isn’t doing much flying these days and someone had the great idea to transform a staff canteen at the company’s head office in Bangkok into an aviation themed dining space.
THAI has moved plenty of airplane memorabilia including seats, engine parts, pictures, plane models and trolleys into the space and it’s become a real hit since the restaurant opened this week.
While it’s a sad state of affairs that Thai Airways is barely in the air during their 60th anniversary they really proved to have some innovative ideas here and all of the staff (who apparently volunteered their time for this event) were outstanding.
The opening event was announced this week on Thai Airways Facebook page for their catering department.
Hello, all passengers ✈️
Now we opened Thai Airways restaurant #Tasty in the sky, with no need to fly, it’s our pleasure to serve food and drinks. In addition to enjoying the food created by 🧑🏻🍳 our International chefs, we have also renovated the restaurant to be a chic photo spot 📸 by decorating aircraft parts and equipment to allow passengers to experience the travel atmosphere again. At check-in, you will also receive an e-boarding pass as a souvenir.📍 We look forward to meeting you at Building 2, 2nd Floor, Thai Airways Head Office, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Every Wednesday – Friday. International food Service will start from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. or until the product runs out.
[You can reach this destination by car/taxi and public transport options BTS Mo Chi / MRT Chatuchak are ~ 2km by foot away.]
This will be a permanent staple starting this September and customers as well as aviation enthusiasts can visit the Thai Airways HQ to dine, experience some aviation flair. There is also a Thai Airways souvenir shop in the lower floor for those who like more memorabilia.
I took a bunch of pictures and had a good time visiting here. Here are some impressions:
Entrance at Building 2:
Welcome Boarding Pass after scanning the QR Code (showing the correct date/entry time and Class F for First Class:
Crew welcomes guests in the foyer:
Old Business Class Seats and table made of aircraft fan parts:
Third Generation First Class Seat (still in use on some aircraft / non-A380):
Lounge Area and original aircraft wheels painted in corporate purple:
Thai Airways A380 Model:
Have a look inside:
I really liked how they put everything together here. It’s a huge space and there are plenty of seats available. I sort of miss these old Business and First Class seats that always seemed to be padded much better than the modern generation of seats.
Then there was of course the food, each type of dish was prepared and presented by one the international chefs responsible at THAI Catering.
Malaysian-Chinese:
Middle Eastern:
Thai – Meat Dish (quite pricey):
Indian Dish – Chicken Tikka with either rice or naan bread:
More Thai dishes:
Western Station – Pasta:
Salads are available too:
And Thai Desserts (they also had cake in the international section):
I ordered Chicken Shawarma, Chicken Tikka with rice as well as a Caesars Salad with seared tuna:
These dishes are not exactly cheap. A per item rate of 95-145 Baht, (even more for the meat dishes) is above average but the quality was decent. Beverages are available separately.
Conclusion
The restaurant will soon be open daily as far as I was told. Currently it’s available Wednesday to Friday and later on when there is regular restaurant service it’s going to be more quiet. Those living in Bangkok and interested in aviation should come by and have a look!
Today all the crew (flight attendants and pilots) who worked the event apparently did so on a voluntary basis. THAI has currently furloughed most crew and only pays them a base salary while even cutting their health insurance. Hopefully the situation improves for all Thai Airways employees very soon and the company can start fresh again when the court decides over the administration.
