Review: Emirates Lounge Bangkok

I had a four-hour layover in Bangkok before my onward flight to Hong Kong, which gave me plenty of time to explore the Emirates Lounge, one of more than 30 worldwide. 

This 809 sqm lounge is a combined facility for First and Business Class passengers, and has a seating capacity of just over 200 guests. It was opened in 2017, following a US$2.2 million renovation to expand its capacity to support Emirates’ seven daily flights from Bangkok (now six, including the fifth freedom flight to Hong Kong).

Bangkok has no shortage of lounges to choose from, but on the whole the Emirates Lounges manages to acquit itself well.

Opening Hours & Access

The Emirates Lounge Bangkok is located at Concourse G (close to another Priority Pass favourite, the Oman Air Lounge), and is open from:

• 5.30 a.m to 9.15 a.m
• 9.45 a.m to 1.30 p.m
• 2 p.m to 2.55 a.m

The operating hours are calibrated around Emirates’ flights out of Bangkok, though the closing periods are never more than 30 minutes long so it’s effectively open from 5.30 a.m to 2.55 a.m daily. 

Access is available to passengers departing on an Emirates or Qantas flight in:

• First Class (+1 guest)
• Business Class (excluding passengers on Emirates Business Special fares)
• Any cabin, with Emirates Skywards Platinum, Skywards Gold, or Qantas Gold, Platinum, Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge (+1 guest)

All guests must be travelling on the same flight as the eligible passenger.

Economy Class and Business Special passengers can purchase access at US$125 (Skywards member) or US$155 (non-Skywards members). It’s a decent enough lounge, but there’s no way I could recommend paying those prices!

Lounge Overview

The Emirates Lounge overlooks Suvarnabhumi’s airport garden, with glass panels to allow natural light to stream in during the day. The design should be immediately familiar to anyone who has visited other Emirates Lounges worldwide: bright wooden panels, blue carpets, beige chairs, and a level of gold trim that skirts the lines between tasteful and tacky. 

Another signature Emirates Lounge touch can be found on the wall, with five gold plated Rolex clocks set to five different time zones, a reminder of the airlines’ global reach.

By the entrance is another curiosity in this post-COVID age of hypochondria: a fully stocked magazine rack featuring newspapers and periodicals from all over the world. Many airlines have decided against bringing these back, switching instead to e-versions via Press Reader or some other platform. Give me hard copies any day!

Three desktop computers and a printer were available in a corner of the lounge. 

Towards the other end of the lounge are more seating areas, mostly armchairs arranged in pods of twos and fours. Decorative lattices keep areas visually separated. There isn’t much variety in the types of seating however, and I would have liked to see some productivity pods and slumber chairs.

In the middle of the lounge is the dining area, though unlike the flagship lounge in Dubai, there’s no bar area or bartender service. 

At the very rear of the lounge is one more seating enclave, near the lounge’s restrooms.

Food & Beverage

The Emirates Lounge Bangkok offers up a wide selection of hot and cold items throughout the day, mixing Thai flavours with Emirati specialities.

The layout was quite similar to what I’d encountered before in the Emirates Lounge Singapore, with a circular chiller dome holding the cold items like salads, cut fruits, cheese, cakes and Arabic spreads. 

The hot food selection featured beef and chicken satay, baked seabass with tomato sauce, chicken parmigiana, massaman curry, tom yum soup, mac and cheese and biryani. 

While some Middle Eastern carriers hide their alcohol selection during Ramadan, Emirates does not make changes to its lounges, and a full range of self-pour alcohol was available.

This included both Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut and GH Mumm Grand Cordon Brut, together with an assortment of red and white wines. 

In the fridge was the usual assortment of soft drinks, Singha, Chang and Heineken beer, as well as canned Perrier and bottles of Evian (given Emirates’ obsession with brands, I was surprised their Singapore lounge only stocked Aqua Mountain!).

Dilmah teas and a bean-to-cup coffee machine were also available.

A secondary refreshment area was located nearer to the entrance, this one with spirits, wines, non-alcoholic beverages, coffee and tea.

Power & Productivity

The Emirates Lounge Bangkok’s Wi-Fi network clocked in at 31 Mbps down and 51 Mbps up, which was significantly faster than the airport’s public network.

Universal power outlets and Type-A USB ports are in plentiful supply throughout the lounge, so juicing up your devices won’t be difficult. 

Showers & Toilets

The Emirates Lounge Bangkok has a total of four regular showers and one accessible shower room, all of which were kept spotlessly clean. Shower rooms have attached toilets and wall-mounted hairdryers, though I did find the automatic taps rather annoying- sometimes you just want the water to run continuously, you know?

Bathroom amenities were from the Green Potion range from Nature Touch, a Thai skincare brand. 

Conclusion

The Emirates Lounge Bangkok has a wide selection of food and drink, and enough seating to comfortably handle the numerous daily departures. Shower rooms rarely have waits, and the staff were extremely friendly and personable.

If you’re a First Class passenger, however, you might find the experience somewhat underwhelming, since it is more of a Business Class lounge in that respect. To be fair, Emirates doesn’t offer a separate First Class section in most of its outstation lounges, so this isn’t a criticism of the Bangkok lounge per se. 

I would also have liked to see slightly more seating variety, as productivity pods make for much better work environments than lounge chairs and dining tables. 

On the whole, a solid, if unspectacular lounge.