Review: Weekend with the Mosquitoes – THAI Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Phuket

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Introduction
The Beas River Chalet Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
Thai Airways 609 A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Phuket
The Bell Pool Villa Resort Phuket
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Phuket
Thai Airways 608 A330-300 Business Class Phuket to Hong Kong


We left The Bell Pool Villa Resort Phuket in the morning and arrived Phuket International Airport at around 11:30AM. The exterior kind of looked like a slum, in my opinion.

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Phuket International Airport Parking Lot

There was security at the entrance, which I found slightly redundant.

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Phuket International Airport Entrance

The main terminal is really shabby and ageing, though does the job for an airport with five long-haul destinations.

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Phuket International Airport Terminal

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Phuket International Airport Terminal

We checked in and cleared immigration, which took half an hour.

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Phuket International Airport Gate Area

While my mom went shopping for a while, I went straight to the Royal Orchid Lounge, which is located near gate 4. I was admitted into the lounge immediately.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Exterior

I’ve heard good things about the lounge, but boy, was it underwhelming. Not only was the lounge overcrowded and shabby, the colour tones were downright boring. I’ve seen pictures of the lounge in colourful furniture, so whatever update they had wasn’t a good one.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket

Some seats were reserved for first class passengers, but no one bothered when I sat there.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket First Class Cabins

There were some PCs in the lounge, though one didn’t work and the other was taken. I had brought my own laptop, so subsided to that.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket PCs

When I asked for the WiFi password, I was given a slip (the WiFi password). The WiFi was slow. I mean, excruciatingly slow. I couldn’t load this site given how slow it was. I resorted to responding WhatsApp messages and checking Instagram, but that was as far as the WiFi went for me.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket WiFi Password

There were plugs, though they weren’t universal, which is forgivable.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Power Plugs

I visited the food spread, which was adequate, I guess, though definitely at the lower end. It featured some cold food, and the hot option was pad thai, which was better than the pad thai at the hotel, though still kind of ketchup-y.

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

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THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket Food Spread

I went to the gate area, where they announced a twenty minute delay, then a further delay until 4pm, which I decided to return to the lounge. I went back to the gate at 3:30PM, and got onboard quickly.

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THAI Airbus A330-300 bound for Hong Kong

Bottom line on THAI Royal Orchid Lounge Phuket

The lounge is a better place to hang out in, compared to the terminal.

Otherwise the lounge confirmed where THAI was going with Phuket – another destination, instead of a mini-hub (like Koh Samui is to Bangkok Airways). I don’t blame the airline given how bad the airport is, but it’s definitely not a lounge I’d want to spend time in.

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