Bangkok Airways A319 Blue Ribbon Club (Business Class) Review BKK to Samui

This is sort of an update of a Review I did a few years ago of Bangkok Airway's A319 Economy Class https://www.patstravelreviews.com/post/bangkok-airways-atr-72-a319-review-from-phuket-samui-bangkok. I reviewed it as the pandemic was coming to an end and PG (Bangkok Air) was only flying aircraft with an all-Economy layout. Now that the pandemic is history, Bangkok Airways is back to flying both versions of their A319's. The Economy Class version that I reviewed and the two-class configuration with both Economy & Business. My wife and I were lucky enough to be back in Thailand flying to Samui and I decided to try their Business Class out.

Bangkok Airways promotes themselves as Asia's Boutique Airlines. They are a full-service airline and have a fleet of 22 aircraft. Their ATR72's & A320 are only fitted with Economy Class and about half of their A319's are also one-class aircraft. So that only leaves 4 or 5 planes that have Blue Ribbon Club seats. Therefore, it appears they only use these planes on a few of their international routes (MLE, SIN & HKG) and between Samui & BKK

I have actually flown Bangkok Airways Blue Ribbon Business Class in the past, but that was several years ago (within Thailand and to Cambodia). I remember being very impressed with their service then and had recently heard (or read) they are still serving a hot meal in Business on the 55 minute flight between BKK & USM. That along with the minimal fare difference and my curiosity motivated me to buy a Business Class ticket over Economy. I was also curious if the Lounge experience was different flying Business compared to Economy as Bangkok Airways provides Lounge access to all passengers at BKK (and Chang Mai & Phuket). Business Class passengers (and those that pay) can access their Blue Ribbon Club Lounge. It is located in Concourse A near their all-access Boutique Lounge at BKK in the Domestic departure area (PG also have Lounges in the International departure area, Concourse D). The Blue Ribbon Club Lounge is a bit more private, has more food options, and has a couple Massage Chairs. It’s definitely nicer than the Boutique Lounge, though not dramatically so… which honestly says more about how good the regular Boutique Lounge already is.

Check-in was very easy at BKK. There is a dedicated line for Blue Ribbon Club passengers and Premier Plus/Premier members. Our gate was a little bit of a walk from the Lounge. By the time we arrived they just started boarding. Business Class passengers boarded after those that needed special assistance. A warm greeting by both flight attendants.

The flight attendant uniforms are quite casual, reminding me of the style Thai Airways used with its low-cost subsidiary, Thai Smile, a few years ago. Business Class consists of three rows, with 12 seats in total, while Economy has 108 seats. We were seated in row 2 (2A and 2C). Although the seats feel a little dated, they are very spacious, offering more than 45 inches of seat pitch and a generous width of over 20 inches (I read somewhere 22"). They are light-blue clothe material. The leg rest does raise and extend a bit, but not enough. The controls are on the outer armrest

A Pre-departure drink of cold water was offered after boarding. It came with a packet of a cold refresher towel (was cloth towel)