Taste and Tales of Thai Airways: The culinary heritage behind the in-flight experience

After resuming daily flights between Brussels and Bangkok at the end of 2024, Thai Airways International is now ensuring passengers enjoy an authentic experience from the land of smiles.

The Taste and Tales initiative combines gourmet dining with a commitment to sustainability and social values. The airline’s selection of heritage dishes using ethically sourced ingredients for Royal Silk class passengers is the result of a collaboration with top chefs and artisan producers. Authentic Thai options are also available in economy thanks to its Streets to Sky menu of street food favourites.

On a visit to Thailand to meet the people behind these dishes, we leave behind the bleak Belgian midwinter, landing 11 hours later in Bangkok. It’s dawn on a Sunday, so the habitual traffic gridlock is absent and we speed along the highway to the vibrant Bang Rak district on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya river. Accommodation is the five-star Lebua State Tower hotel.

Our lunch destination is the gleaming Iconsiam mall, a short distance by river taxi. At NARA Thai Cuisine, we sample some of the chain’s signature dishes inspired by Thailand’s riverside culture. After an array of meticulously presented and zesty starters, we tuck into a bowl of the flying boat noodles served in Royal Silk class from Bangkok to Brussels. The intensely flavoured meaty broth is filled with either lean pork belly or short rib and a selection of toppings, from crisp soy sprouts and fresh herbs to crunchy pork belly.

After this spicy pick-me-up, any lingering travel fatigue is pummelled away by a traditional Thai massage, before we head up to the Lebua’s 65th-floor rooftop, boasting probably the best view of the capital. Under a golden dome with live music in the background, precipitous terraces overlook circular bars filled with people lapping up the backdrop. The experience attracts hundreds of people every evening, drawn by the view of the city and serpentine river below.

The hotel’s two Michelin-star restaurants enjoy a similar vista: the contemporary French Chef’s Table and Japanese-French fusion Mezzaluna, whose teams contribute to Thai Airways’ premium western business class menus. For its Thai cuisine, the airline has a new collaboration with Chef Pam of the Michelin-starred Potong, named World’s Best Female Chef 2025 and Asia’s Best Female Chef 2024. Her re-imagined heritage main dishes are served on Bangkok-Brussels routes in business class. From spring, she will also be offering a breakfast option.

The next day, we leave the buzz of the megacity and head north to the hills. First, an exclusive tour of Thai Airways' maintenance department at Suvarnabhumi Airport, followed by a visit of its catering services to meet the team who deliver some 60,000 meals a day – not only for the national carrier but many other major airlines operating out of Bangkok. Executive chef Ahmad Mansoor leads a crew of Thai and international chefs who face the creative and technical challenge of designing menus that cater to specific tastes and dietary requirements. They also need to overcome the challenge of packaging and serving meals in the high-altitude environment of cramped aircraft galleys, not to mention food safety regulations.

High on their priorities, though, is blending distinct Thai influences with global cuisines and local produce, from blue-hued butterfly pea flower juices to tamarind tea and street food favourites like pad Thai and mango and sticky rice. This logistical feat takes place in a 90,000m2 production space separated into assembly chain zones, including hot and cold food and Halal meals.

It’s then a short hop on a domestic flight to Chiang Rai, the country’s most northern city, where we meet members of the DoiTung coffee development project. They whisk us up steep roads to our accommodation – a sprawling mountain-top villa that once housed the Princess Mother’s entourage and is now open to tourists. It’s a world away from the sensory overload of Bangkok: secluded and grand, as befits a former royal residence, and appealingly homely.

The next morning we visit the DoiTung coffee plant, a hive of activity in the foothills populated by hill tribes who once cultivated opium in this Golden Triangle region. To encourage them to convert to licit sources of income, the development project was founded in 1988, under the umbrella of the Royal Project’s Mae Fah Luang Foundation. Thai Airways supports the foundation’s work by serving DoiTung coffee on all its flights.

Under canopies of towering trees, farmers cultivate Arabica beans which are sent to the local plant for processing. Here, it undergoes meticulous quality control at research farms before producing premium coffee that’s lauded for its balance of fruitiness and acidity.

The DoiTung project extends to handicrafts, macadamia production and eco-tourism, while the royal villa, gardens and nearby Myanmar border post are additional attractions to this tranquil area, where the altitude and forests offset tropical heat.

It’s time to set off on a small road trip to Chiang Mai, some 180km away. But first, a stroll through the Buddhist temple of Wat Rong Khun, better known as the White Temple for its fairytale appearance, created by an extravagant white plaster and reflective glass facade

Our route continues along the Xiangshan mountain range through the village of Doi Chang, dotted with coffee shops and guesthouses with dramatic views of the rolling landscape. Yayo Farm is our lunchtime pitstop for a feast of chili-infused dishes. Its stilted terrace with cosy seating areas is destined for selfies.

Chiang Mai is home to KanVela Chocolate, a craft tree-to-bar brand that has garnered international acclaim for its quality and original products, as well as its sustainable farming and ethical values. Again, Thai Airways supports this mission by offering KanVela’s products to Royal Silk class passengers.

At the company’s cocoa farm an hour outside the city, we sample steaming cups of hot chocolate before being sent into the fields armed with baskets and secateurs to harvest ripe cocoa pods. These are cracked open to extract some 30 to 40 beans enveloped in a cloudy white pulp. The next stage, fermentation, releases the complex cocoa flavours. On a tour of the production line, we see how the beans undergo numerous processes before being transformed into tablets and pralines with signature flavours such as Thai tea, guava salted chili and pandan custard.

The man behind the brand is Thana Kunaraksvong, a former financial investment advisor who decided to dedicate his career to working with local farmers and crafting premium chocolate with the support of his sister Niramol, who manages marketing. The full creativity of their flavours and packaging is on display at the KanVela Chocolate Boutique. Its immersive experience includes tastings and workshops.

That evening, we return to Bangkok for a non-stop flight back to Brussels. Comfortably installed in Royal Silk class, it feels a little like home as we savour cocktails, appetisers and pad Thai, the stir fry noodle dish embellished by abalone, chilli flakes and crunchy peanuts.

DoiTung coffee and KanVela chocolates follow, and, after a few hours’ sleep, I opt for a breakfast of Tom yum kung: prawns and rice with bouillon poured elegantly from a glass teapot. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it’s a delicious finale to this culinary adventure.

The in-flight experience extends to a collaboration with the Jim Thompson silk house for its amenity kits, and passengers in Royal Silk class receive courtesy elephant print pyjamas to complete their Thai travels in style.

The Bulletin was a guest of Thai Airways. Read more about the airline’s services from Brussels here.

Photos: (main image) ©Thai Airways; NARA flying boat noodles ©Sarah Crew; Lebua State Hotel Bangkok ©Sarah Crew; Royal Silk class catering ©Thai Airways; Coffee processing plant ©DoiTung project; Sitthinadda Paphavasit (Jane) ©Sarah Crew; KanVela products ©KavVela; Thana and Niramol Kunaraksvon ©KavVela; Royal Silk service ©Steven Decraene