In a city where wellness is often synonymous with fluorescent-lit gyms or overpriced smoothies, an open-air park on Banthat Thong Road is offering something different: a weekend where health doesn’t come in a bottle, but in the form of second-hand denim, vegan curry and guided self-reflection.
On May 24-25 from 10.30am-8.30pm, Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park hosts a free gathering that falls somewhere between a sustainability fair and a collective existential check-in. Organised by Vtopia, a group advocating for plant-based living, alongside Loopers, a platform for second-hand fashion.
Food stalls sling drinks made with oat milk so velvety they might briefly repair your relationship with your parents. Goodmate is offering those. Then there’s POHSOP, an outfit slinging meat-free comfort food with the kind of deliberate cosiness usually reserved for rainy afternoons and existential doubt. Elsewhere, there are cafes for caffeine-dependent introspection, plus what appears to be a minor army of lifestyle vendors, all ready to tell you how a scented candle can fix your soul (or at least your condo).
Still, the most quietly intense feature may be a workshop called Satir Iceberg Workshop, led by a coach trained in the Satir method – a therapeutic approach so niche that fewer than thirty people in Thailand are certified in it. Participants are encouraged to plumb the murky depths of childhood, internalised shame and whatever else might be crowding the psychic basement. A moment of collective reckoning disguised as a weekend activity.
And just in case all that introspection gets too stifling, there’s a run. Saturday evening will see the Banthat Thong City Eat-Run-Love, a name that would be insufferable if it weren’t quite so literal. Hosted by SarDine Run Club, the event invites people to jog through the neighbourhood while sampling food from selected vendors. The route is digestible (distance-wise, at least), and lasts from 5.30pm-7pm.
Whether it’s wellness, wokeness or just a weekend out, the festival invites a certain breed of Bangkokian to momentarily believe in the possibility of change.
Visit soulfood.goodlife for the full schedule.