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You don’t need a boarding pass to reach the South of Thailand this month, though you do end up standing beneath an aeroplane. ChangChui Creative Park – the ramshackle Thonburi lot known for its junkyard sculptures, indie shops and the retired jet parked at its centre – hosts Fly 2 South Now Festival III, now in its third year and run jointly by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Flynow, the veteran Thai fashion house. The whole thing takes place from September 11-13, and getting in costs nothing.
The theme this year is ‘Colours, Lines and Patterns’, and the promise is simple enough. You get the far South, without the long drive down the peninsula. That means the cooking most people make the trip for, from fiery khua kling to sour gaeng tai pla and generous piles of sator, alongside desserts, coffee and cold drinks spread across more than 100 stalls.
The big night is Friday September 11. At 7.30pm the passenger deck beside the plane becomes a runway, and more than 30 models walk it, led by Paweensuda ‘Veena’ Singh, Miss Universe Thailand 2025, and Anyarin ‘Tubtim’ Teerathananpat. The looks come from student teams at Princess of Naradhiwas University, Prince of Songkla University’s Pattani campus and Yala Rajabhat University, plus up-and-coming labels Ramai, Adel Kraf, Sureeya and Natpichairat, all reworking traditional Southern fabric patterns for now.
Six zones cover the rest. One is given over to food and crafts, another gathers rarely seen performances such as manora, the Southern dance-drama UNESCO added to its heritage list in 2021, and nang talung, the region’s shadow puppetry played out behind a lit screen. Elsewhere you catch sets from local musicians, study the outfits up close, browse designer pop-ups from the South or sit down at a batik table to try wax-writing and fabric painting yourself. A few booths also sell travel packages to the South at prices you only get here, for anyone the weekend talks round to the real thing.
That’s a serious amount of the South collected in one corner of Bangkok, and a fair excuse to spend a warm evening under that famous plane.
Fly 2 South Now Festival III runs September 11-13 at ChangChui Creative Park, Bangkok. Daily 4pm-10pm, free entry. The fashion show starts at 7.30pm on Friday September 11.