Things to do in Bangkok today

This two-person exhibition brings together the sharply detailed oil paintings of Kajonsak Rungsuriyan and the distorted, organic forms of Jaiko in a shared examination of humanity’s more uncomfortable questions. Kajonsak places injured figures among decaying religious architecture, while Jaiko reshapes the body into strange, shifting forms that sit somewhere between attraction and unease. Moving through the gallery, visitors encounter works concerned with violence, belief and the stories people tell themselves to explain both. The contrast between the artists is striking, yet their concerns overlap, creating a conversation that lingers long after you leave. June 20-July 5. Free entry. KYLA Gallery and Wine Bar. 3pm-midnight

Few animated films carry the same emotional baggage as Toy Story, and House of Toy Story 5 banks on exactly that. Created as a celebration of Pixar’s beloved franchise, the limited-run experience shrinks visitors to toy-sized proportions with a giant recreation of Bonnie’s bedroom, complete with oversized furniture and playful photo opportunities. Keep an eye out for rare collectibles, including pieces from celebrity collections, while dedicated merchandise corners cater to anyone still attached to Woody, Buzz and the gang. Once the nostalgia kicks in, round off the day with a screening and relive the adventures that made these characters household names. June 15-25. Free entry. Outdoor Square C, CentralWorld. 10am-10pm

Pride Month brings a compelling reason to make tracks for Yaowarat, where new contemporary gallery Adult Material opens its doors with Against the Grain on June 18. Tucked among the neighbourhood’s glowing alleyways, the inaugural exhibition assembles artists from Bangkok, Berlin, Singapore and New York whose work probes identity, masculinity and the stories societies tell about belonging. Across sculpture, photography, installation and design, inherited symbols take on fresh meaning while intimacy, desire and power come under scrutiny. Expect standout contributions from Shen Wei, Oat Montien, Dylan Chan, Gregor Jahner and Thyme Neelaphanakul, alongside plenty to spark conversation long after you leave. June 18-August 15. Free entry. Adult Material. 1pm-6pm

At Avani Ratchada Bangkok, The City Is Never One Color turns the hotel’s public spaces into a photographic portrait of the neighbourhood, tracing stories of community, individuality and belonging through the colours woven across daily life. Created with Dr. Prachaya Piemkaroon and first-year students from Srinakharinwirot University’s College of Social Communication Innovation, the exhibition gathers more than 40 images across three chapters: When Colors Coexist, Quiet Colors and Balance. Together, they frame familiar streets, fleeting moments and shared spaces from fresh angles, revealing a district shaped not by one perspective, but by many. June 8-30. Free entry. Avani Ratchada Bangkok. All day.

The nude rarely escapes traditional ideas about gender, but Thawatchai Somkong’s MISS sets out to redraw that picture. Focusing on trans women as its central subjects, the exhibition presents portraits and figurative paintings that celebrate lives often left out of mainstream art history. The show arrives as conversations around gender identity continue to evolve across Thailand, even after the country’s recent progress on marriage equality. Working across realism, pop art and cubist influences, Somkong combines bold colour with richly textured surfaces, using each canvas to explore visibility, dignity and the right to define oneself on one's own terms. June 8-28. Free entry. Blacklist Gallery and Matdot Gallery. 10am-6pm

Nova Contemporary celebrates its tenth anniversary with Tracing, a solo exhibition by Kawita Vatanajyankur that also marks a decade of collaboration between the gallery and one of Thailand’s most internationally recognised artists. Bringing together key video-performance works from across her career, the show traces recurring themes of labour, authority and the pressures of capitalist systems through the artist’s physically demanding practice. Newer works use artificial intelligence to examine family history, loss and remembrance. Presented alongside her major solo exhibition at Yuz Museum Shanghai, Tracing offers a compelling overview of an artist who keeps using the body as both subject and battleground. June 6-July 25. Free entry. Nova Contemporary. 11am-7pm

Bangkok-based artist and floral designer Sakul Intakul turns to shelter, reflection and belonging in Nest: Sanctuary of the Soul. Using the nest as a symbol of both vulnerability and protection, the exhibition presents sculptural works that draw from nature, craftsmanship and personal contemplation. Best known for his floral installations, Sakul opens a new chapter here, working with space, form and texture on a larger scale. Traditional materials sit alongside contemporary structures, creating quiet environments that invite visitors to slow down, look closely and recover a little stillness. May 16-June 28. Free entry. La Lanta Fine Art, River City Bangkok. 10am-8pm

Some paintings start with an idea. Nuttapon Sawasdee’s latest exhibition starts somewhere harder to pin down. Gut follows instinct before reason has time to tidy things up, letting quick reactions and half-formed thoughts take over the canvas. News headlines, political unease, childhood memories, unnamed desires and lingering anxieties all surface in works that arrive raw rather than overworked. These feel less like carefully composed paintings and more like sudden releases after a long period of emotional digestion. The result is direct, unruly and strikingly candid.  May 23-July 5. Free entry. Neu Contemporary. Midday-6pm

Yaowarat welcomes the Bangkok debut of Filipino artist and sculptor Jinggoy Buensuceso with Cosmic Bloom, an immersive solo exhibition taking over Luenrit. Known as one of the Philippines’ leading contemporary sculptors, Buensuceso builds large-scale installations from industrial materials, shaping them through an origami-inspired visual language that explores motion, tension and constant change. Spread across multiple levels, Cosmic Bloom follows a journey of entry, expansion and release. Here, sculpture becomes an environment to move through rather than something viewed from a distance. The result is a striking exploration of perception, consciousness and our place within the wider universe. June 4-July 28. Free entry. Luenrit Yaowarat. 9am-5pm

Bangkok’s humble flower garland takes on a new form in Stillness in Bloom, a solo exhibition by Taiwanese artist Yu Chuan Chang. Drawing on a sight found all over the city, Chang creates contemporary paintings that move between Eastern and Western artistic traditions while reflecting on beauty’s short life. His blooms stay forever at their peak, suspended in paint long after their real-life counterparts fade. Presented as a Garland of Eternity dedicated to Bangkok, the works weave together time, memory and emotion. Layer upon layer of pigment works almost like needle and thread, binding petals to canvas with quiet precision. If a garland’s meaning comes from accepting impermanence, Chang’s paintings offer a softer counterpoint: preserving one perfect moment and letting it linger. May 23-July 12. Free entry. Maison JE Bangkok. 11am-7pm