Our picks for the best things to do in Bangkok this weekend

Some moments still make more sense on film. The measured click of a shutter, the wait for a roll to return from the lab and the slightly unpredictable colours all explain why analogue photography refuses to disappear. Song Wat Film Day: Craft & Indie Market takes over the century-old Gate Alley, where weathered shophouses, family-run wholesalers and boats passing on the Chao Phraya provide a fitting backdrop. Browse film cameras, vinyl, handmade goods and accessories, then stop for a craft drink or glass of wine.  August 4-12. Free entry. 100-Year-Old Gate Alley, Song Wat. 10am-8pm

The photographer Chaiyos Pinpradab returns with his first solo exhibition in 20 years, bringing together 114 handcrafted film photographs from a 150-day road trip through southern Thailand. Travelling from Pran Buri to Narathiwat between September 2024 and January 2025, he captured everyday life, distinctive architecture and quiet landscapes with remarkable patience. The series takes its cue from ‘Golden Chersonese’, an ancient name for the Malay Peninsula. Shot on a Hasselblad XPan panoramic film camera, each image rewards close inspection, while traditional darkroom printing preserves subtle shifts of light, texture and tone. The result celebrates the region without romanticising it. Now-August 9. Free entry. Fifth floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. 10am-8pm

National Book Lovers Day gets a sociable twist at Books and Boo, an evening that swaps silent reading for drinks, conversation and a little literary matchmaking. Browse blind-date books wrapped to keep their titles secret, many drawn from short-story collections and romantasy favourites with a decidedly grown-up edge. Bring your partner, gather some friends or turn up solo, then settle in with a drink and compare recommendations with fellow readers. A photo corner adds to the fun, while the bar offers 10 percent off drinks and 20 percent off bottles of wine. Even if you leave without a new romance, you’ll probably go home with a good book. August 9. Free entry. 6TH.FL. 6pm-9pm

Fans counting down to Olivia Rodrigo’s next chapter can stop at Piccolo Vicolo, where all three branches are hosting an album-inspired pop-up until August 9. The Sam Yot café gets the full treatment with exclusive photo spots, while every location serves themed drinks named after tracks from you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. Expect the soundtrack throughout the day, handwritten fan messages across the walls and plenty of purple details. Order a featured drink, scan the in-store QR code and save the album on Spotify or Apple Music to receive one of five limited-edition button badges, while stocks last. Until August 9. Free entry. All three Piccolo Vicolo branches. 9am-5pm

A weekend by the river rarely needs much persuasion, especially with art, music and a reason to slow down. Spend the afternoon browsing original prints, ceramics and handmade pieces, then grab a drink and find a seat by the water as long-tail boats pass and the late-afternoon light settles across the river. After dark, DJs take over a stage aboard a moored boat, shifting the gathering from relaxed market to open-air dance floor without anyone having to move far. August 9. Free entry. Bangkok Island Pier. 4pm-midnight

Japanese craftsmanship has long balanced painstaking technique with a playful streak, and The Superlative Artistry of Japan shows how little that has changed over the past 150 years. After touring internationally since 2017, the exhibition finally arrives in Thailand, bringing together Meiji-era masterpieces and contemporary design in one thoughtful survey. Rather than separating tradition from pop culture, the exhibition shows how the same careful approach continues to shape Japanese creativity across generations. July 25-August 23. Free entry. First floor, TCDC Bangkok. 10.30am-7pm

Three decades after Detective Conan first arrives on television, the long-running mystery series gets its first Southeast Asian anniversary exhibition. The show traces the anime's history from early sketches and storyboards to voice recording, music and final animation, offering a closer look at the work behind one of Japan's biggest franchises. Highlights include life-sized recreations of memorable scenes, a storyboard wall spanning 30 years and a screening room showing an exclusive anniversary film. Pick up an assigned collectible ticket on arrival, then finish with a browse through exclusive merchandise made specially for the exhibition. July 23-November 8. B250-900 via here. FreeAttraction Hall, ICONSIAM. 10am-9pm

Bangkok’s growing secondhand scene has another reason to gather as Use Loop Repeat 2026 returns to Open House at Central Embassy. Organised with Loopers, this year’s edition, ‘Designed by Her: Discover Stories Made to Matter’, celebrates women-led creativity through practical ideas rather than lofty statements. Opening day brings talks with Pancake Khemanit, Samich Petdee and Aim Phumipat, alongside workshops turning bottle caps, food waste and discarded packaging into everyday objects. More than 30 sustainable brands also set up shop. The three-week programme makes an easy stop whether you’re hunting for thoughtful design, browsing secondhand finds or escaping the afternoon heat. August 3-23. Free entry. Open House at Central Embassy. 10am-9pm

First staged in Cheongju Craft Biennale, this group exhibition arrives in Bangkok following a debut as the Invited Country Pavilion in Cheongju, South Korea. The project grows from an ongoing exchange between Thailand and the Republic of Korea, setting craft alongside contemporary art across Southeast and East Asia. At its core sits ‘Elastic Time’, a curatorial thread that questions how time behaves across the region. Forget neat timelines. Here, past, present and future overlap, repeat and quietly reshape one another. The Cheongju edition sets the tone as a cross-cultural conversation, where material, process and memory carry equal weight. Artists approach craft not as something fixed, but as a way to consider what unfolds now, and what might come next. Until August 16. Free. Jim Thompson Art Center. 10am-6pm

An entire Akha house now stands in the middle of Bangkok, carefully dismantled from a village in northern Thailand and rebuilt piece by piece inside an art gallery. Roof panels, woven bedding, timber floors and weathered household objects all carry marks of the people who once lived among them, quietly tracing a way of life that grows more fragile with each passing generation. The Akha are an Indigenous ethnic group whose communities are spread across the mountains of northern Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and southern China, known for their intricate textiles, spiritual rituals and deep connection to land and ancestry. In recent decades, migration, tourism and rapid development have reshaped many of those traditions. Through memory, craftsmanship and personal histories, The Preservation of Fire by Busui Ajaw keeps those stories alive a little longer. May 15-November 1. Free entry. Bangkok Kunsthalle. 2pm-8pm