The best things to do in Bangkok this March

Six years on, Mango Art Festival still has its moment. From 4 to 8 March, it settles at River City Bangkok with the theme ‘ICON’, arguing that today’s overlooked objects become tomorrow’s fixations. In the Gallery Zone, Japan’s YOD TOKYO and Editions stands alongside Manila’s Gallery. Sort of. and Malaysia’s A4 ART GALLERY. The Independent Artist area pairs cult provocateur Joan Cornellà with regional names and emerging studios, while 95 fresh faces claim space in the Newcomer section. Craft appears with a sustainable rethink, TOR presents ‘Little Man’, and the main stage hosts candid creative conversations. 

March 4-8. Free. River City Bangkok floors 1 and 2, 11am-8pm

Pet expos often mean fluorescent halls and polite clapping for pedigree winners. This one rewrites the script. The weekend plays out as a full-tilt hangout where you browse smart feeders and wearable tech, stock up on treats, watch dogs strut and cats judge everyone silently, then wander over to adoption booths and donation drives before catching a live set without leaving the venue. Phase 1 of the line-up reads like a festival poster: Jaonaay–Jaokhun, Gavin, Twopee Southside, Safe Planet and Better Weather lead more than 30 acts. Between sets, celebrity pets such as Jum Meng and Moo Too make guest appearances. You come for the animals, stay for the music and leave wondering why every fair doesn’t feel this lively.

March 5-8. B20 at the door. Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal Station, 10am-9pm

Bangkok’s family theatre scene receives a welcome treat as The Tiger Who Came to Tea pads back onto the stage. Presented by a dedicated family theatre curator, the production arrives direct from the West End, adapted and directed by David Wood and based on The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. An Olivier Award nominee, it brings a professional touring cast to local audiences without anyone needing a flight to London. The story stays deliciously simple: the doorbell rings, Sophie and her mum expect nothing unusual, and a large stripy guest drinks the teapot dry. Songs invite sing-alongs, jokes land gently and visual gags keep adults amused. Running 55 minutes without interval, the show suits ages three and up, offering a friendly first step towards live performance.

March 5-8. B1,275-2,500 via here. M Theatre Bangkok, check timings here.

Clear your diary and text the group chat because the glass you talk about all year waits patiently here. What once answered only to beer now drops the label and widens its scope. The festival shelves Thai craft brews alongside natural wines, sharp little cocktails and small-batch spirits poured by the people who actually make them. Each stallholder arrives with a backstory, which makes wandering from table to table feel oddly intimate. You sip, you chat, you learn why that citrus note matters. A mini-election runs throughout the weekend, inviting everyone to vote for favourites and crown crowd heroes. It’s a neighbourhood gathering with better lighting and far better drinks.

March 6-8. Free. ChangChui, 11am-11pm

Bangkok does not always demand skyscraper gazing. Sometimes it hands you a pocket-sized booklet and suggests a long walk. The BAC Passport returns with its Winter Edition 2026, turning the city into a living sketchbook where each stamp is an achievement. You pick up the passport, roam between art spaces, collect marks and trade them for souvenirs created by actual artists. It plays out like a cultural scavenger hunt, only with better stories to tell afterwards. This season gathers 27 destinations and splits them across four routes, from Old Town corners to riverbank hideouts. Pick up your passport at one of seven locations, including Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Center, Bangkok City Library, Chula Museum, River City Bangkok, Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music, Asvin or Numthong Art Space. You have until May 31 to complete the journey.

Until May 31. Free. Art spaces across Bangkok.

For three days, Cloud 11 joins forces with Looker to take over Bangkok’s largest rooftop park, stretching across 16,000 square metres. The space transforms into what they call a Cultural Floor, which in practice means film folk, fashion upstarts, designers and musicians sharing the same patch of grass. The curation leans thoughtful. Independent labels and emerging names replace the predictable rail of copy-paste trends. You wander, you chat, you probably buy something you didn’t plan to. Best of all, it unfolds in an actual park, high above the traffic. The city hums below while dogs trot happily beside their owners. 

March 13-15. Free. Cloud11 Bangkok, 3pm-11pm

Skyline Film Bangkok waves goodbye to winter with a March programme that lingers on love in all its awkward, hopeful forms. Romantic dramas sit beside soft-centred rom-coms, the kind you quote years later without admitting it. The line-up reads like a well-thumbed diary: Past Lives, The Fault in Our Stars, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Even The Hangover slips in. Thai favourite Seasons Change brings a rush of campus nostalgia, while How to Train Your Dragon and The Theory of Everything round things out. Swap the multiplex for open air, bring a friend and let the evening unfold gently.

March 19-21. B500 via here. River City Bangkok, 5.30pm and 8.30pm

After a globe-trotting 2025 run across Europe, North America and Australia, West London’s Central Cee sets his sights on Thailand with a debut solo show that feels long overdue. The rapper turns sharp observation and clipped delivery into an international calling card, with tracks like BAND4BAND, Sprinter, Obsessed With You and Let Go streaming from bedrooms in Shepherd’s Bush to Sukhumvit condos. He returns to Bangkok after Rolling Loud 2023, though this time the spotlight stays firmly on him. Expect full production, a headline set and that cool, self-assured presence that makes him one of the most sought-after touring names right now.

March 20. B2,500-5,500 via here. UOB LIVE, 6pm

You know that moment when a performer holds a room and not a single word is spoken, yet you follow every beat? That is the quiet triumph of the Silent Theatre Festival. No subtitles, no linguistic gymnastics, just storytelling carried by movement, rhythm and the sort of physical comedy that leaves your ribs aching. House of Mask and Mime curates the programme, inviting artists from Japan, Czechia and Thailand who treat the body as both script and stage. Four productions feature this year, each with its own temperament, from tender absurdity to playful mischief. It feels refreshingly direct. You watch, you laugh, you feel slightly disarmed. Children sit beside adults, equally captivated, which perhaps says everything.

March 21-22. B490 via here. ​​Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), check timing here.

Darker Than Wax turns 15 and decides Bangkok is the right place to celebrate. The collective unites for DTW15, led by Dean Chew, Dexter Colt and Pam Anantr, with guests Isaac Aesili performing live and Ziggy Zeitgeist joining the bill. Expect DJ sets and live sessions that travel through soulful house, electronic textures and world grooves without feeling like a history lesson. They partner with Ritual Rhythm Weekend, founded in 2023 at Baan Trok Tua Ngork and later hosted at The Standard Bangkok. Crafts, food, design workshops and ambient performances round out a full-day gathering where music and movement share equal footing.

March 21. B300-500 via here. The Warehouse Talat Noi, 4pm onwards

MOCANA began in New York in 2022 and now travels as a multi-disciplinary pop-up that treats culture as something lived rather than labelled. Built around five pillars, fine art, film, functional art, fashion and food, it gathers international and local names under one shifting roof. Exhibitions sit beside performances and workshops, each designed less for polite observation and more for participation. This edition frames culture as an archive you carry in your body. It lives in music, photographs, half-remembered conversations and objects kept for reasons you cannot quite explain. You listen, you move, you interact. Meaning forms through sound and shared experience, not wall text.

March 21. B1,111-1,666 via here. ASVIN, 2pm onwards

Taeyong, leader of NCT, brings his first solo tour to Bangkok, fresh from completing military service and quietly reintroducing himself with a special video for H.E.R last December. The 2026 run begins in Seoul in late January, then moves through Jakarta, Yokohama, Macau and Kuala Lumpur before reaching Thailand.This marks his debut solo performance here, a milestone that feels personal rather than procedural. The set list leans on his individual catalogue, allowing sharper edges and softer notes to surface without the cushion of group choreography. Each stop is carefully constructed to reflect his own musical identity. Bangkok finally sees the full picture, not just the idol, but the artist steering his own narrative.

March 28-29. B2,600-5,000 via here. Thunder Dome, 6pm

It dictates cravings, stretches lunch breaks and tests bravado. Once a year that fiery obsession takes centrestage at Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, which transforms into a roaming kitchen for Chilli Fest, now in its fourth round. Michelin-calibre names cook alongside neighbourhood favourites, each interpreting heat through their own lens. Thai curries sit beside Mexican aguachile, Korean spice meets Punjabi street fare and Southern Thai fire shares space with Spanish-Japanese tapas. You wander, taste, compare notes. As sunset nears, attention shifts to the Chilli Eating Contest. Contestants climb towards peppers measuring 2.2 million on the Scoville scale. The crowd winces, laughs and waits for the final, tearful triumph.

March 28. B250-B800 via here. Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, 2pm-9pm