The best things to do in Bangkok this weekend (May 14-17)

Skip the usual park loop and head for Bang Luang Canal instead, where Punklong’s water cycling project turns a quiet stretch of canal into an unexpectedly good weekend detour. The pedal-powered route passes weathered wooden houses perched close to the water, giving glimpses of everyday canal life as longtail boats drift by selling grilled snacks and sweets. Midway through, a sprawling century-old banyan tree throws enough shade to make the midday heat manageable. The boats run entirely on pedal power, so the whole thing stays calm, quiet and oddly meditative without losing the novelty factor.

Free trial rides run until May 15, with regular pricing afterwards. At Wat Kamphaeng Bang Chak. Daily 10am-6pm. Updates via Punklong's Facebook page

Grain, shadow and a knack for framing take centre stage in this quietly striking show by Polish cinematographer Lubniewski. Shot on 35mm, the images carry the language of cinema without ever becoming stills; each frame suggests a story mid-scene, caught somewhere between passing glance and private memory. Years spent in Thailand shape the work, with street corners, soft light and everyday encounters rendered with a watchful eye. Nothing looks overworked. Film grain lingers, colours shift unpredictably, and small imperfections hold their ground.

May 7-16. Free. RCB Artery, River City Bangkok. 10am-8pm

That useful shortcut between Benjakitti Park and Lumphini Park is finally back. Reopened on May 1, Green Bridge now stretches 250 metres in one uninterrupted sweep, replacing the old uneven paving with smooth granite paths that feel noticeably easier underfoot. Cyclists get a softer, sport-grade lane, while benches, lifts and ramps make the whole route more accessible without overcomplicating it. Separate walkways also help keep the pace civilised between joggers, cyclists and evening wanderers.

Open daily. Free entry. Green Bridge. 6am-6pm

Bangkok’s underground circuit gets a new late-night address with DUAL, which takes over from Kangkao Collective space inside Trinity Complex. The focus here stays firmly on electronic music, with Southeast Asian selectors sharing the booth alongside visiting international names. The room keeps things stripped back and intimate, letting the sound system carry most of the atmosphere while the crowd settles in for long sessions rather than quick drop-ins. Anyone familiar with the old Kangkao spirit will recognise the easy camaraderie immediately, just with a sharper edge and slightly heavier energy.

Open Friday-Saturday. B300-500 via here. DUAL, Trinity Complex, Soi Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 3. From 9pm

Back behind Esplanade Ratchadaphisek, Ratchada Train Night Market slides straight back into rhythm after its March return. From May 15-17, the sprawling bazaar folds free live music into its usual mix of vintage stalls, smoky grills and ice-cold beers.

Landokmai opens the weekend on May 15 with hazy guitar pop before Mirrr takes over later that night. May 16 shjifts into luk thung and molam territory with Arpaporn ‘Hi’ Nakhonsawan and Paradise Bangkok, while Yented and Fellow Fellow close things out on May 17 with a softer indie finish.

May 15-17. Free entry. Train Night Market Ratchada. 5pm-1am

As AI settles deeper into everyday routines and the shape of work keeps shifting, ThinkFest 2026 leans into a quieter question: what kind of life still feels worth building? Under the theme ‘Everybody Changes’, the festival turns Ari into a walkable circuit of talks, workshops, exhibitions and live performancves spread across neighbourhood venues.

The format works best when you don’t overplan it. Start near Ari BTS Exit 3, follow whichever crowd of soundtrack catches your attention and let the day unfold from there. Collaborators including Loveis Entertainment, What The Duck and Pantang Artwork bring their own energy into the mix, keeping the route varied without feeling overly programmed.

May 29-31. Free entry. Register via here. Across Ari. 1pm-10pm

In ‘Echoes of Us’, Molticha Pongudompanya leans into uncertainty rather than resolution. Figures drift between recognition and disappearance, suspended somewhere between memory, reflection and physical presence. Layering and double exposure shape much of the work, with overlapping bodies and objects creating a sense of movement that never fully settles.

The surfaces carry just as much weight as the imagery itself. Rough brushstrokes soften into hazier textures, while scraped paint leaves behind traces that resemble dust, smoke or fading film negatives. 

May 10-31. Free entry. Joyman Gallery. 11am-6pm

Industrial techno takes over Sacristy this weekend with a night that starts in hard groove territory before gradually tightening into darker, heavier sounds. Tokyo-based selectors EVE and PARSA make their Bangkok debut, bringing distinctly underground energy shaped by Japan’s late-night club circuit.

The local line-up holds its own too. REIKS returns after a standout Monasterio Moscow appearance, NØSYNC plays a final Bangkok set before relocating to the US and MALAII.EXE joins the crew for the first time. Expect strobe, smoke and a rebuilt Kirsch Audio setup dialled fully into immersion mode.

May 15. B300-890 via here. Sacristy Bangkok. From 9pm 

Re:Turn Market makes a convincing case for spending an entire afternoon underground. Set inside Kamphaeng Phet MRT Station, the air-conditioned market gathers more than 80 shops under one roof, mixing vintage clothing, streetwear, toys, accessories, art pieces and small-label finds without forcing everything into the same aesthetic lane.

The best part is the pace. You can wander slowly without melting in the heat or making emergency rain dashes between stalls, and the mix stays broad enough that even casual browsers usually leave carrying something unexpected.

May 15-17. Free entry. Kamphaeng Phet MRT Station. 11am-9pm

The annual sale at Neilson Hays Library returns for 2026, and regulars know the drill: arrive early, bring a sturdy tote, and prepare to leave with more than planned. Set against the library’s quietly elegant architecture, the event offers shelves of secondhand titles in Thai and English, covering novels, art books, children’s stories, older prints and the occasional rare find, with prices starting from B20. Selections come partly from the library’s own collection, alongside books gathered specifically for the occasion. Every purchase supports the upkeep of the historic building, so it’s shopping with a purpose. Word is, a small surprise also waits for visitors this year, a gentle thank you for turning up and browsing.

May ​16-24. Free. Neilson Hays Library. 9.30am-5pm

Elden Zachery closes a month-long residency with Singapore Butoh Collective and NAGAPHORN through a site-specific performance that pulls together drag king performance and Butoh movement into something tense, physical and difficult to categorise neatly.

Using gender expression as a marker of time and place, the work pushes against fixed ideas of masculinity, flesh and control. Movements swing between restraint and release, keeping attention locked onto even the smallest shifts in gesture and rhythm. It starts exactly on time, so arriving early genuinely matters here.

May 16. Free entry. Register via here. 80th Anniversary Celebration Park. From 6pm

Paws and Plates turns into a properly dog-centred affair at Yoonique House, with Pup Cities Bangkok helping shape a morning built equally around humans and their four-legged plus-ones.

While owners work through a Korean-fusion brunch spread, dogs get their own kitchen-prepared menu alongside snack stations, personalised keepsakes and live pet portraits. The atmosphere stays relaxed rather than overly curated, which helps. It feels more like a sociable weekend hangout than a heavily branded pet event, and the included goody bag doesn’t hurt either..

May 16. B299 for humans only and B399 for humans plus up to two pets via here. Yoonique House, Sathorn Soi 10. 11am-3.15pm

Malibarn’s floral garland workshop strips things back to repetition, texture and patience. Led by Kru Gig, the session walks participants through traditional Thai garland-making techniques step by step, from selecting flowers to threading each section together carefully by hand. 

The appeal here isn’t perfection so much as the pace. After a week of Bangkok noise, spending a couple of hours focusing quietly on colour, scent and small details feels surprisingly restorative.

May 17 and 21. B2,250. Reserve via LINE OA: @malibarn. Slowcombo. 11am-1pm

Imprint Project gathers artists from Guatemala whose works carry a strong sense of place through intricate mark-making, texture and inherited symbolism. Hosted at Arun Amarin 23 Art Space, the show moves through daily rituals, spiritual references and fragments of memory without spelling everything out too neatly. The collaboration between ml3print studio and Santa Thekla Atelier de Grabado leaves room for interpretation, which suits the work better anyway. 

May 1-30. Free entry. Arun Amarin 23 Art Space. 11am-4pm

Colour takes the lead in CHROMATIC: A Journey Through Neighborhood Color, a photography exhibition tracing people, culture and daily life across three central Bangkok districts: Song Wat, Pak Khlong Talat and Phahurat. Here, colour works as more than surface detail, linking identity, memory and place across each frame. The images capture movement across streets shaped by trade, vendors and long-standing routines, where community life unfolds in steady rhythm. Expect scenes that shift between quiet observation and busier moments, each grounded in everyday experience. The exhibition forms part of WALKK: Bangkok Re-Birth, a wider programme inviting visitors to trace stories shaped by time, changing ways of life and the city’s historic quarters.

Until May 31. Free. TAY Songwat. 9.30am-5.30pm

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

sits firmly in the category of places you keep having to return to. But this time, it feels different. The concept leans on the ocean after dark, when sunlight disappears and whole ecosystems carry on unseen. You wander through shifting light, sometimes above the waterline, sometimes beneath it, with bioluminescent creatures flickering softly around you. Details keep catching your eye. A neon wall answers your touch with imagined marine life. Seahorses glow under tinted light, rainforest corners bloom with luminous flora, and a quiet full moon hangs over goldfish. In the shark tunnel, silver ripples mimic night tides, while Gentoo penguins stand beneath drifting northern lights. Even the familiar route feels refreshed, with a small stamp trail guiding the way.

Until September 20. Starts at B449 via here. SEA LIFE Bangkok

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.