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

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

There is something about a good hotel brunch that slowly wipes out the rest of your plans for the day, and Waldorf Astoria Bangkok seems fully aware of that. The hotel has launched a monthly Saturday Brunch at The Brasserie, running on the first Saturday of every month from noon-3pm, built for the sort of weekends where nobody is in any particular rush to leave. The seafood section lands first and unapologetically big, with towers stacked with oysters, lobster, river prawns, scallops alongside a roaming caviar trolley. Waldorf Astoria’s signature eggs benedict makes an appearance too, while foie gras stations and carving counters keep the whole thing firmly in leisurely celebration territory. From there, the menu shifts between international mains and richer Asian comfort dishes. Pan-seared snow fish, smoked duck breast, sous vide beef short rib and creamy crab capellini sit alongside Peking duck, suckling pig and barbecue pork. Dessert keeps the momentum going with a chocolate fountain, pastries, lychee-yuzu creations and enough cake to justify quietly cancelling your evening plans afterwards.From B3,550++ per person. The Brasserie, Waldorf Astoria Bangkok. Advance booking recommended. First Saturday of every month, 12pm-3pm. Upcoming dates include June 6, July 4, August 12 (special H.M. The Queen Mother’s Birthday edition), September 5, October 3, November 7 and December 5

MunMun Srinakarin opens MMAD Gallery with six exhibitions from the first artists selected through the MMADness is Calling project, giving emerging names space to experiment across installation, sculpture, sound and textiles. Psyche and Flesh turns suffering and memory into tactile forms, while Upper’s What Lies on Top of the Mountain pairs animation, towering canvases and atmospheric audio to unpack the awkward quiet after intimacy. Elsewhere, Jhanyar’s 24/7 Objects reframes Bangkok’s pavements and everyday clutter with a sharply observant eye for city life. Steam Stream drifts through water and rice fields, Sunburn The Kid reconstructs discarded fabric into new textile works and Fish Are Friends introduces scrap-metal fish puppets for anyone carrying around a little low-level loneliness. May 7-June 21. Free. MMAD GALLERY. 11am-7pm

Factories, pipelines and scarred coastlines sit at the centre of this striking photography exhibition by Sukrit Patjuntadusit, which examines the environmental cost carried by Rayong Province. Human presence lingers quietly throughout the series, whether through industrial structures, contaminated water or damaged landscapes altered over time. What sets the show apart is Sukrit’s use of the ‘film soup’ technique. Wastewater gathered from real industrial sites becomes part of the film development process itself, allowing chemicals to stain, corrode and warp the negatives. Pollution doesn’t simply appear as subject matter here – it physically reshapes the photographs. A free documentary screening and discussion session also takes place on Saturday June 6 from 1pm to 3pm. Now-June 23. Free entry. 2/F, Fotoclub BKK. 11am-8pm

Pride Month matchmaking lands at Shake Shack Thailand this month as OMG Matchmaking rounds up more than 50 LGBTQ+ singles for an evening of burgers, flirting and surprisingly competitive ice-breaking games. The concept is simple: less awkward swiping, more actual conversation. Guests move through more than 10 speed-dating rounds before sticking around to mingle until 10pm. Pride-only snacks also make an appearance, including the new French onion burger and a brightly coloured Pride milkshake made specially for the event. Expect group games, instant connections and the kind of cheerful oversharing usually reserved for after midnight. June 6. B1,099 via here. Shake Shack One Bangkok. 6pm-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

Inner Spectrum slows things down considerably, gathering abstract and semi-abstract works from five artists interested less in explanation than emotional residue. Across layered textures, shifting compositions and large stretches of deliberate emptiness, the exhibition explores memory, anxiety and the mental static modern life leaves hanging around our heads. There’s no polished escapism here, thankfully. Just uncertainty, silence and room to sit with both. May 23-June 12. Free. Art Jewel Gallery, Siam Paragon. 10am-10pm

Craft here reads like a way of staying present. The exhibition looks at time across Thailand and Southeast Asia as something layered and cyclical, shaped by ritual, labour and shared experience rather than strict progression. Makers move between past and present with a quiet ease, holding inherited knowledge while adjusting to what now demands. Objects carry that negotiation, each one marked by repetition. Slowness becomes intentional, offering an alternative to constant speed and easy consumption. Nothing feels rushed, yet nothing stands still either.  April 30-16 August. Free. Jim Thompson Art Center, 10am-6pm

There is something reassuring about chefs who know exactly what kind of restaurant they want to run, and Cannubi by Umberto Bombana feels very clear on that point. For two days only, Chef Umberto Bombana returns to Bangkok alongside executive Italian chef Andrea Susto to introduce Cannubi’s Summer Menu 2026, built around Italian seasonality and ingredient-led cooking rather than overworked theatrics. The six-course menu moves through lighter summer flavours, while optional wine pairings lean into the slower lunch and dinner energy the restaurant already handles well. The bigger draw, though, is simply catching one of Italy’s most recognised chefs back in Bangkok again – especially inside Thailand’s only one Michelin-starred Italian restaurant. 4-5 June. B8,900++ per person. Cannubi by Umberto Bombana, L/F, Dusit Thani Bangkok. Lunch and dinner

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