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

Siam Paragon celebrates Thailand’s long-standing ties with Japan this August with Siam Paragon The Wondrous Japan Heritage 2026, a cultural festival running from August 20-30. Head to Parc Paragon from August 20-23 for live samurai swordsmanship, ninja performances and hands-on workshops, with plenty to see even if you only have an hour between shopping stops. From August 20-23, the main stage hosts Awaken the Samurai between 2pm and 5pm, featuring sword school Shidenryu Tokyo and performers from Iga, known for its association with Japan’s ninja tradition. There are also demonstrations exploring the discipline and techniques behind these historic warrior cultures. Craft sessions cover origami, maneki neko making and the strategy board game Samurai. For something quieter, Living Hall presents A Living Legacy of Time, a bonsai exhibition featuring seven prized masterpieces, including one more than 500 years old. Guided tours happen on weekends, while bonsai workshops take place on August 22 and 29. The wider programme also brings Japanese food, fashion, books and design to the mall, with familiar names such as Kinokuniya, Loft and Nintendo alongside Japanese restaurants and cafes. Admission to the main festival activities is free. August 20-30, 10am-8pm at Siam Paragon

SoloTribe brings Bangkok’s independent founders, creatives and entrepreneurs together for Rhythm & Reflection, a 90-minute evening designed to give busy minds a break. At Marshall Livehouse, sound, scent, tea, journaling and guided reflection come together, with music curated by DJ and multidisciplinary artist BABYSCASH. Peach of SELF Sensory Healing Specialist provides the scent element, while Ash Asia Thailand supports the sound experience. Instead of name tags and small talk, expect a quieter way to meet people, reset and step outside the usual work routine. Aug 30. Free entry; register here. Marshall Livehouse. From 6.30pm

Movie night gets a dinner-table upgrade with La Famiglia Legacy: Table and Screen, a collaboration between Century Theatre Sukhumvit and Avani Sukhumvit Bangkok. The evening pairs The Godfather with an Italian meal, letting you watch Michael Corleone navigate the family business as plates arrive. Begin with a welcome drink before settling in for pasta, cannoli and other Italian dishes from Avani’s kitchen team. The film supplies most of the drama; the setting stays relaxed. If you’ve ever wanted to watch a mafia classic while eating what its characters might order, here’s your excuse.August 22-September 13. B1,550-1,650.  Book here. Century Theatre Sukhumvit. 7pm-10pm

Jazz and art meet in Jazz Conversation, an exhibition of oil paintings inspired by the look and atmosphere of the post-World War I era. Deep black, brown, indigo, rusty orange, wine red, muted yellow and olive green give the show its vintage character. The standout works explore  ‘Rawness’, using thick, forceful brushstrokes and distorted figures to capture the physical freedom of improvising musicians. Rather than simply recording a performance, the artist uses movement, colour and texture to suggest what happens when players abandon a fixed structure and respond to one another in the moment.  August 16-September 6. Free. Joyman Gallery. 11am-6pm

Thai artist, writer and traveller Juli Baker and Summer presents a solo exhibition drawn from her own family story and everyday experiences of care. Through mixed-media paintings and installations, she looks at the often overlooked work that keeps families going, from preparing meals to sitting beside someone when they need company. The starting point is a simple question from her grandmother, who never gets the chance to fly. The exhibition traces their relationship from childhood, when her grandmother cares for her, to later years when the roles reverse and she becomes her grandmother’s caregiver. August 13-September 20. Free entry. RCB Galleria 5, River City Bangkok. 10am-8pm

Tea Lounge at Capella Bangkok has joined forces with Valrhona for Éclat de Cacao, a limited-run afternoon tea by Executive Pastry Chef Paulo Bairan and Valrhona Regional Pastry Chef APAC Guillaume Lopvet. The menu explores chocolate in different styles and intensities, served in classic afternoon-tea form against a backdrop of Chao Phraya River views. It begins with a chocolate-and-citrus welcome drink before moving through scones, pastries, petits fours and mignardises. The creations range from bright cacao flavours to richer dark chocolate, accompanied by tea and herbal and floral infusions. Bringing together Capella’s pastry kitchen and Valrhona’s chocolate expertise, the menu plays with cacao through contrasting flavours and textures. August 8-October 9. Éclat de Cacao Afternoon Tea B1,800++ per person or B3,500++ for two. Tea Lounge, Capella Bangkok

Mooring examines how memories, beliefs and personal histories shift as they move between people, languages and generations. F four artists approach storytelling through their own experiences and practices, asking what happens to truth when a story changes with every retelling. The answer may depend as much on who speaks, who listens and what is remembered as on the facts themselves.  Until September 29. Free entry. Bangkok Kunsthalle. 2pm-8pm 

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

Memories have a funny habit of sticking around, even when the details start to disappear. Kuala Lumpur-based artist Joey Wong, better known as d'peculiar, explores this idea in Preserved Feelings, a solo exhibition of paintings filled with familiar objects, distorted bodies and strange domestic scenes. Human organs appear beside everyday surroundings, rearranged in ways that invite a second look. Wong treats emotions and memories as things we can keep, alter and revisit over time, asking what happens when a past experience no longer looks quite the same but still carries the same emotional weight. Now-September 7. Free entry. GalileOasis. 9am-8pm

JWD Art Space marks 100 years since the birth of poet-artist  Angkarn Kallayanapong with Ash and Alteration, an exhibition shaped around his papers, sketches, letters and other surviving traces.Ashes, ruins and decay recur throughout Angkarn’s poetry – his name itself alludes to what remains after destruction – and here those fragments offer a way into both his work and the world around it. Artists Chulayarnnon Siriphol and Tada Hengsapkul revisit the Buddhist ideas and natural imagery found in Angkarn’s work, while scholars Jirat Chalermsanyakorn, Prapan Jangkitchai and Artit Srijan consider his place in Thailand’s literary and visual-art history. August 8-October 25. Free entry. JWD Art Space. 10am-7pm