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

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

It centres on palimpsest, where time never sits neatly in place. Davisi Boontham works with orihon sketchbooks, drawing loosely across each page before folding them back on themselves. Images that once stay apart now meet, overlap, and shift, forming narratives that refuse a single viewpoint. Past and present sit side by side, not quite settled, carrying traces that stretch across years. The city appears in fragments, remembered and reworked, never entirely whole. What begins within the folds soon exceeds them. Personal histories slip through the paper, shaped by attachment and a quiet sense of longing.  Until April 19. Free. PLAY art house, 10am-5pm

Peakkyboo’s solo show follows Booky, her hooded, ghost-like figure, drifting through memory with a quiet insistence. Booky never quite arrives anywhere, instead circling moments that feel close enough to touch yet remain out of reach. This time, the character settles by Swan Lake, tucked deep within a forest where people take the form of swans, not by force but by choice. The shift matters. The familiar ballet reference softens, turning from fate to intention, from loss to a kind of staying. Paintings lean heavily on greens and blues, brushed quickly, almost instinctively, as if feeling leads and technique follows. Some scenes blur behind a misted surface, like recollections half-remembered. Until April 21. Free. m Galleria 2, River City Bangkok, 10am-7pm

Bangkok Baking Company (BBCO) at the JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok leans into the season with Tropical Harmony, a limited run of desserts built around bright fruit and lighter textures. It is a simple idea done well, with flavours like mango, coconut and berries working through a set of playful designs. Standouts include the raspberry flamingo, which layers sponge, confit and mousse into something sweet yet light, while the delightful poolside tropique – which brings banana, mango and passion fruit into a creamier mix – adds a kiss of freshness to proceedings. There is also a neat piña colada take and a chocolate option shaped like a beach bucket if you’re really after something richer and absolutely photogenic. Now until Apr 30. B250 per piece. Bangkok Baking Company, JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok. 6am-9pm

A contemporary exhibition and workshop programme takes on questions of security and precarity within today’s art landscape, focusing on those often left at the edges. The project centres Thai artists aged 40-plus who continue working without institutional backing, whether overlooked by selection systems or quietly stepping away from formal circuits out of necessity. The programme creates space for these voices without dressing them up, pairing exhibitions with workshops that favour exchange over instruction.  Until May 31. Free. Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, 10am-8pm

TK Park takes a wider approach this year, spreading its board game gatherings across Bangkok. Working with the Institute of Board Games for Learning and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the idea feels simple: create space for people to meet, play and think together. Sessions run on the third Sunday of each month across 12 learning libraries, each one offering a slightly different crowd. April sits on chance, with dice-led games setting the tone for Songkran. Expect titles like King of Tokyo, Sagrada and Camel Up, alongside a few lesser-known picks. Wins come and go quickly, but the real appeal sits in the conversations between turns, where strangers settle into something resembling familiarity. April 19. Free. The Bangkok City Library, 11am-3pm

‘Preserve, Maintain, and Extend’ sounds almost instructional, yet the White Elephant Art Competition treats it as an open question. Artists answer in their own language, moving freely across form and surface. Among the works that linger, Branches of the Era by Theerapol Seesang carries a steady gravity, while Doi Ang Khang by Boonmee Saengkham leans closer to memory and place. Recognition matters, but it never overwhelms the wider conversation. Each year, this show marks a subtle shift, where technique evolves and ideas stretch, leaving visitors with something to sit with long after. Until May 17. Free. Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, 10am-8pm

Noo Monthip moves across disciplines with quiet ease, shaping voice, music, fashion and image without ever insisting on attention. This exhibition gathers what she leaves behind, assembled by family and friends who understand that her work speaks best when given space. ‘Wind’ becomes a gentle thread. You don’t see it, but you feel its presence in motion, much like memory that lingers, shifts and returns in unexpected ways. The ground floor, Baan Sailom, invites a slower pace, a place to sit and reflect. Upstairs, her life unfolds through sound, images and objects that feel deeply personal. A music corner hums beside fragments of writing. Another level brings fashion and collaborations, offering a fuller sense of how she connects with others, softly but unmistakably. Until April 30. Free. Museum Pier, 10am-6pm

What is it? The Mandarin Oriental's khao chae is led this year by Chef Pom Patchara, who draws on family recipes passed down through generations. The jasmine rice is smoked with ob tien – a traditional Thai aromatic candle used to infuse a delicate, smoky, floral fragrance – before being floated in cool, flower-scented water. The side dishes follow a classical royal-court sequence: luk kapi, pounded yison fish caramelised to a deep sweetness, stuffed green pepper in its delicate egg-net wrapping and sweet shredded pork.  Why we love it: The presentation across both available formats – a gift box and a traditional pinto lunch carrier – reflects the hotel's understanding that the experience of khao chae extends well beyond the table.  Time Out tip: Advance orders are required. If you're giving this as a gift, the pinto carrier is the move – it travels beautifully and arrives looking considered. Four branches are available if one location doesn't suit you. The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. Available at four Bangkok branches – Siam Paragon, Gaysorn Village, The Emporium and Park Silom. Daily from March 16-May 15.

Seven voices meet on the same wall, each shaped by different cities yet speaking through the same visual code. Artists from Thailand, France and Switzerland treat graffiti less as rebellion and more as a shared language, one that carries stories of ambition, missteps and quiet persistence. Styles shift from sharp lettering to loose, almost instinctive forms, but a sense of dialogue holds everything together. Youth lingers here, with all its uncertainty and small acts of bravery. Misjudgments sit beside moments of clarity, neither cancelling the other. What stays is the belief that expression matters, even when direction feels unclear, and that instinct often knows before certainty catches up. March 20-May 3. Free. Maison JE Bangkok, 11am-7pm