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

Paintbrush Foundation is welcoming the public to an open-air concert at Benjakitti Park, an hour of music set against one of Bangkok’s greenest corners. Students and teachers alike will perform Thai classical pieces alongside fusion arrangements, blending tradition with playful modern touches. The park itself feels like an extended stage, the lake catching the last light of the afternoon and the trees leaning in as if listening. It’s the sort of event where you can wander in casually, settle on the grass with a friend and let the melodies thread through conversation. For anyone who has spent long weeks in the city, this hour offers a gentle pause, a quiet celebration of music and movement, and a reminder that the city can be unexpectedly serene when the sun is low. December 13. Free. Benjakitti Park, 5pm-6pm

Returning for its fourth year, this food festival has quietly become a highlight of the season. Curated with help from the popular food review page ThanadChim, the event gathers more than 120 stalls serving up everything from sticky savoury bites to indulgent desserts and thirst-quenching drinks. Each stall feels handpicked, offering little surprises that keep you wandering with a plate in hand. The soundtrack keeps the weekend humming. Mini concerts feature familiar names like Tattoo Colour, ETC., Lipta and Landokmai, with a few unexpected performers dotted through the schedule. It’s the kind of festival where tasting and listening go hand in hand, where you can linger over a dessert while an energetic chorus fills the air, and somehow three hours slip by without noticing. December 12-14. B200 via here and B250 at the door. Sermsuk Warehouse, 3pm-midnight

Som Supaparinya’s latest solo exhibition, shaped with curator Gridthiya Gaweewong, feels like stepping into a quiet argument about who gets to record the past. Part of the Han Nefkens Foundation, Southeast Asian Video Art Production Grant 2024 in memory of Dinh Q Lê, the new commission sits beside a reworked version of her earlier installation Paradise of the Blind. The older piece still carries its spark, using archival fragments, censorship records and once-forbidden titles to sketch a region that edits itself as often as it remembers. Seen together, the works raise questions about the cost of progress and the uneasy conversation between power, memory and the natural world. December 4-March 29 2026. Free. Gallery 1-2, The Jim Thompson Art Center, 10am-6pm 

The year is bowing out with a three day affair on Soi Nana, Sukhumvit 4, where a roomy venue is being remade as a cheerful end of year hangout. Think of it as a playful mash up of market, block party and friends’ reunion, stitched together with the kind of energy that makes you forget December exhaustion. Every corner offers something to poke at. Rows of stalls cover fashion, accessories, clothing and footwear with a spread wide enough to satisfy anyone who shops by instinct rather than plan, all selling authentic pieces. A drinks and food zone keeps the crowd fuelled with cold pours and quick bites. DJs and live bands take turns keeping the soundtrack lively while a generous lounge area helps you catch your breath. It promises an easygoing weekend built for wandering, snacking and squeezing every last drop of good mood from the final days of the year. December 12-14. Free. Maison Hotel Bangkok, 4pm onwards

The world famous L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, known as the Sacred Temple of Pizza and immortalised in Eat Pray Love, opens in Bangkok with the same fifth generation recipes served in Naples since 1870. The Bangkok outpost follows locations in New York, London, Tokyo, Dubai and Singapore, showcasing the signature pizza a ruota di carro with its thin soft dough that stretches beyond the plate and a pillowy cornicione baked for just 60 seconds at 485C in a custom Stefano Ferrara oven. Ingredients are sourced directly from Campania and Southern Italy, including San Marzano DOP tomatoes, Agerola mozzarella, Pecorino Romano DOP and Masturzo olive oil, alongside toppings like Cetara anchovies, friarelli, capers and smoked scamorza. Beyond pizza, diners can expect handmade pastas, starters and classic southern Italian desserts served in the new Nextopia zone on the fifth floor of Siam Paragon. Reserve via allora@damichele.co.th. L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Siam Paragon 5/F, 11am-10pm

Cambridge’s Black Country, New Road have been quietly rewriting the rules of indie pop since 2018. Formed by a cluster of friends, most fresh from music school, they built a sound that refuses to sit still – baroque flourishes rub against jazz improvisation, folk and rock twist through unexpected structures, and vocals teeter between subtle emotion and urgent confession. Their live shows are a theatre of movement and intensity, each set a reminder of why Ninja Tune snapped them up so quickly. Their debut album For the First Time (2021) startled listeners with strings and brass crashing against post-punk edges, a sound both jagged and cinematic. Ants From Up There (2022) introduced lighter, playful tones without losing the storytelling that has become their signature. Thailand gets a first glimpse of their full evolution at Maho Rasop Series, a performance that promises to linger long after the last note fades. December 13. B2,200 via here. Search Studio, 7pm

Flying Whale gathers seven artists and illustrators for a show that feels like a gentle exhale in a season usually obsessed with glitter and performance. Tum Ulit, faan.peeti, katangg, 2an, May&Clay, Pou Rawiwan and PYH bring fresh pieces shaped by distinct lines and quiet emotional weight, each one building a small world that speaks without fuss. The spark for the exhibition comes from a question many of us try to dodge. In a world addicted to speed and endless self-proof, do we ever get a moment to step back and look at life without treating it like a scoreboard? Beyond Festivity treats Christmas less as spectacle and more as a pause. A pocket of warmth, longing or peace. A brief reminder that feeling alive can be simple and honestly quite soft. Until December 14. Free. 5/F, Central Pinklao, 10am-10pm

The 2025 Contemporary World Film Series closes with A Perfectly Normal Family, directed by Malou Reymann. The story follows an ordinary family whose life shifts unexpectedly when the father decides to transition into a woman, exploring the ripples this decision sends through love, confusion and eventual acceptance. The film has already made its mark internationally, collecting accolades at major festivals and earning Denmark’s Bodil Award, a nod to its sensitive storytelling and strong performances. The screening is hosted with support from the Embassy of Denmark, and attendees can look forward to a reception afterwards. HE Danny Annan, the Danish Ambassador, will open the evening with a few words, setting the tone for a story that is at once intimate and universally resonant, a reflection on identity, family and the quiet courage it takes to embrace change. December 13. B20 at the door for non-TK Park members. Reserve via filmforum17@gmail.com. TK Park, Central World, 4pm

Weekends call for films under the sky and The Sunset Film Club knows it. They’re setting up an outdoor cinema at the top yard of The Commons Thonglor, rolling out seven screenings across December like a gentle countdown to the holidays. It’s the kind of setting where popcorn tastes better, drinks last longer and you can sit back without feeling rushed. The programme is a mix of comfort watches and seasonal favourites: Clueless on December 6, UP on December 13, 50 First Dates on December 20, How the Grinch Stole Christmas on December 24, The Holiday on December 25, About Time on December 27 and Love Actually on December 31. Think of it as a warm-up to the end of the year, one film at a time. December 6-31. B450 via here. The Commons Thonglor, 6pm and 9pm

Kitikong Tilokwattanotai’s latest exhibition feels like a conversation across centuries. The artist revisits one of humanity’s earliest canvases, goat parchment, a medium that once held the first flickers of human thought and record. By working with this ancient material, Kitikong bridges the gap between the ancient and the contemporary, layering centuries-old craft with modern printmaking. Etching, one of the oldest printmaking techniques, guides the series. Each incision on the plate negotiates between control and chance, a subtle  dialogue between hand and surface. When transferred onto parchment, the prints carry a quiet tension, permanence brushing against fragility, memory pressed into form. The work lingers somewhere between past and present, inviting viewers to trace the line where history, material, and imagination meet. Until February 6 2026. Free. Archives Design, 11am-6pm