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

This festival doesn’t try to define queer cinema. It simply lets it speak. Curated by Baturu, a collective that believes art doesn’t need permission to be political, the programme spans fifteen films from across continents – Nepal to New Zealand, France to the Philippines. The stories aren’t stitched together by genre or tone, but by their refusal to shrink. They don’t beg for tolerance. They breathe, ache, kiss, leave. Screenings unfold across Bangkok – from the Goethe-Institut to Buffalo Bridge Gallery – while Chiang Mai sees parallel gatherings hosted by Sapphic Riot and Some Space. Expect talks, workshops, unlikely connections. Expect joy that doesn’t need to explain itself. Jun 27-Jul 6. Check the schedule here. Free. Goethe-Institut Thailand

No need to hop on a plane – Southern Thailand is coming to Bangkok. From cha chak brewed with flair to flavours that hit like a heatwave, the South takes over Chang Chui Creative Park. Flynowiii, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (Southern Region) and Chang Chui bring it all together with over 40 models in a fashion show, local bites that bite back, and crafts that carry stories. It's a weekend of spice, sound and style, all rooted in the rhythms of the South. July 4-6. Free. Chang Chui Creative Park, 4pm-10pm

Bangkok is a city of questions. Why is there a lamppost planted squarely in the middle of the footpath? Who designs those corner-shop signs that somehow read like poetry? If this city had a hero, what would they wear – spandex or flip-flops? Some wonder and move on. Others lose sleep, haunted by crooked laundry racks and perfectly improvised awnings. Neighbourmart is made for the latter – the quietly obsessed, the delightfully curious. With Neighbour Next Door, now in its third edition, the shop floor becomes a thinking space. Not lofty or abstract, but rooted in what’s just outside the door. Talks, walks, workshops – each one an invitation to zoom in, dig deeper, and maybe even find answers. Or at least better questions. Until Jul 13. Free. Neighbourmart, TCDC Bangkok, 10.30am-7pm

It’s a quiet panic that comes with growing older – not just the creaky knees or the birthday candles multiplying like bacteria, but the silence around it. Coming of Aging, an experiential exhibition by Eyedropper Fill, doesn’t try to soothe that discomfort. Instead, it invites you to sit with it. Think less anti-ageing cream, more existential unpacking. Through three immersive zones, visitors are nudged to consider ageing not as a decline, but as a shift – inevitable, complex and deeply human. In a world obsessed with FOMO (the fear of missing out), a subtler fear creeps in: FOGO, the fear of getting old, now bubbling up in Gen Z timelines and TikTok laments. This exhibition doesn’t offer neat resolutions. But it does ask the question we tend to avoid: what if ageing isn’t the enemy, but just another way of becoming? Until Jul 16. Free. River City Bangkok, 10am-8pm

Once a printing house, now a memory pressed between tiled floors and wooden stools – this exhibition remembers Thai Wattana Panich not just as a building, but as a beating heart of knowledge production. Tucked in the centre of Bangkok, it served as a quiet engine of authority, where language wasn’t simply used but standardised. Today, the show asks what happens when the direction shifts – when words don’t trickle down from textbooks, but bubble up from tweets, slang and subtitled memes. It’s not just about nostalgia; it’s about power, who holds it, and who gets to redefine it. In one room, a narrow reading space mirrors cramped living quarters. Visitors must squat to read. It’s a subtle nod to who language once excluded, and who now rewrites the rules from the bottom up. There are games, too. Of course. Until Aug 17. Free. Bangkok Kunsthalle, 2pm-8pm  

In his latest offering, Udom Taephanich – long known for saying too much with a single raised eyebrow – turns his attention to the strange erosion of play. Not the type sold in boxes, but the kind we used to conjure instinctively, when sofa cushions became castles and questions came without hesitation. Back then, imagination was a birthright. We made monsters out of scribbles, entire worlds from cardboard. Then came the invisible border called adulthood, where mistakes became shameful and joy needed justification. A reminder that the real decay isn’t physical – it’s forgetting how to be ridiculous without apology. And maybe, just maybe, it’s reversible. Jun 7-Aug 3. B250-850 via here. The Pinnacle Hall, ICONSIAM, 11am-9pm

At first glance, she’s just a little girl – barefoot, wide-eyed, often mid-thought – but look closer and ‘Little’, the character at the centre of Peachful’s debut solo exhibition, is more than a sketch. She’s a vessel for what gets buried beneath grown-up logic: yearning, softness, the ache to be chosen. Known for her light-as-air linework, Peachful doesn’t just draw feelings – she maps them, tracing the contours of longing and nostalgia with the quiet precision of someone who’s felt it all before. This isn’t an escape into fantasy so much as a reckoning with it. Through the fairytale lens of childhood dreams, the exhibition asks: what if the princess we wanted to become was never the goal, but the question? And what if the answer has been quietly waiting, just beneath the surface, all along? Jul 3-Aug 3. Free. RCB Galleria 4, River City Bangkok, 10am-8pm

Somewhere between a botanical archive and a love letter to overlooked symbols, this exhibition asks: what if flowers weren’t just decorative but deeply political? Chiang Mai’s flame of the forest, Khon Kaen’s golden shower, Ratchaburi’s pink cassia and Pattani’s hibiscus are plucked from provincial emblems and thrust into the present, reframed through sculpture, installation and graphic forms. Each bloom becomes a portal – to place, memory, even protest – hinting at what it means to belong to a region, and how nature codes itself into the fabric of everyday life. Across four immersive zones, the show leans into nostalgia and community, challenging the way we see flora in urban contexts. This is not your auntie's flower show. It’s a quiet reconsideration of identity, told petal by petal. Until 6 Jul. Free. TCDC, 10.30am-7pm 

There’s a curious magic in stepping back millions of years – a chance to wander a world before ours, where giant creatures roamed freely. This event offers just that: an immersive trek alongside Thai dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts, as if the clock has unwound to a forgotten era. Each step pulls you deeper into a landscape shaped by colossal terrestrial rulers, their shadows still lingering in the imagination. It’s less a simple exhibition and more a portal to ancient earth, where awe and curiosity collide. For anyone who’s ever been fascinated by the primeval, this is an invitation to experience wonder unfiltered – a rare glimpse of a world lost but never forgotten. July 1-November 2. B150-350 at the door. Museum Pier, 10am-6pm

This immersive, interactive digital art exhibition themed "Nature and Wildlife" highlights the beauty of ecosystems and biodiversity through advanced techniques like projection mapping, laser art and high-quality media. Spread across nine rooms at King Power Mahanakon, each space presents a distinctive experience reminiscent of a fantastical zoo. Notable features include the Kaleidoscope zone, enveloped in a variety of flowers that serve as food for butterflies; a laser projection room showcasing the majesty of predators; and an interactive underwater world. Youngsters can also enjoy a colouring activity and have their creations appear on the walls. A special surprise awaits with the appearance of Moo Deng, the famous pygmy hippopotamus from Khao Kheow Zoo, who awaits in different rooms to delight you. Until Jul 31. B350 via here and B1,000-1,200 including the Sky Walk via here. Fourth floor, King Power Mahanakon, 10am-9pm