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

As AI settles deeper into everyday routines and the shape of work keeps shifting, ThinkFest 2026 leans into a quieter question: what kind of life still feels worth building? Under the theme ‘Everybody Changes’, the festival turns Ari into a walkable circuit of talks, workshops, exhibitions and live performancves spread across neighbourhood venues. The format works best when you don’t overplan it. Start near Ari BTS Exit 3, follow whichever crowd of soundtrack catches your attention and let the day unfold from there. Collaborators including Loveis Entertainment, What The Duck and Pantang Artwork bring their own energy into the mix, keeping the route varied without feeling overly programmed. May 29-31. Free entry. Register via here. Across Ari. 1pm-10pm

Before anything else, a bit of homegrown pride takes centre stage. Bangkok Pride Festival returns under the theme ‘Patch the World with Pride’, with a parade stretching 4.8 kilometres from Chong Nonsi to Rama I. Expect a 300-metre rainbow flag rolling across Silom Road, longer than any previous year and impossible to miss. At Suphachalasai Stadium, Rabiab Wathasin brings mor lam to the Pride Stage, grounding the celebration in local culture while reflecting LGBTQ+ stories of resilience. Alongside it, Drag Bangkok Festival and Thailand's Drag Star raise the stakes for the city’s drag scene. Dress up if you want to be seen, but keep the history in mind. May 31. Free. Chong Nonsi Canal Park (Silom Road). 3pm

Asia’s biggest food trade fair returns on an even larger scale this year, spreading across 12 exhibition halls and bringing together more than 3,300 exhibitors from 60 countries. THAIFEX – Anuga Asia draws everyone from global suppliers to independent brands, all chasing the next big shift shaping how the world eats and drinks. A new innovation-focused hall puts future food technology, fresh market launches and rising startup talent front and centre, while the European Union steps in as official partner region with a showcase centred around sustainable food and beverage products. Another notable addition arrives with PLX Asia, Southeast Asia’s first B2B platform dedicated to private label and contract manufacturing, launching with an executive seminar on May 29. May 26-30. Free entry. IMPACT Arena. 10am-6pm

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

Sapphic Pride Fest has dropped its entertainment line-up and suddenly cancelling plans seems sensible. Expect low lights, loud singalongs and a dance floor packed with people screaming every word to queer pop anthems all night long.  ZYMONE takes centre stage with a set full of teasing, flirting and crowd-working energy, while Drag Peppae – best known as Bangkok’s resident Chappell Roan superfan – commands the decks from 8pm to 9pm. Later on, DJ Yui Truluv keeps things moving with tracks from Fletcher, Charli XCX, Hayley Kiyoko and G Flip. Essential for anyone treating sapphic pop playlists like sacred text. May 30. Free entry. FV39. 9pm onwards

Thailand’s street dance scene gets another major spotlight moment when Red Bull Dance Your Style returns to Bangkok for its third year. The competition kicks off the search for the country’s top freestyle dancers, with 12 finalists and four wild cards battling for a place at the World Final in Zurich this October. There’s plenty of high-stakes face-offs, inventive routines and the sort of crowd reactions that can make or break a round in seconds. More than 3,000 spectators are expected to pack the venue, while special performances from MILLI, Joke iScream and Bangkokboy keep the energy high between battles. May 30. Free entry. Hua Lamphong Train Station. 6pm

Bangkok’s picnic crowd gets a proper excuse to stretch out on the grass when Happitat teams up with GROUNDCONTROL for a laid-back lifestyle festival in the middle of Bangna’s greenery. Think picnic blankets, slow afternoons and more than 80 vendors selling crafts, fashion, snacks and drinks, all spread across a wide open lawn designed for lingering. Art workshops and interactive activities run throughout the weekend, while a towering mushroom installation rising more than four metres above the grounds is almost guaranteed to dominate everyone’s camera roll. Visitors can also wander through the flower-filled ‘Fairy Circle’ experience inside Lumis Theater Hall, with live music and pet-friendly spaces helping the whole thing settle into an easy weekend rhythm. May 30-31. Free entry. Happitat at The Forestias. 10am-7pm

Bangkok Kunsthalle welcomes Brooklyn-based Thai collective Elekhlekha as its latest artists-in-residence, turning the space into a constantly shifting laboratory for sound, storytelling and live visual experimentation. Running across two months, the residency unfolds through research sessions, performances and collaborative installations. One standout arrives with Lomwong, an open-studio collaboration featuring Thai musicians and artists working inside immersive surround sound, moving floor projections and a Yamaha Disklavier piano sitting directly at the centre of the room. May 23, 31, June 13 and 20. Free. Bangkok Kunsthalle. 1pm-4pm

Bangkok’s Pride Month celebrations head sky-high this June. Up on the 56th floor, Le Du Kaan swaps quiet dinners for a night of live music, voguing and rooftop revelry inspired by identity, self-expression and the many versions of who we become.  The city skyline sets the backdrop while LGBTQ+ members of the Le Du Kaan team take over performances alongside singers from The Voice Thailand. Thai-inspired voguing performances keep the energy moving well past sunset, while guest bartenders step behind the bar throughout the night. Expect immersive touches shaped around the restaurant’s bold, modern approach to Thai dining. May 30. Reserve via here. Le Du Kaan. 5pm onwards

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