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

December rolls around and Suan Luang Rama IX shifts character, almost as if someone quietly swapped its everyday calm for colour and movement. The botanical festival settles in again, filling the park with stalls stacked with greenery and blooms that look far pricier than they are, which helps when trekking across town feels like a heroic act you simply cannot face. Regulars treat it like a gentle homecoming. Families from Prawet stroll the grounds in matching weekend finery, greeting familiar faces as if the whole district planned to meet at the same bench. People from Samut Prakan turn up with well prepared enthusiasm, often arriving before the sun remembers its job, ready to spend the day wandering, chatting and pretending life can be measured in petals and shade rather than deadlines and traffic. December 1-10. B20. Suan Luang Rama IX, 8am-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

Pnk.ff's second solo exhibition celebrates everything we usually try to sweep under the rug – the fumbles, the messes, the moments when life doesn't quite go to plan. Rather than hiding these beautifully awkward bits of being human, the artist drags them out and gives them proper gallery treatment. What you'll find here are personal, clumsy snapshots transformed through playful and humorous artworks that feel refreshingly honest. It's essentially an invitation to laugh at your own stumbles whilst recognizing that these wonky moments are what make ordinary stories genuinely memorable. Because let's be real, some days simply refuse to go smoothly, and often it's precisely those off-kilter experiences that stick with us longest. Until December 27. Free. KICH Ari Space, midday-7pm

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

Bangkok Art Book Fair returns for its seventh round with a theme that feels like an open-armed invitation: You Can Sit With Us. The message is simple enough. Anyone curious, shy, seasoned or completely new to the scene can walk in without pretending to know the difference between risograph and perfect binding. This edition packs four programmes including three fresh additions. Expect 126 exhibitors from 25 countries, installations that stretch the idea of what an art book can look like and 25 activities ranging from compact talks to hands-on workshops. Conversations on the state of contemporary publishing thread through the weekend, offering thoughtful pauses between browsing sprees. It promises a heady mix of clever printing, sharp ideas and unexpected encounters, the sort of fair where you wander off with stories as easily as you do with books. December 5-7. Free. Bangkok Art and Culture Center, 1pm-8pm  

Goodhood returns for its sixth year with the kind of energy that turns a regular weekend into a small adventure. The market has become a familiar fixture by now, pulling together fashion labels, lifestyle stalls and those online favourites you usually only scroll past at midnight. Everything lands under one roof with limited runs, playful collaborations and the odd promotion that feels like a quiet win. Music keeps the whole affair from slipping into a simple shopping trip. Mini concerts pop up through the day with Tilly Birds, Polycat, Pun, Youngohm and The Parkinson holding court, plus a few surprise names that always seem to appear just when you think you have seen it all. It is the sort of event where you wander in for a look and somehow stay long enough to forget what time you arrived. December 4-7. B200 via here and B250 at the door. Sermsuk Warehouse, 3pm-midnight

A proper heavyweight night is brewing, the sort that pulls electronic diehards out of their midweek routines with barely a warning. Keith Hillebrandt sets the tone, a sound architect with a career that once threaded through the world of Nine Inch Nails. His sets tend to feel like conversations with machines that answer back in riddles. Honeycomb follows with the confidence of someone who has spent years shaping Bangkok’s electronic undercurrent, easing between textures and tempos as if switching languages. Then comes Muzz, frighteningly productive yet rarely spotted on stage, which makes this appearance feel like a small gift to anyone who has kept an eye on his catalogue. December 6. B300 at the door. JAM, 9pm onwards

The event makes its return with the swagger of an event that knows exactly how to gather a crowd. The riverside setting is gone, replaced by a central spot that cuts travel time without losing any of the fair’s original mischief. Vinyl spinning DJs keep the mood warm across two days, giving the whole thing the feel of a laid back block party with better glasses. Wines come from a generous cast of producers and importers including Fin, Cloud Wine, Winearoi, Koko Wines, The Grand Crew, Tipsy Tickles, Soul Wines, Must Wine Bar, Grapey and Veraison, adding up to roughly 100 labels. Food arrives courtesy of Dough with its sourdough and Olive and Apple with homemade salads. A vinyl market waits in the corner like a quiet temptation, perfect for anyone who can’t resist taking music home as a souvenir. December 6-7. B700-1,500 via here. FRIEND FRIEND, Emporium, midday-8pm

December in Bangkok has its own rituals: traffic that refuses to move, office parties nobody remembers, and 808 Festival thundering through it all. For nearly a decade it’s been the city’s annual reminder that EDM isn’t just a genre but a temporary religion, with BITEC transformed into a cavern of strobes and basslines. Three nights, two stages, no headliners announced yet – but the details almost don’t matter. What people come for is the collective ignition, the sense that the year can only end with thousands of strangers dancing as if it’s their last chance. If Bangkok needs closure, this is how it finds it. Line-up includes: All names to be announced. BITEC Bangna. December 5-7. Starts at B3,750.

RomRom is winding up the year with its beloved community mishmash, the RomRom Prong Dong, a party that always feels stitched together by the people who show up rather than the flyers that promise. Expect four stages plus a few tucked away corners that reward curious wanderers. International and local DJs share the bill with live acts from Bangkok and further afield. A food court keeps everyone fed with familiar favourites while vintage stalls, custom jewellery makers and art installations turn the grounds into a small festival village. It is set to be RomRom’s most ambitious gathering yet, a December blowout built for lingering long after the music stops. December 6. B555-800 via here. The Warehouse Talat Noi, 4pm onwards