Kaweewat Siwanartwong

June feels like forever. Thick with heat, barely moving, and then – suddenly – we’re here. The end of the month. Not that the city’s slowed down. If anything, Bangkok’s cracking at the seams. This weekend isn’t easing us in. It’s a full-throttle reminder that rest is optional and curiosity is currency. First up, for anyone who’s ever welled up during a superhero film (and blamed it on hay fever), Marvel Movie Music is here to validate your emotional instability. The Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra doesn’t deal in spandex or punchlines – just soaring strings and the kind of brass that makes you believe, briefly, in destiny. Prefer your throwbacks with a touch more dust? Banake x MICHELUI is the flea market that remembers better than you do. Curated clutter, old furniture with too much personality, and soundtracks courtesy of DJs who understand that nostalgia isn’t a genre, it’s a mood disorder. For something slower, stranger, more necessary, Bangkok LGBTQ+ Film Festival is quietly rewriting the script. Fifteen films. Countless lives. Curated by Baturu, the programme refuses binaries and resists summaries. It’s not neat. That’s the point. Meanwhile, MINICANA x Chanintr Pre-Owned gives objects another go – half showroom, half séance. Nothing new, but nothing boring either. And for those who express emotion through permanent decisions, Nice to Night Flash Tattoo Day is the answer. Small tattoos, original designs, and no time to second-guess. Because sometimes meaning arrives in

July is here, month seven. Just enough past the halfway mark to wonder where the time went, or what exactly we’ve done with it. Did the resolutions stick? Did we drink more water? Read more books? Fall in love a little or at least return a text on time? No pressure. But if things haven’t gone quite to plan, there’s still time. This month, Bangkok feels unusually alive. Not in the loud, glittery sense, but in the quieter, stickier moments that stay with you. On the music front, it’s a trio of emotions: Henry Moodie, whose heartbreak-pop feels like pages torn straight from a diary; Fred Again.., master of nostalgia stitched into club beats; and HONNE, returning with warmth, synths and a mango sticky rice mascot that says more than it should. For more cultural reasons, art spills onto the streets and gallery walls. Thailand Printmaking Festival celebrates the messy, ink-stained joy of DIY expression, swapping polish for process. Bangkok Horror Film Festival asks you to sit in the dark with strangers and your worst fears, then stay for the haunted house and ghost stories from film crews who swear it really happened. At Eat Ramen Fest, you’ll find 16 stalls, four master chefs and a prize for those who can eat their way through five bowls (no judgement). Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand Learning Centre offers a softer pace with a reading fest: a book fair where you can collect stamps, browse with intention and sit beside the river, ignoring your phone for once. So no, maybe the year

Like most people who tumbled into the glitter-slicked rabbit hole of drag, my gateway was RuPaul’s Drag Race. The show was camp, chaotic and, occasionally, cathartic – and while I adored the performances, what I craved was context. That’s when Yellow Channel found me. Somewhere between a critique and a love letter, the channel offered commentary that felt neither detached nor indulgent. It was opinion with eyeliner – sharp, unblinking and occasionally smudged. Now, I’m staring at the face behind it – Pat (Phatthara Lertsukittipongsa) – via video call, framed by a glittery backdrop that feels more like a curtain call than a coincidence. He’s not just the creator of Yellow Channel. He’s also the mind behind Thailand’s Drag Star, a platform that’s bringing together performers from every corner of the country. Not just the Bangkok icons, but the dreamers from Chantaburi, the showgirls from Nakhon Si Thammarat, the misfits from every corner of Google Maps. Over the course of our conversation, we talk drag as transformation, Bangkok’s unpredictable scene and what makes a truly fabulous night. I also find out what, in his opinion, makes Time Out the best recommendation in town – but that secret’s staying tucked away until the final paragraph. If you’re ready, wig first, read on. Photograph: Yellow Channel How Pat got pulled into drag (without even realising) ‘I used to think RuPaul in drag and RuPaul out of drag were two different people,’ Pat admits with a grin. ‘I didn’t get it

Bangkok’s dining scene never ceases to impress with new restaurants constantly adding fresh energy to the city’s vibrant food landscape. While elegant fine dining establishments often steal the spotlight with their refined menus and impeccable presentation, casual eateries play an equally important role in shaping the city’s culinary identity. From bustling street-side stalls to trendy bistros, these spots capture the capital’s lively spirit through bold flavours, creative concepts and inviting atmospheres. If you’re planning a romantic evening for two, a laid-back family dinner or even a solo food adventure, there’s no shortage of exciting options. The city’s diverse culinary landscape continues to expand, offering everything from Cantonese and French delicacies to comforting Burmese dishes. Whether you’re drawn to modern fusion cuisine or timeless classics, there’s always something new to discover. Discover, book, and save at hundreds of restaurants with Grab Dine Out. Enjoy exclusive discounts, use dining vouchers, and make instant reservations, all in the Grab app. Explore Grab Dine Out now.

From stomach-filling Western classics to quick Thai favourites, here’s our list of places you can fill up for the day.  RECOMMENDED: The best new restaurants that opened this year   Discover, book, and save at hundreds of restaurants with Grab Dine Out. Enjoy exclusive discounts, use dining vouchers, and make instant reservations, all in the Grab app. Explore Grab Dine Out now.

555. No, not the number – though it might as well be the punchline. It's how we laugh in Thai: ha ha ha. It’s also how Lounys, a French-Algerian artist now living in Bangkok, occasionally sneaks humour into his work – a wink to the absurd, a code-switch between languages, cultures and emotions. Born in Paris with Algerian and Berber roots, Lounys is what happens when you fold a handful of cities into one mind: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, a few stops across Europe and now Thailand. His art has appeared across Bangkok, cropping up in galleries and pop-up shows like visual outbursts – provocative, dense, unfiltered. Drawing on satirical cartoons and caricatures, Lounys sketches out modern survival as a warped spectacle. Political figures are stretched, social archetypes distorted, but always with a knowing eye. There’s something dreamlike in his method – automatic, compulsive, channelling the spirit of 1920s surrealism while humming with the colour-fuelled energy of pop art. Photograph: Lounys We asked him a few questions, naturally – about the move, the city, the sprawl of it all. He tells us he’s adapting to Bangkok, slowly. The food, the pace, the people. Bangkok: too hot to hold, too alive to ignore – just like his work.  Looking back, how would you describe the different chapters of your artistic journey so far? What felt like turning points along the way? ‘My journey’s been instinctive – no map, no mentor, just motion. One chapter was solitude, another dialogue. The sh

June arrives like a glitch in the system – a month stitched together by celebration and resistance, identity and exception. It’s the kind of moment where art feels less like decoration and more like a way of breathing.  In Bangkok, art isn’t confined to white cubes or gallery walls. It spills, glitches and stares back. The galleries don’t sleep. The warehouses flicker with light. You’ll find exhibitions in places that feel vaguely illegal and performances that seem like they’ve been dreamt up at 3am by someone who hasn't blinked in days. And maybe that’s enough: to witness, to feel, to not look away. Because art, like identity, was never meant to be tidy. Remember Lost in DOMLAND? That surrealist maze of desire and disorientation that made you feel like you'd stumbled into someone else's subconscious? Or A Cage of Fragile Heart, where tenderness became performance, and vulnerability was something to wear, not hide? That same raw energy pulses through this month’s line-up – less polished, more honest. And while Attack on Titan Final Exhibition gave us collapsing walls and the weight of legacy, and Hit the Road carved out moments of quiet rebellion, June doesn’t look back so much as it fragments forward. It isn’t neat. It doesn’t try to be. Instead, it offers a series of entry points – some loud, others almost imperceptible – into questions of selfhood, memory and what it means to be seen. There’s no single narrative, no tidy moral. Just flashes of truth, stitched together by a

Halfway through 2025 – blink and it’s June. Somehow, we’ve arrived at Pride Month, drenched in both colour and contradiction. It’s a time carved out for queerness, love-drenched, politicised and stubbornly joyful. But this isn’t a parade just for the queer community. It’s a mirror held up to everyone, reminding us that identity is messy, defiant and worth defending. Pride isn’t a party so much as a punctuation mark – a loud, necessary one. So, in a city that’s constantly shedding its skin, what does celebration look like? Bangkok, never one for subtlety, offers up a bit of everything. The Japanese invasion continues – animated and unapologetic – with Naruto The Gallery, Attack on Titan Final Exhibition and the overwhelmingly adorable 100% Doraemon and Friends Tour. Childhood nostalgia dressed as cultural diplomacy? We’re here for it. On the music front, things are getting beautifully chaotic. The Yussef Dayes Experience promises jazz with the edges left on, a kind of spiritual combustion wrapped in broken beats. Meanwhile, Kula Shaker returns, all psychedelic haze and East-meets-West mysticism. And then there’s MNDSGN, that cosmic soul wanderer, bringing his woozy grooves and unreleased material to a city that rarely pauses long enough to listen. He’s asking us to. Film lovers aren’t left out either. Lahn Mah (How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies) – arguably the most talked-about Thai feature in recent memory – gets its moment under the spotlight. It’s a family drama, yes

Some cities ease into you, like a slow morning. Bangkok doesn’t bother. It arrives all at once – humid, glaring, full of movement you can’t quite trace. Steam from a streetside grill blurs into the squeal of a tuk-tuk, incense curls past your ear, and a monk scrolls his phone with the indifference of someone who’s seen it all. The city doesn’t wait. It presses in from every side. Then, there’s Andrei Kostromskikh – better known on Instagram as Kosnio. His photographs seem less like compositions and more like accidents that knew exactly where to land. He walks the city with a camera and an eye for the nearly invisible – the things most people overlook, or choose not to see. His work doesn’t trade in landmarks or spectacle. His images aren’t postcards. They’re something quieter, more private. We find his work the way most people find anything these days – one of those algorithmic gifts the internet occasionally offers up. Naturally, we asked to share his photographs on our platform, and he generously agreed. Photograph: Kosnio When we reach out, he replies with the same understatement that marks his photos. Bangkok, he says, feels strangely familiar – not in any cosy or sentimental way, but like a half-remembered dream. Now, we asked him some questions about his journey and how he sees the capital. Photograph: Kosnio   Would you describe yourself as a visual storyteller rather than simply a photographer? ‘Yeah, I think so. I just try to catch moments that speak for themselv

June rolls in like a rush of neon, sequins and unapologetic joy – Pride is back, loud and proud. But this year carries a weight beyond the usual glitter and dancefloor confessions. Thailand marks its first legal recognition of same-sex marriage, a milestone decades in the making and a quiet revolution writ large across the city’s streets. Over 200,000 people will flood Bangkok, a tidal wave of colour and defiance, each step a statement, each flag a banner of hard-won freedom. The parade isn’t just a party – it’s a procession of resilience, love and history colliding in the most spectacular way. Photograph: Bangkok Pride From the wildest drag to the quietest moments of solidarity, this celebration stretches beyond surface-level exuberance. It’s the culmination of years spent fighting for recognition, for rights, for a space to simply exist without compromise. Bangkok’s roads become a runway of belonging, a stage for every story, every identity, every fierce truth. More than just a date on the calendar, this Pride is a declaration that love – unfiltered, untamed, in all its forms – finally has a home here. While the Bangkok Pride parade remains the highlight, the city hums with other LGBTQ+ events both before and after, making sure the celebration stretches well beyond a single day. So read on – there’s much more to discover. Photograph: Bangkok Pride When is Bangkok Pride? On Sunday June 1, Bangkok’s Pride parade returns to Rama I Road, transforming the city’s commercial s

Bangkok may be a whirlwind of energy, but it’s also home to some of the world’s most transformative spas. If the chaos of the city has you feeling frazzled, consider this your invitation to unwind in style. From traditional Thai massages to signature treatments that pamper you from head to toe, these serene sanctuaries know exactly how to melt away stress and leave you feeling like a brand-new version of yourself.

Let me confess right from the start, when the opportunity came to interview Saran Yen Panya – Thai craftsman, storyteller and creative director of 56 Studio, known for turning the mundane and the ugly into something fabulously chic – I was a little nervous. In the design world, he’s practically folklore, widely recognised by anyone even remotely in the scene. And me? My design experience is, quite literally, zero. Or perhaps at best, poetic appreciation. So sitting down with someone who spins everyday banality into cultural commentary felt… daunting. I first encountered his name in Songkhla Old Town, courtesy of a mischievous little bar titled Grandpa Never Drunk Alone (cool, right?). I’d never met the man, yet the design – instinctive, odd, quietly brilliant – struck me like a late‑night revelation. Fast‑forward and I’m on a video call, notebook poised, interviewing him for Time Out about his creative journey, Bangkok’s art ecosystem and how he reads the city’s pulse today. Saran doesn’t just call himself a storyteller. He also self-identifies as an underdog – a term loaded with defiance, humility and honesty. His worldview, personal history, social observations and even taste all stem from a place of being second-guessed – and rising anyway. Photograph: Saran Yen Panya   The three eras of Saran There’s a pleasing symmetry to how Saran narrates his life’s work: three clear-cut eras, each a slightly altered shade of the last. He calls it ‘evolving, not reinventing,’ which f

For three days, the city’s pulse slows to the rhythm of slurps and steam. Sixteen ramen spots, each with its own story and secret broth, line up like an edible pilgrimage. This isn’t just about noodles. It’s about rubbing shoulders with the masters – Chef Jo of Shindo, Chef Shono from Mensho Tokyo, Sakamoto of Menya Itto and Kurihara representing Iroha Ramen – each offering dishes you won’t find anywhere else. Collect five stamps from different stalls and you could win a coveted meal at No Name Noodle. Feeling competitive? The Ramen Kaedama Challenge dares you to eat beyond reason. The prize? A round trip from Bangkok to Fukuoka – a ticket not just to Japan but to the heart of ramen itself. Jul 18-20. Free. Samyan Mitrtown, 11am-9pm

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

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  

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

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

Curated by artist Oat Montien, this programme isn’t quite a festival, nor a screening series. It’s something softer, stranger, more insistently alive. A constellation of film, performance and presence, shaped by queer and Asian artists whose work doesn’t just speak – it lingers. There are no neat categories here. No boxed-in identities or easy slogans. Instead, poetry flickers beside movement, cinema becomes ceremony, and the lines between art and intimacy blur. The gathering leans into what can’t be pinned down – the ache of multiplicity, the weight of inherited silences, the tenderness of being seen outside structure. It doesn’t ask for your gaze. It offers a space to sit, to feel, to remember that queerness isn’t just a statement. It’s a practice. A way of being with one another that holds. Jun 29. Free. Bangkok Kunstalle, 2pm-9pm

Libra and Pisces offer a workshop built around the pendulum – less fortune-telling prop, more subtle instrument for tuning into what’s already known but rarely heard. It’s not about theatrics or crystal cliches. This is slow, quiet work. The kind that asks for patience rather than belief. Open to newcomers and seasoned seekers alike, the session invites participants to explore the pendulum as a way of listening – to themselves, to intuition, to whatever sits just beyond the rational. It’s a space designed less for answers, more for resonance. A gentle unfolding rather than a breakthrough. Think of it as a recalibration – small, deliberate, and deeply internal. Jun 29. B1,590. Reserve via Line @libraandpisces. Slowcombo, 10am-midday

Postcards that curl at the corners, stickers you’ll never peel, keychains heavy with stories only you understand. This art and craft fair isn’t loud. It doesn’t try to be profound. But it hums with care. Here, artists gather not to impress but to share. You’ll find handmade objects that feel more like offerings than merchandise – things stitched, painted or carved with no intention of going viral. Every table tells a different kind of truth. It’s the kind of fair that invites lingering. You come for the charm, stay for the warmth, and leave slightly more human. In a world that keeps getting louder, this is a reminder that meaning doesn’t always arrive in large fonts or big frames. Sometimes, it fits in your pocket. Jun 28-29. B120. Siam Paragon, 10am-8pm

For one day only, commitment is casual, and spontaneity leaves a mark. Flash Tattoo Day isn’t about long consultations or deep symbolism. It’s about instinct. About spotting a design that pulls at something just under the skin and saying yes before you talk yourself out of it. Artists from Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Taiwan come armed with their own language – tiny glyphs, sketches, symbols – that don’t wait for approval. Each piece is original, small, and impossible to replicate later. Prices sit somewhere between B2,000 and B4,000, with your entry ticket acting as a soft nudge toward the needle. It’s not about forever. It’s about now. A moment captured in ink, no overthinking, no take-backs – just one honest yes, etched to keep. Jun 28. B100 (can be used as a discount toward your tattoo) via here. To Chare, 3pm-8pm

Just three selectors – Dragon, Gishiyama, Thaistick – each peeling back layers of sound like they’re mapping some alternate terrain. The first edition of Dojo Sessions at Bar Temp. isn’t trying to please. It’s trying to explore. This is not a dancefloor built for Instagram. It’s dim, deliberate and low to the ground. The kind of night where bass isn’t decoration, it’s architecture. Expect ambient drum and bass, dub techno and the sort of meditative pressure that moves through you sideways. The vibe is closer to a rehearsal than a party – but not in a clumsy, rough-draft way. It’s an invitation into something unpolished, intimate and deeply sonic. Jun 28. B300-500 at the door. Bar Temp., 9pm onwards

Some nights don’t ask for consent. They grab you, drag you into dark rooms where the bass isn’t background but a pulse you can’t escape. Underhatches x Fangs Bangkok’s beloved audio-visual collective – is back, promising another dive into techno’s murky depths. The line-up reads like a secret code: Genji, Riri, Cheronii and Moonblue. Each brings a distinct rhythm, weaving beats that ripple through wild, immersive visuals – a sensory assault that’s less concert, more ritual. This isn’t a place for small talk or shallow moments. It’s for those who want sound to consume, visuals to disorient, and the night to stretch beyond what’s visible. If underground has a heartbeat, it’s here. Pulsing, relentless and impossible to ignore. Jun 28. B350-800 via here. Blaq Lyte Rover, 9pm onwards

Not everyone waits for the moon to misbehave. Some find their release in sunlight, sweat and espresso. The Sawasdee Cup Coffee Party offers something stranger than just good coffee – it offers communion. A high-frequency gathering of early risers, dance-floor romantics and those who’ve swapped hangovers for heart rates. There’s no velvet rope, no dimly lit pretence. Just house beats drifting across a sunlit crowd, DJs spinning before noon, and the kind of warmth that doesn’t come from liquor. Artisanal brews replace shots, and you don’t need to squint to see who you’re dancing beside. It’s part rave, part brunch, part social experiment – fuelled by caffeine and curiosity. In a culture wired to peak after dark, this is a reminder that mornings can pulse too. Jun 28. B150 via here. CRAFT, Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, 11am-5pm  

Now entering its 27th year, the Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music has outlasted countless club nights, fleeting gallery openings, and the tenures of 11 prime ministers.. It returns once again this year, quietly assured in its role as the capital’s most sweeping celebration of live performance. Held from September 6-October 15, the festival draws together an eclectic yet considered roster of global acts – 14 productions over six weeks, in styles that stretch from Cuban contemporary to Russian opera – it’s the cultural marathon. Photograph: bangkokfestivals Photograph: bangkokfestivals And while the festival itself never loudly insists on its prestige, the line-up doesn’t have to. Among this year’s headliners is the China National Acrobatic Troupe, a gravity-defying collective that has amassed more than 70 gold medals since its founding in the mid-20th century. Nicknamed China’s ‘dream team,’ they’ll be somersaulting into the Thailand Cultural Centre mid-September for the kind of act that will probably cause a few jaws to dislocate. Here’s what’s on: Wednesday September 6: Mahabharata: '18 days, Dusk of an Era' by Prabhat Arts International Saturday September 13-Sunday September 14: China National Acrobatic Troupe Tuesday September 16: Cuba Vibra by Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba Friday September 20: A Dream of Red Mansions by National Ballet of China Tuesday September 23: Placido Domingo Thursday September 25: NOCTURNA by Rafaela Carrasco Flamenco Ballet Friday S

If you’ve ever felt like love was something best remembered through a dusty lens, or if heartbreak should come with its own backing track of vintage synths and whispered samples, then chances are you’ve already been in a quiet entanglement with TV Girl. Formed by Brad Petering, Jason Wyman and Wyatt Harmon, the band operates less like a traditional trio and more like a ghost story set to music – lingering, looping, unshakeable. Their early release Lonely Women arrived as a kind of lo-fi time capsule: hip-hop rhythms colliding with ‘60s girl-group melancholy, dipped in irony and reverb. It spread online like lipstick on a cigarette filter – smudged, romantic, oddly familiar. Since then, TV Girl hasn’t exactly grown up, but rather grown stranger. Their most recent offering, ‘Grapes Upon the Vine’, trades old vinyl crackle for gospel overtones, as Petering muses on death, devotion and the awkward business of being alive. The album is both a sermon and a shrug, and it’s earned them not just cult status, but 2.2 million Instagram disciples. And now, they’re coming. If you're the kind to romanticise minor inconveniences or cry to lyrics that barely raise their voice, consider this your reminder. When are TV Girl playing Samyan Mitrtown Hall? TV Girl will take the stage for a one-night-only performance on Monday December 1. What are the timings? Doors at Samyan Mitrtown Hall will open at 8pm, with the performance set to begin around 8.30pm and wrap up by 10.30pm. Setlist According t

Probably not a stadium, not the kind where sweaty jerseys, screeching trainers and national anthems usually fill the air. But that’s exactly where Read Fest lands this year – from July 3-7, 10am-8pm at Nimibutr Stadium, National Stadium right next to the National Stadium BTS. It’s a book fair, yes, but not as you’ve known it. No hushed halls or fluorescent strip lights. Instead: bleachers, wide open floors and the sound of live music bouncing off rafters once reserved for volleyballs and victory chants. Entry is free, but it’s your brain that’s really getting a ticket to run wild. It’s hosted by TK Park with the Department of Physical Education – a pairing that, on paper, reads more like an administrative accident than a collaboration, but it works. Here, minds are stretched as much as muscles. No stiff rows of long tables or hushed aisles. Instead, an open, welcoming sprawl that swaps silence for sound, and stillness for movement.  Forget the air-conditioned monotony of a typical convention centre. This is bookishness with a pulse. Under the theme ‘exercise ideas’ (or ‘brain workout,’ depending who you ask), Read Fest suggests that intellectual curiosity might, in fact, be a full-body sport. And like any workout, there are stations: some gentle, some chaotic, all surprisingly fun. Now, let’s see what to expect at the festival. Book market – curated books from leading publishersThe usual suspects are here, but they’re laid out with enough breathing space to actually browse w

Welcome to Bangkok’s dark side – it’s louder, livelier, and far less subtle than you think. The traffic screams, the pavements mutter, and the skies above the Chao Phraya have long learned to stay out of the drama. But even this city, in all its maximalist glory, has found a way to get darker. This is the Bangkok Horror Film Festival – a three-day plunge into the beautifully grotesque, staged at the suitably eerie Maen Sri Waterworks building. Supported by the Department of Cultural Promotion, the Ministry of Culture and the Thailand Creative Culture Agency (THACCA), the festival runs from July 4-6. Entry’s free. The fear, less so. No one’s here for faint-hearted metaphors or ironic nods to the genre. This is horror stripped of postmodern winks – a celebration of things that go bump, rattle and occasionally howl in the night. Beyond the moonlit screenings that repeatedly test your bladder, anticipate a haunted house exhibition that crawls out of the screen and into your peripheral vision, plus hair-raising stories from crews who’ve seen more on set than made it to the final cut. There’s even a short film competition, and the chance to meet the ones behind the camera – not to break the fourth wall, but to peer behind it. To steady your nerves (or worsen them), there’ll be food stalls, live bands and activities that flirt with the line between funfair and fever dream. Outdoor horror screenings:   Ouija   Terror awaits five friends who unwittingly awaken a dark power by using

Bangkok doesn’t do quiet, it hums, honks, pulses. Even its silences come laced with static. Which is why the BOTLC Book Fair feels almost suspiciously serene. From July 16-20 at 10am-6.30pm, the Bank of Thailand Learning Centre – all clean lines and soft light – becomes a kind of sanctuary for the overstimulated. Tucked beside the Chao Phraya, it offers not just books but the rarest thing of all: a pause. This isn’t your average fairground frenzy. No jostling, no soundtrack engineered to keep you moving. Instead, it’s slow: a page turned, a thought held, a breeze that actually matters. You can wander through tables of titles without pressure, eavesdrop on a panel, then drift outside to sit with something dog-eared and deeply yours. There’ll be workshops, music, food if you need it – but the real draw is the rhythm, unhurried, unbothered. Because yes, you’ll find books – but you’ll also find space – space to browse, to breathe,  to sit with a novel by the water and forget your phone exists. Here’s how it unfolds Book fair – Not just a shopping spree. It’s a curated sprawl of publishers, obscure titles, and enough paperbacks to make your tote bag ache in the best way. Book talk – Authors step into the spotlight, joined by influencers who know their Baldwin from their Barthes. Book walk – A wander through the Bank of Thailand Museum’s collection of currency, stitched with stories more telling than any economics textbook. Book sharing – Bring a book, take a book, leave a piece o

Printmaking used to be the sort of thing your art teacher loved, or that one cousin who still uses an iPod and can’t shut up about ‘zines’. But this year’s Thailand Printmaking Festival isn’t just for the print-obsessed. It’s for anyone who’s ever paused to admire a sticker on a lamp post or traced the grain of a paperback cover. Print is, quite literally, ‘everywhere’ – and that’s precisely the point. Running July 4-15, from 4pm-10pm daily at Central Chidlom’s Event Hall, the festival returns under the quietly radical theme: ‘Printing is everywhere.’ The premise is simple – print doesn’t belong on a pedestal. It lives in our wardrobes, bookshelves, shopping bags, tote bags, Instagram feeds and street corners. It’s daily, it’s democratic and it’s deliciously DIY. Organised by GroundControl and PPP Studio, this year’s edition pulls Bangkok into the fold after its last showing in Chiang Mai’s Dream Graff Gallery (2022). With a broader scope and louder presence, the 2025 festival aims not just to show but to ‘share’ – a communal invitation to press, smudge and roll ink across our daily lives.  What’s new to look forward to this year? In addition to a wide range of artworks – from statement pieces to pocket-sized prints – the festival presents a special exhibition uniting 10 artists with 10 distinctive print studios. Each duo brings a unique method to the mix. Weekend workshops will also be held throughout, inviting visitors to create their own prints with ease. More than just a

Many will recognise ‘Let Her Go’ – a track that leans on simple yet striking images like light, sun and home to capture the emptiness that lingers when something essential disappears after love fades. It started, as these things often do, by accident. I was at a game cafe in 2012 – one of those dim, blinking places where time collapses and teenagers subsist entirely on instant noodles and borrowed Wi-Fi – when ‘Let Her Go’ floated through my headphones, uninvited. I wasn’t looking for poetry. I was probably mid-click, halfway through some medieval siege. But then came the line: ‘Only know you love her when you let her go.’ It landed with the quiet cruelty of something far too true for a Tuesday afternoon. It’s 2025, and Michael David Rosenberg – though most will know him as Passenger – a British folk singer with the kind of weathered sincerity that tends to sneak up on you – is finally playing a show in Thailand. A little late, perhaps, considering his biggest song has been echoing through bedrooms, cafes and breakup playlists for well over a decade. Still, there’s something fitting about it. His music has always been less about arrival and more about the long road getting there. By the time ‘Let Her Go’ became a global phenomenon, topping charts across continents and amassing billions of views, the moment had already passed. The track had quietly entered the bloodstream of a generation not especially prone to feeling things out loud. If ‘Let Her Go’  ever held a place in you

There’s a particular type of person who treats second-hand markets like others treat religion. They speak of provenance the way art dealers do, they’ve learnt the precise weight of a Levi’s Type III from 1971, and they can spot real suede from a metre away. These are not casual shoppers. These are pilgrims. And for three days, June 27-29 at 3pm-midnight, they’ll be heading to PAPAYA Studio, where the BANAKE x Michelui Flea Market promises to scratch every last vintage itch. Set between towering sculptures and retro filing cabinets, the event is less car boot sale, more parallel universe. The kind where a Brutalist ashtray might sit beside a pristine Comme des Garcons jacket, and no one bats an eyelid. Curated by Michelui – the elusive vintage whisperer whose Instagram feels more like a time capsule than a feed – the market spans everything from peculiar homeware and rare books to mid-century furniture and fashion that remembers better days. But it isn’t just about rummaging. This year, the soundtrack matters too. Yokee Playboy crooning as you debate between a crushed velvet armchair or an embroidered waistcoat. Slur, Greasy Cafe, Penguin Villa and H3F are all set to perform, along with a host of others whose names sound like they’ve been scribbled on a cassette tape from 2002. DJs will carry the evening into something looser, cooler, half-danced, half-dreamed. Food and drinks will flow, of course – this is still Bangkok. Expect the heat, the buzz, the slight delirium of barga

HONNE’s music has always lived somewhere between a late-night phone call and the tail end of a long drive – comforting, a bit bittersweet, slightly blurred at the edges. On July 27 the British electro-soul duo – best known for hits like ‘Day 1,’ ‘Location Unknown’ and ‘No Song Without You’ – return to Bangkok, a city they’ve long held a quiet affection for, as part of The OUCH Tour. The venue is True Icon Hall, a cavernous space tucked inside Iconsiam’s polished seventh floor. Their return isn't without drama. The initial flicker of excitement arrived not from a press release or even a teaser video, but from a poster – illustrated in syrupy pastel tones, featuring their OUCH Boy mascot cradling a plate of mango sticky rice. A love letter in carbohydrates, if you will. It’s absurd, and kind of moving. This time around, HONNE won’t be alone on stage. BOWKYLION, Thailand’s melancholic pop heroine, joins them for the night – her voice the sonic equivalent of a cracked mirror or a sigh you didn’t mean to let slip. Now, if their tracks already live among your favourites or you’re simply curious, take this as your signal to save the date – here’s what to keep in mind before the evening begins.  When are HONNE playing at Bangkok’s True Icon Hall? HONNE are playing in Bangkok on Sunday, July 27.    What are the timings? Doors to the venue will open at 7pm. The show is set to start around 8pm and wrap up around 10.30pm.    What’s the setlist? There is no official setlist, so all will b

Every summer solstice, France does something utterly un-French: it drops its cool, steps into the street and makes noise. Fête de la Musique – or World Music Day, if you prefer things literal – is an annual invitation to play, sing, stumble through a half-forgotten guitar riff and call it culture. It began in 1982, when someone at the French Ministry of Culture decided that the longest day of the year should sound like it too. Since then, it has ballooned into a global phenomenon, travelling across time zones and borders, settling into over 120 countries with the quiet insistence of a chorus line. In Thailand, a place where volume is rarely an issue, the festival will hit Bangkok this June 14 with Bangkok World Music Day ‘25 – held at One Bangkok a world-class lifestyle destination in the heart of Bangkok’ at the intersection of Rama IV Road and Wireless Road, where shopping, business – and now, apparently music and culture– collide. The fun also stretches to Alliance Française Bangkok The festival goes across the venues, each tuned to a different frequency and offering something for every kind of listener. Of course – it’s entirely free.  And for those in the mood to take home a souvenir, check out the flea market packed with quirky, fun finds.   Here are the highlights from each stage / zone :  One Bangkok Park presents Thai and international artists across various music genres: - Réjizz (17.15 – 17.45 hrs.) - Venn (18.15 – 18.45 hrs.) - KIKI (19.15 – 19.45 hrs.) - Paradis

If you’ve not been keeping up, Fred again – born Fred Gibson – is one of those names that’s quietly everywhere. Maybe you’ve heard his voice layered into a track without knowing it. Maybe you’ve danced to one of his edits at 3am and only clocked it days later. He’s a producer, vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist – a modern-day polymath with a sampler and a keen ear for emotion. Now, following the announcement of his solo Asia tour, he’s set to bring that instinct centre stage. Stops include South Korea, Singapore and, yes, Bangkok. At the core of his work is a kind of sonic diarising: voice notes from friends, fleeting conversations, fragments of lived experience turned into dancefloor elegies. His tracks – leave me alone, Turn On The Lights again.., Rumble – feel as much like personal memos as they do chart staples. This is a man who once won two Grammys for Actual Life 3 and still manages to make music that sounds like it was recorded in the Notes app at 2am. Photograph: fredagainagainagainagainagain And then there are the collaborators. The list reads like a who's who of genre-defying innovators: Skrillex, Baby Keem, Skepta, Future, Anderson .Paak, Four Tet. He moves between worlds – rap, house, garage, glitch – with the kind of fluidity that doesn’t beg attention but earns it. He’s not selling nostalgia, nor spectacle. What he offers is something quieter but stickier: intimacy in high definition, connection disguised as club music. He’ll be at UOB LIVE on July 2

In an industry increasingly obsessed with noise – louder beats, higher drama, algorithm-friendly hooks – Summer Salt have carved out a quiet, persistent corner of calm. The American indie pop band, never ones to shout for attention, have instead built their following with soft-focus melodies and a kind of emotional precision that resists easy categorisation. While others chase virality, they remain content with something far less fleeting: warmth, wistfulness, the kind of tune that lingers like a half-remembered summer. Now, they’re bringing that sensibility back to Bangkok. On September 7 at The Street Hall, the band will perform a mix of favourites – ‘Candy Wrappers’, ‘Sweet to Me’, ‘One Last Time’ – along with unreleased material that suggests their sentimental palette is far from running dry. Photograph: Summer Salt Their music, a mellow blend of oldies and bossa nova influences, doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel so much as cruise gently alongside it. It’s made for long car rides and quiet mornings, for coffees gone cold and beaches at low tide. Listening feels less like discovery and more like recognition – as if you’ve heard it before, maybe in a dream. If their songs are already tucked between your favourites or you’re just a little intrigued, consider this your cue to mark the date – here’s what to know before the night unfolds.   When are Summer Salt performing in Bangkok? Summer Salt will grace the stage in Bangkok for a single-night show on Sunday September 7 at