Kaweewat Siwanartwong

July is when Bangkok settles properly into the rainy season. It is also one of the fullest stretches on the city’s cultural calendar, so whether your idea of a good weekend involves live music, contemporary art, independent cinema or an afternoon rummaging through second-hand books, Bangkok gives you plenty of reasons to head out. Book lovers should start at Bangkok Book District Fest, which spreads across historic neighbourhoods including Phan Fa, Tha Tien and Nang Loeng. Independent bookshops open their doors, readings and gatherings run through the day and there are plenty of titles you are unlikely to find in chain stores. Film fans should also make room for the Taiwan Documentary and Film Festival, back with a line-up of hard-to-find documentaries and narrative features screening in Bangkok and Khon Kaen. By the river, Awakening Song Wat lights up one of Bangkok’s oldest riverside quarters after dark, placing light installations and digital artworks between warehouses, shophouses and narrow lanes you can cover in one evening. Music gets a strong showing too. Colorists Music Festival returns with a line-up spanning indie favourites, newer alternative acts and bigger crowd-pleasers, while JUST KIDS keeps things close-up with rising hip-hop artist Zambug and a community-minded approach to live shows. July looks busy, then. Carry an umbrella, keep some cash for books and merch and expect your weekends to fill up quickly. Keeping track of what's coming next? Our Bangkok  conc

Another working week bites the dust and Bangkok's weekend line-up is determined to keep you out of the house. Rain clouds may still be hanging around, but grab an umbrella and crack on: the city has more than enough going on. Nightlife leads the charge with PRIDAY, a celebration of Bangkok's queer club scene and the communities that shaped it long before rainbow branding arrived. Underground heads can catch Tokyo DJ FU at Parity, while Elaheh settles in for an all-night session spanning house, techno, acid and breaks. For something harder, French producer Rorganic makes his Bangkok debut at Sacristy. After a gentler evening? GalileOasis screens queer short films followed by chats followed by a directors’ talk, while Bangkok Kunsthalle unveils the final chapter of Surrounded, an immersive audiovisual performance months in the making. Shutterbugs should head to Dib Bangkok for Behind Vanishing Bangkok, a session on analogue kit, darkroom craft and the city's street-photography heritage. Bookworms have a cast-iron excuse to bail on everything else. Books & Beers returns with literary natter, indie publishers, BookTok guests and every chance of staggering home with more novels than planned. Over at ChangChui, a cycling festival rolls out BMX battles, film screenings, markets and food stalls. Fancy a mooch instead? Kind Market gathers local makers, sustainable labels and second-hand gems under one roof, while Slowcombo marks its anniversary by launching bit.studio, a new gallery d

When it comes to art and exhibitions, Bangkok has a lot. From poky little independent spaces to avant-garde galleries and the big crowd-pleasing museums, the city brims with shows that perplex, challenge, inspire, educate and leave you thoroughly awestruck. The trouble is, there's an absolute mountain to get through. Too much, you might say. So we're here to tell you where to spend your precious time. Whether you're a bona fide art connoisseur or simply the type who likes to stand about looking pensive in front of a canvas (we've all done it), these galleries promise to inspire and entertain in equal measure. So if you're wondering what's genuinely worth a trip across town, start right here. Have a browse through the best museum exhibitions and art in Bangkok at the moment, take your pick and make a day of it. We refresh this list regularly, so do pop back regularly for our latest and greatest picks.Stay one step ahead and map out your plans with our round-up of the best things to do in Bangkok. Whether you're a regular gallery-goer or just art-curious, these are Bangkok’s best spots to live the art life. From alleyway masterpieces to paint-splashed corners you might walk past without noticing, here are our top spots to see street art.

Lesbian venues aren't exactly a dime a dozen in Bangkok. The city does a roaring trade in bars and clubs that pull a mainly gay and bi male crowd, yet permanent spaces built for queer women, or trans and non-binary folk, remain frustratingly thin on the ground. You can count the long-running ones on one hand and still have fingers spare. Happily, the tide turns. Social media crowns this the year of the 'Lesbian Renaissance', and Bangkok plays its part with gusto. A growing roster of roving club nights now fills the gap, popping up across Sukhumvit, Silom and beyond the usual haunts, each one carving out a proper safe space where queer women party on their own terms. Discrimination gets left firmly at the door, the line-ups skew fresh and local and the welcome runs warm. Some come monthly, some quarterly, a few keep their locations hush until the last minute, half the fun is the chase. So whether you fancy sweaty basement raves, sapphic disco or a low-key spot to nurse a beer and make connections, the scene finally delivers. Hunting for your new favourite haunt? Here's our pick of the bunch. These venues span everything from dancing clubs to cosy bars and they're all genuinely welcoming to all genders

We arrive on Decho Road in the afternoon, the sun still strong outside but the air pressure dropping, hinting that rain is on its way. It is unusual to be here before opening time, so we slip in through the back door and climb the stairs to a wine bar. In this wine bar, a small cinema is hidden behind curtained walls on the floor above and the dusty smell of old parquet fills our senses. That, near enough, is the whole idea. Photograph: Lalitphat BumrungkarnSala Saneha At a moment when independent picture houses around town are quietly going dark, Natchanon 'Vana' Vana, Pakapol 'Meang' Srirongmuang and Dit Thanasresthavilai have chosen to walk the other way. They have taken things they love – movies, wine, food and books – and poured them into a close-to decade old building, with help from more than a dozen friends drawn from the world of entertainment and art.  The result is Sala Saneha, a place built on the faintly old-fashioned conviction that going out to the pictures ought to feel like romance again. Photograph: Lalitphat BumrungkarnSala Saneha I met the three of them upstairs in the bookshop, on soft chairs among the wood – cladding the walls, forming the bookshelf, the floor, the table, the chairs – and as the early afternoon light came through the leaves just outside the windows, we began to talk. Photograph: Lalitphat BumrungkarnSala Saneha A building with several past lives What was clear, is how exact they are about the conditions. The venue could not disturb

June marks the official start of Pride Month, though anyone paying attention knows the celebrations rarely stay contained to four weeks. Across Bangkok, galleries, clubs, restaurants and public spaces roll out programmes honouring LGBTQIA+ communities while making room for protest, conversation and the simple joy of taking up space together. Some gatherings lean political. Others just want you dancing under disco lights until midnight. Both matter. This year's line-up covers everything from large-scale parades and drag showcases to film screenings, speed dating nights and art festivals built around queer storytelling. One evening might find you watching voguing performances above the city skyline, another screaming sapphic pop lyrics in a crowded bar off Silom Road. Rainbow branding arrives right on cue every June, but Pride carries far more weight than a seasonal marketing campaign. Its history is political, personal and deeply tied to communities still fighting for safety, visibility and equality. So whether you’re here for the parties, the performances or the people, these are the Pride events worth adding to your calendar this month. Joining the Bangkok Pride parade? Here's everything you need to know before showing up.

June is here, and just like that, we're halfway through the year. If Bangkok has left you a little frazzled, or you just need a proper reset, this month's art calendar comes with plenty of soul-soothing reasons to get out. We're starting with a roundup of exhibitions and creative happenings across the city. Contemporary art is well represented, including character-filled paintings with more emotional heft than you might expect, plus newly opened shows and a few holdovers still worth catching. Hotel Art Fair also returns this month, taking the gallery circuit somewhere a little less predictable. And don’t sleep on Bangkok World Music Day, a full-on celebration of music, art and free-spirited energy in the heart of the city, timed neatly for Pride Month. Expect reasons to move your feet. Get stuck in. Stay one step ahead and map out your plans with our round-up of the best things to do in Bangkok. Whether you're a regular gallery-goer or just art-curious, these are Bangkok’s best spots to live the art life. From alleyway masterpieces to paint-splashed corners you might walk past without noticing, here are our top spots to see street art.

We keep this article updated regularly to make sure everything stays accurate and current, pop back anytime for the latest. So 2025 was pretty huge for live music in Bangkok, wasn't it? We had Doja Cat, BLACKPINK, TV Girl, The Smashing Pumpkins and Tyler, The Creator all gracing stages across the city. Not a bad lineup. The good news? 2026 is looking just as packed. Alright, Oasis might not be on the cards just yet, but there's still a serious roster of artists lined up to play Bangkok stadiums and arenas over the coming months. And rumour has it even more big names are yet to announce tours like BTS. Givēon, Central Cee, Taeyong, Kraftwerk... the list goes on. Whether you're into R&B, grime, K-pop or electronic legends, there's something coming your way. Here are the best major gigs heading to the capital this year.  

June in Bangkok means sweaty afternoons, sudden downpours and permanently questionable hair, but the city rarely lets a bit of rain ruin its social life. Between storm clouds and iced coffees, the calendar quickly fills with riverside markets, free music festivals, film screenings and enough vintage shopping to destroy your budget before payday arrives. PUBPEAB Zine Fair returns with handmade books, risograph prints and crafty workshops for anyone romanticising a life spent making tiny publications. Music lovers are spoiled too. A free festival inspired by France’s Fête de la Musique spreads across One Bangkok and Alliance Française with more than 30 acts covering indie, jazz, hip-hop, mor lam and Ballroom performances celebrating Voguing culture. Elsewhere, the EU Film Festival 2026 brings thoughtful cinema from across Europe to venues including House Samyan and Lido Connect – completely free if you arrive early enough. Vintage hunters should make time for the riverside slow market and the latest Made By Legacy gathering at Pat Arena, where stylish crowds rummage through rails of secondhand fashion, vinyl and deeply unnecessary collectibles. Prefer something slower? Bangkok’s  laid-back Books and Beers festival happily encourages both reading and day drinking. Frankly, June stays packed. Keeping track of what's coming next? Our Bangkok  concert roundup for 2026 stays updated with the latest gigs worth adding to your calendar. Stay one step ahead and map out your month with o

What’s your weekend looking like? Club nights, bar-hopping or a slow wander through a flea market?  If the latter sounds more your speed, you’re in luck. Three flea markets are on the horizon, each bringing its own mix of vintage finds, handmade pieces and low-key people-watching. Here’s the breakdown of what’s coming and where you’ll want to be.

Bangkok doesn't really do slow. The city runs hot – always another plate to try, another bar to find, another corner of the night to chase down. Sometimes you just need out. Not far, but far enough: somewhere the air is cooler, the pace drops and the view stretches past concrete and neon. Chiang Mai answers that call. Head north and the landscape shifts, mountains roll in, the Ping River winds through and centuries of Northern Thai culture sit quietly on every corner. The food up here has its own character too: bold, rooted and built on recipes that haven't needed fixing. This guide is put together by the Koktail Thailand Restaurant Guide, spotlighting restaurants where mountain panoramas and riverside vistas do more than set the scene – they're part of the meal itself. Local ingredients take centre stage, each dish a small piece of the larger story that Northern Thailand has been telling for a very long time. RECOMMEND: Best egg noodles in Bangkok Bangkok’s top 13 steakhouses Confessions of a Bangkok food voyeur

A lively neighbourhood conveniently accessible via the BTS Skytrain, Ari is the place to look for colourful cafes, art community spaces, shopping outlets, and dining spots with a cosy atmosphere. Undergoing gentrification all the time, it nevertheless blends the old and new, as witnessed in by its many choices of street food and contemporary dining. Ari has a strong sense of community, where every corner tells the stories of the people who live there. It’s a great place to discover the culture of Thailand, experiencing it through the everyday lives of its locals. The highlight of Ari today is its popularity as a food and drink hub. What makes the neighbourhood stand out is the blend of the latest dining spots and long-established restaurants, all set in a calm atmosphere – no rush here, just a relaxed vibe. You can begin your day with a coffee and pastry at a cosy café, followed by a rejuvenating session at one of the area’s peaceful spas. A stroll around the neighbourhood invites window shopping and art gallery displays, perfect for enjoying the sunny weather. As the evening approaches, the local restaurants and bars offer the ideal setting to enjoy great food and drinks. Ari is the ultimate one-stop destination for a relaxing, feel-good day.

Singapore’s best-known design-led pop-up event finally arrives in Bangkok. After spending more than two decades championing emerging designers and small creative businesses through Boutiques Singapore, founder Charlotte Cain brings the concept overseas for the first time with Boutiques Asia: The Bangkok Edition 2026 at ICONSIAM. Across three days, more than 120 brands from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan set up shop inside the riverside mall, many appearing in Thailand for the first time. Expect menswear, womenswear, accessories, beauty products, homeware and food concepts, plus more than 70 exclusive launches and limited-edition releases. Singapore names likely to draw attention include leather goods studio Tow Tow, unisex apparel label GRAYE, artisanal footwear maker Palola and accessories brand Talking Toes. Elsewhere, Industry+ stages its ‘No Boundaries’ exhibition, bringing together collectible works by Multistandard, Anon Pairot Studio, Studio Act of Kindness, Critiba, Karyn Lim and Dai Sugasawa. Supported by Enterprise Singapore, the event reflects the growing exchange between creative communities across Asia, with Bangkok a fitting first stop outside its home city. July 24-26. B160 for a one-day pass and B450 for a three-day pass. Grab your tickets here. 7th floor, ICONSIAM. 10am-8pm Note: Under-12s go free. KTC or SCB CardX holders get 25 percent off.

The Novembers make their third trip to Thailand, closing out The Singing Engines tour with a Bangkok date following stops across Japan. Long admired for their moody blend of post-punk, shoegaze and alternative rock, the band arrives with a full live set and fresh material in tow. This latest visit comes through an ongoing collaboration between FEVER, dessin the world and Blueprint Livehouse, a partnership that continues to strengthen musical ties between Japan and Thailand.  July 12. B750-900 via here. Blueprint Livehouse. 7pm

Cute, crafty and proudly DIY, PUBPEAB Zine Fair returns for its third edition with stacks of handmade books, indie publications and collectible oddities from artists across the community. This year’s theme, ‘The Zine Factory’, transforms the venue into a playful production line where visitors can experiment with making their own zines while picking up new techniques along the way. Fabric-printing specialists Studio2B and risograph masters Haptic Editions also join the programme with workshops and open sessions under the banner ‘The Make Space’. Fancy showing your own handmade publication? Applications for exhibitors are now open here, so aspiring zinesters should probably start scribbling. July 4-5. Free entry. GalileOasis Theatre. 11am-6pm

The famous duo from England, HONNE return to Bangkok as a major stop on their 10 Year Anniversary Tour,  bringing ‘Day 1’, ‘Location Unknown’, ‘No Song Without You’ and the rest of the heart-on-sleeve catalogue back to the city. Anyone who caught them last year will know this is one for the calendar, but word from recent shows suggests a more intimate turn this time, with stripped back moments and a warmer, more reflective delivery. From ‘Warm on a Cold Night’ to ‘Love Me / Love Me Not’, expect a decade-spanning set built for big feelings and phone-torch singalongs. July 25-26. B2,800-6,900 via here. KBank Siam Pic-Ganesha Theatre. 4pm

Bangkok’s independent music scene gains another gathering point with JUST KIDS, a new event series created by a young collective of promoters who want gigs to be more than a quick stop between drinks. The idea is simple: bring artists and audiences closer together, with music acting as the common language. The first edition centres on Zambug, whose debut headline live show arrives after several years of steady buzz across the city’s hip-hop circles. Expect a set that stretches well beyond rap’s usual boundaries. Opening duties fall to .g from Suburb Sound, while the night ends with an audio-visual afterparty from 1000100000 of Dogwhine, blending experimental sound, light and atmosphere long after the main performance wraps up. July 18. B350-450 via here. Entertainment Project. 7pm

Few bands spend the last decade tearing up the jazz rulebook quite like BADBADNOTGOOD. The Canadian group returns to Bangkok for its first standalone headline show in years, bringing the adventurous spirit that turns hip-hop, soul, electronica and improvisation into something unmistakably its own. Many local fans still remember the band’s standout set at Maho Rasop Festival, but this return arrives on a much larger scale. Expect knotty grooves, razor-sharp musicianship and plenty of surprises from a band that rarely plays the same way twice. Jazz purists may grumble. Everyone else is likely to have a very good night. July 16. B2,800-3,300 via here. Samyan Mitrtown Hall. 7pm

DIIV brings Frog in Boiling Water to Thailand for the first time, showcasing the darker textures and hypnotic guitar work that continue to place them at the forefront of modern shoegaze. Demand has been strong enough for a venue upgrade, with the gig now landing at Volume Livehouse, where towering amplifiers, striking visuals and room-filling sonics get the space they deserve. Local favourites Death of Heather and VVAS open proceedings, setting up an evening awash with distortion, melody and glorious noise. July 11. B1,800-2,300 via here. Volume Livehouse. 5pm

Glass rarely gets top billing in an exhibition, but Thai artist Jakapan Vilasineekul makes a convincing case. His latest solo presentation gathers a new series of kiln-formed works made from layered float glass, the same material commonly found in office towers, shopfronts and apartment blocks across the city. Across the gallery, geometric forms, coloured panels and carefully arranged grids shift as daylight changes and visitors move around the room. Shadows fall across walls and floors, becoming part of the display. Drawing on architecture and the way glass shapes everyday experience, Vilasineekul turns a familiar building material into a quiet study of light, space and perception. June 13-July 11. Free entry. Richard Koh Fine Art Bangkok. 4 pm-7pm

Bangkok’s Pride Month curtain call comes courtesy of YUMM, which skips the post-parade speeches and heads straight for the dancefloor. The LGBTQIA+ party collective rounds off the season with a late-night gathering built around good music, good company and zero tolerance for bigotry of any kind. Heading the bill is New Zealand selector HALFQUEEN, whose globe-spanning sets stitch together gqom, footwork, Jersey club and techno with an infectious sense of celebration. Sriracha Czaddy, Digital Cherub, Gres.teh, JWP, Club Mascot and Issy join the line-up, keeping bodies moving until the lights come up. July 3. B400-600 via here. Mustache Bangkok. 10pm onewards

Slowcombo marks its third anniversary with the launch of bit.studio gallery, a new space dedicated to interactive and technology-driven art. The venue expands Slowcombo’s creative programme with installations that encourage visitors to engage directly with the work rather than simply observe from a distance. Screens, sensors, projections and digital experiments sit alongside contemporary art practice, highlighting how technology continues to shape creative expression. Visitors can wander through the gallery, spend time with individual pieces and see how artists are using emerging tools to create new forms of participation and interaction. Friday-Sunday. B200-450 via here. Slowcombo. 2pm-8pm

A decade after HONNE first soundtracked countless late-night playlists, road trips and ill-advised text messages, Black Cabin hosts a tribute night dedicated to the British electronic-soul duo ahead of their Bangkok anniversary tour stop. Fans gather for an evening built around the songs that turned HONNE from an internet favourite into a global success story. Familiar choruses fill the room as audiences sing along to tracks spanning the band's ten-year catalogue. The venue is also giving away a pair of tickets to the upcoming tour, with the top spender taking home two ‘Warm on a Cold Night’ passes worth B13,800. June 28. Reserve via LINE: @BLACKCABINBAR. Black Cabin. 9.30pm onwards

This two-person exhibition brings together the sharply detailed oil paintings of Kajonsak Rungsuriyan and the distorted, organic forms of Jaiko in a shared examination of humanity’s more uncomfortable questions. Kajonsak places injured figures among decaying religious architecture, while Jaiko reshapes the body into strange, shifting forms that sit somewhere between attraction and unease. Moving through the gallery, visitors encounter works concerned with violence, belief and the stories people tell themselves to explain both. The contrast between the artists is striking, yet their concerns overlap, creating a conversation that lingers long after you leave. June 20-July 5. Free entry. KYLA Gallery and Wine Bar. 3pm-midnight

Just hearing the name tells you everything. 'KFC Run 2026' is the Colonel's cheeky break from the traditional fun run. This one's built for proper fried chicken devotees, the rare morning where you mind your health and pocket the ultimate reward at the same time, the Colonel's famous crispy bird, completely guilt-free. Forget the races that leave you clutching nothing but a medal and a foil blanket. This course promises happiness, sunshine and the unmistakable scent of something sizzling up ahead. Cross the line and a plate of legendary spicy zabb wings waits to bring you back to life, crisp skin glistening, your aching legs immediately forgiven. Now that's motivation. Run while picturing that first bite and you might find your trainers moving quicker than they ever have, the whole stretch a blur of drumsticks and adrenaline. Image: KFC RunStadium One Pick a distance, 5km for the casual jogger or 10km for the genuine show-offs, then warm up those hamstrings and mark the calendar. Runner or glutton or a bit of both, this one's got your name on it, and the finish line might be the most delicious in the city. It all happens at Stadium One on September 6. Registration opens here on July 6 from 9am, with a strict 2,000 spots going and not one more.  Dawdle and you'll lose both the run and the wings, a tragedy on two fronts. Follow the KFC Run Facebook page for everything else, then start training. Or at least start thinking about it.

Some of the cool art comes from the worst nights. Pillow, the debut solo show from Sittha Jantharawong – the artist who goes by HOMMES.HOM, takes the small, sleepless hours most of us would rather forget and turns them gently inward. A restless mind. Insomnia. The little bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand. He gathers all of it up and makes a sanctuary out of it. Photograph: MMAD GalleryPillow: HOMMES.HOM HOMMES.HOM is a former advertising creative, which makes a strange kind of sense. Adland is a job of watching, studying how people behave, how they speak to each other, what they hide. He brings that same trained eye to the feelings we bury deepest: the anxiety, the unspoken stuff, the things we swallow before bed. His work coaxes them out and gives them somewhere to sit. A room where you can stop, breathe and find yourself again. That is the whole idea. Healing by embracing the very self you have been fighting. He doesn't dress up the difficult years, the racing thoughts, the long nights, the reliance on medication – so much as transform them, asking you to pause and look honestly at your own. Photograph: MMAD GalleryPillow: HOMMES.HOM If you want the artist's company, he's hosting a conversation about the work at the opening on Saturday July 11, from 5.30pm-7.40pm at MMAD Gallery 1, second floor of MunMun Srinakarin (Seacon Square). Pillow is one of five shows under the 'MMADness is Calling' banner, a project that hands the word 'madness' to contemporary artists

Bangkok loves a contradiction. Shrines sit beside shopping malls, street food rubs shoulders with skincare counters and the sacred is rarely far from the spectacular. So it feels only right that Bangkok Art Biennale 2026 is leaning into the push and pull of opposites. The citywide art festival has announced a fresh wave of 27 artists for this year’s edition, bringing the total line-up to 42 artists from Thailand and around the world.  The theme is 'Angels & Mara',  a broad look at the forces that tug between light and dark, hope and despair, virtue and temptation. In other words: big questions about belief, power and identity, set against some of Bangkok’s most recongisable spaces. Photograph: BkkArtBiennale2026 Among the newly announced names are Indonesia's Arahmaiani, Japan's Nobuyoshi Araki, French duo Pierre & Gilles, Canada's Sin Wai Kin and American Max Hooper Schneider. Thailand is strongly represented too, with Channatip Chanvipava, Naraphat Sakarthornsap, Tawan Wattuya and Udom Taephanich among the names joining the bill. More artists, exhibitions and public programmes will be announced closer to opening, but there is already plenty to start plotting around. The biennale will unfold across 10 landmark venues, from riverside temples and major museums to shopping centres and university art spaces. Photograph: BkkArtBiennale2026 Mark the calendar: Bangkok Art Biennale 2026 runs from October 26 2026 to February 28 2027. Follow Bangkok Art Biennale on Facebook for th

A landslide is a landslide, but 1.44 million votes is a clear love letter. That's roughly the number of Bangkokians who put their cross beside Chadchart Sittipunt on June 28, handing the broad-shouldered engineer a second term and smashing the record he set himself four years ago. The man fondly nicknamed 'Hulk' cycled to his own polling station, because of course he did. And the message from the city reads plainly enough, keep going. Photograph: BMAChadchart wins second term as Bangkok governor For four years the slogan 'Work, Work, Work' did the heavy lifting, and the receipts back it up. More than 100 finished projects, fresh pockets of green, knotty old problems finally starting to loosen. Yet a megacity this size always keeps a few wounds open.  Floods still come. Traffic still crawls. The air still stings on a rotten day. But this second term looks like a victory lap – another chance to mend what the first four years never quite completed. Or maybe it’s just proof that a city is never truly finished. If you missed it, we interviewed Chadchart last year, seeing what he was proud of and what he had yet to address. Check out our video interviews here. Photograph: BMAChadchart wins second term as Bangkok governor This time round Chadchart and his crew don't reach for the same playbook. They raise the bar across four strategic pillars, each one a promise to reshape how Bangkok runs: A livable city: People-first policies that look after residents of every age, body and

There are few things harder to put in a diary than nothing at all. Doing nothing sounds easy, the easiest thing in the world, until you actually try it, and within ninety seconds your hand creeps towards your phone, your brain starts quietly drafting an email you don't even need to send and there you are again, being useful, being productive, being exactly the sort of person modern life demands. Switching that off takes practice. It takes nerve. It takes, of all things, a calendar invite. So here comes 'Sit and Stare Without Doing Anything', a magnificently pointless hour that asks precisely one thing of you. Sit down. Stare at the sky, or the grass, or the middle distance. Just you, a quiet corner of Lumphini Park and the faintly radical thrill of contributing absolutely nothing to the national GDP.   Photograph: teamchadchartLumphinipark   The Commons & Bonfire crew run the whole gentle affair, and their pitch lands somewhere between wellness and quiet rebellion. Rest your frazzled mind. Escape the screen that's been following you since breakfast. Detox from the unrelenting pressure to optimise, achieve, hustle. Resist capitalism for sixty glorious minutes by gazing at the clouds like a Victorian poet with nowhere in particular to be. Whatever drags you there, you're warmly invited to come and do gloriously little in good company. Schedule First 30 minutes: sit quietly and do nothing. Last 30 minutes: linger and chat about how the nothing felt. That's the event. That's

Twenty-four years in, and Bangkok's stage refuses to sit quietly. The Bangkok Theatre Festival comes back round this year, running November 14-29, once again handing the city's live performers an open invitation to gather, swap ideas and set their work in front of an audience hungry for the real thing. This is no small fixture. Over more than two decades it has grown one of the most important dates in Thailand's performing arts calendar, a platform where seasoned pros and first-timers share the same lights. Theatre, contemporary performance, movement, music, the gloriously hard-to-categorise. If it breathes and bends the rules, it belongs here. Photograph: Bangkok Theatre Festival2026 Familiar haunts return. The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and TK Park host once more, those rare spots where art and learning happily rub shoulders. And the map widens. T. Namcharoen Playhouse and Tai Siam join the line-up, two new rooms promising shows you won't see coming and encounters nobody planned. But watching is only half the story. The whole thing doubles as a meeting ground for the people who make the work, somewhere to trial odd formats, trade numbers and push Thai performance somewhere braver and more varied than last year. Photograph: Bangkok Theatre Festival2026 Fancy a part in it? Artists can throw their hats in from July 1-31, with every last detail landing on the Bangkok Theatre Festival Facebook page. So pencil it in. When the cool season arrives, the city turns itself ov

Good news, drinkers. Thailand now lets you buy alcohol from 11am right through to midnight, meaning that odd old 2pm-5pm blackout – the one that left many of us nursing a warm beer and watching the clock – is finally history. New nationwide hours, fresh start, cheers all round. But don’t raise that glass too quickly. Bangkok has one more dry spell coming. The Bangkok governor and city council elections take place on June 28, and election law means alcohol sales will be off the table across the capital for 24 hours. The ban starts at 6pm on June 27 and lifts at 6pm on June 28, giving polling day its usual sober buffer on either side.  And this is not the sort of rule to test for the sake of a swift one. Anyone caught selling or serving alcohol during the ban faces up to six months in jail, a fine of up to B10,000, or both. Photograph: trvl-mediaBangkok It is not a new crackdown, either. Thailand has long used election alcohol bans to keep polling day calm, orderly and free from the kind of late-night nonsense nobody needs near a ballot box.  Where the ban bites: Affected areas: Every district and neighbourhood in Bangkok, including Sukhumvit, Silom, Khao San Road, Thonglor and all the usual nightlife zones. Affected venues: Bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants, convenience stores,  supermarkets and any other venue selling or serving alcohol. Timing: From 6pm on June 27 to 6pm on June 28. Penalties: Up to six months in jail, a fine of up to B10,000, or both. Thailand is not alon

'Whatever You Art' is one to circle for anyone who loves a good shop and has a soft spot for creative work. This secondhand market invites influencers, artists and the general public to gather at River City Bangkok, all of them turning up with pre-loved clothing, charming collectibles and personal favourite items laid out for you to browse and shop in earnest. More than 50 booths will fill the first floor, with vintage finds, fashion pieces, craft items and odd little treasures laid out across the space. Half the fun is in the wandering:  flicking through rails, scanning tables and waiting for the jacket, bag, trinket or one-off piece that suddenly makes complete sense. Photograph: again and again marketWhatever You Art There are food and drink stalls nearby when you need a break, plus the easy bonus of River City’s galleries and riverside views once you have finished browsing. Expect a lively crowd, a bit of weekend foot traffic and plenty of sellers ready to tell you where their pieces come from. Secondhand devotee, vintage obsessive or simply after a low-key day out by the Chao Phraya? This one is worth adding to the weekend plan. Catch it on the first floor of River City Bangkok on Saturday and Sunday June 27-28, from midday. Entry is free.

Pak Khlong Talat does flowers better than anywhere else in Bangkok, but this weekend its famous blooms get some unexpected company. Bangkok Art Walk comes back at the riverside market from June 26-June 28. Photograph: l.onbangkokBangkok Art Walk More than 50 Thai and international artists set up along the petal-strewn lanes, showing off paintings, photography and a heap of handmade crafts. Live music drifts through the stalls all weekend, mingling with the scent of marigolds and jasmine, and the usual market hustle takes on a properly creative edge. Rather than grabbing your flowers and dashing off, you get to wander, browse and make a few discoveries at your own pace. Photograph: l.onbangkokBangkok Art Walk Small workshops pop up across the site too, nudging you to slow down, get hands-on and let your imagination off the leash. That's rather the point of the whole thing. Bangkok Art Walk roams different corners of the city like a travelling exhibition, making contemporary art less precious and far easier to stumble across.  Nicely, a slice of the proceeds gets chipped in by the participating artists, Paintbrush Khlong Toei and L'On Gallery, all going towards setting up a future multidisciplinary arts institution. So your day of mooching and marigold-sniffing does a bit of good, too. Bangkok Art Walk runs daily from June 26-June 28, 2pm-11pm, with parking sorted at Talat Yot Phiman Market.

July does more than deliver the classic film line-up that movie lovers have been waiting for all year – it also marks the 22nd birthday of House Samyan, the independent cinema that's stood shoulder to shoulder with Bangkok's film crowd for over two decades. It's no small player, either: this is the only indie picture house in Thailand to land a spot among the world's 100 best cinemas, as crowned by Time Out Worldwide. All month long, expect special events, hand-picked screenings and a good few surprises thrown in for the regulars. The big one is the House Classics programme, which drags Wes Anderson's masterpiece 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (2001) back onto the big screen where it belongs. Photograph: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)House Samyan This comedy-drama is a proper turning point in Anderson's career – the film where his whole aesthetic clicked firmly together and became the blueprint everyone now recognises as 'the Wes Anderson style'. You know the one: pastel palettes, perfect symmetry and characters who never quite crack a smile. The story follows the gloriously dysfunctional Tenenbaum clan, each member lumbered with their own private mess. A father teeters on the edge of financial ruin, a mother gears up to remarry, an eldest son turned wealthy businessman lives in dread of accidents, an artist daughter wrestles with creative burnout and a former tennis prodigy nurses a hopelessly impossible love. It all unspools through Anderson's deadpan wit, warmth and quiet melanchol

Chiang Mai's finest dream-pop export comes home for a proper headline show. YONLAPA – widely tipped as one of Thailand's classiest live acts – spend years winning hearts across Asia with their hazy, atmospheric sound, and now they're ready to throw their biggest party yet. Photograph: YONLAPA2026 The band wrap a sprawling Asia tour in May, then drop a teaser on their fan page promising a first-ever full-scale solo gig in the capital. Today the details land, courtesy of Fungjai, the crew behind the new Fungjai SOLO Series, a concert strand built to spotlight each act's quirks and signature through carefully curated sets. Hot on the heels of Bomb at Track's emotional farewell at Volume Livehouse (that one's SOLO Series 01), it's YONLAPA's turn to shine in Fungjai SOLO Series 02: YONLAPA 'Homebound'. The group and organisers keep the setlist tightly under wraps, but both promise a night that looks nothing like anything they've staged before. Expect a genuine milestone for a band that climbs from the northern city's underground rooms all the way to international billing. You catch them on August 28 at Volume Livehouse, 5th floor of The Street Ratchada – and happily, all ages get the nod. Rounding up your mates pays off too, since the group rates knock a little off when you buy together. Ticket prices roll out across four phases: June 26-July 5 Early Bird: B790  Early Bird with Merch: B1,400  July 5-August 2 Regular 1: B890  Regular 1 Group: B790  August 2-August 27 Regula

Fancy filling a weekend with art, live tunes and good company by the water? The Art Island Festival hands a riverside stretch of the Chao Phraya over to makers, beat-lovers and anyone with a creative streak. By day, wander stalls stacked with original paintings, handmade trinkets and one-off pieces from independent creators, then roll up your sleeves at a hands-on workshop and craft something to carry home. The waterfront setting keeps things gloriously unhurried: claim a spot in the mellow lounge area, grab a bite and a cold drink and watch longtail boats drift past while a soft breeze rolls in and the evening light turns golden over the river. It's the sort of place where an afternoon slips by without you noticing. Photograph: onelove.bkkArt Island Festival Once the sun dips, the mood lifts. DJs take over a deck perched atop a moored vessel for an open-air psytrance set that sends a charge rippling across the water – proper end-of-the-night stuff that pulls the crowd together. Few gatherings fold gallery browsing, a solid party and easy waterside hanging quite so neatly, all on one site. You catch it all at Bangkok Island Pier, Rama 3 Soi 64, on July 5 from 4pm until 11.59pm. Entry stays free for everyone.