Kaweewat Siwanartwong

Mid-July in Bangkok is a weather contradiction. Mornings come thick with heat, the kind that clings. By 5pm – just as you’re leaving the office – the clouds split open like they’ve been waiting all day for dramatic effect. A folded raincoat or emergency umbrella won’t win you style points, but it might save your shoes. Still, the city doesn’t pause for drizzle. In fact, this weekend, it feels like everything’s blooming at once. Thainosaor comes with the strange allure of prehistoric life, inviting you to walk among creatures who once ruled the land we now casually stroll. It’s more than an exhibition – it’s a glitch in time, a reminder that even extinction can be romantic in the right lighting. Over at the glasshouse, Made by Legacy sets the tone for slow weekends and tactile nostalgia. Vintage finds, handmade objects and plants with better posture than most people. There’s no rush, just soft music, green corners and the kind of items that whisper rather than shout. Then there’s Eat Ramen Fest, where steam rises like incense and the slurp becomes a shared language. Sixteen ramen heavyweights gather for three days of culinary devotion. Some bowls are experimental, others are practically mythic. Collect stamps, win a flight to Fukuoka, or just sit and let the broth undo you. And for something more tender, Henry Moodie arrives. Fresh off stages across three continents, his heartbreak-soaked pop feels less like performance and more like eavesdropping on someone’s voice notes. It’

I’m sitting inside the bar that isn't quite finished. There’s no sharp scent of fresh paint clinging to the air, but there’re chairs – mid-century in ambition but scuffed just enough to feel like they’ve lived – scattered like punctuation marks. In the centre of it all is a transparent DJ booth, looking more like an art installation than a workspace, glowing faintly in the late afternoon light. I’m sitting with one camera man, opposite Nick Supreda with a list of questions folded in my palm and the sense that I’ve arrived mid-thought, not at the beginning of anything. Raised in Southern California by aunts who taught him the value of taste and autonomy, Nick returned to Bangkok after college and built something between a movement and a myth. With music, nightlife and fashion as his language, he’s turned subculture into infrastructure – founding Blaq Lyte and more recently, Bloq, a new bar in Thonglor that feels like a blueprint. We’re here, in the almost-finished glow of his latest creation, to talk about Thonglor – his kingdom of contradictions. The place where meetings dissolve into midnight sets, where hype meets heritage and where the future of Bangkok’s creative class continues to quietly unfold. Photograph: madebylegacy All bright lights and quiet blueprints ‘Thonglor has this unexplainable charge – it’s like a magnet for ambition and chaos,’ he says, lifting his glass without sipping it. ‘It’s the only place I’ve found where business meetings turn into afterparties a

The first half of the year has seen a steady stream of new store openings across the capital. From flagship debuts and major renovations by global brands to Thai labels expanding into prime department store locations, the city’s fashion scene is evolving. Whether you’re after refined tailoring, functional everyday wear, or street-style staples, there's something for every kind of shopper.  We’ve rounded up the newest must-visit flagships – from bougie Parisian brands to cool Thai labels – that are making shopping feel fun again. Here’s where to head if you’re in the mood to browse, be inspired, or simply want a style upgrade.

Pride month may have closed its curtains, but the city’s cultural pulse shows no sign of slowing. June left us full – of installations, declarations, all the shades that make identity less of a statement and more of a spectrum. But if you thought it ended there, think again. July arrives with a quiet sprawl of exhibitions that ask different questions: about memory, language, loss and the shape of play. Still running is Lost in DOMLAND, Udom Taephanich’s gentle rebellion against the slow disappearance of silliness. It's not comedy, not quite tragedy either – more like a stage whisper from your younger self, reminding you that make-believe was once second nature. That monsters made of cardboard were just as real as the ones we now carry in our heads. Another good one, the Yuyuan Lantern Festival casts Bangkok in a softer light – literally. A first for the city, this chapter of China’s legendary spectacle reimagines ancient creatures from the Shan Hai Jing, their stories pulsing through illuminated paper forms. It’s part folklore, part fever dream. And if you're looking to trade fantasy for abstraction, Calligraphic Abstraction at Bangkok Kunsthalle offers Tang Chang’s trembling lines that blur scripture and spirit, proof that sometimes meaning lives in the unreadable. Then there’s The Shattered World, part of the James H. W. Thompson Foundation’s 50th anniversary programme – an ambitious, multi-site excavation of the Cold War’s lingering ghosts, stretching across the BACC, Jim

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.

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

How do you like brunch? Loud, lively and a little theatrical? Stock.Room has you covered. Hidden inside Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, this midday affair runs from midday-3pm, serving a joyful sprawl of flavours – Thai, South American, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese – all under one exuberant roof. Chefs work the live kitchens like they’re hosting a party, mid-laugh, mid-sizzle, mid-story. It’s brunch with character, with colour, with just enough mess to feel real. Part of IHG’s Sizzling Summer Fest, running nationwide until August 31, the feast also brings together nine restaurants and bars – Makase, Marina Kitchen, Sazón, CHAR, Bangkok‘78, SoCal, Hong’s Chinese Restaurant, Bar.Yard and ROGUES Bar. A meal, yes – but also a mood. For the full restaurant and chef line up, please visit Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok website.  July 20. Starts at B2,490 (children under five years old dine for free). Reserve via here. Stock.Room, 5th floor, Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, midday-3pm

This isn’t just a coffee event, it’s become a ritual – one you don’t want to miss. After three sell-out editions that felt more like secret rites than festivals, Volume four arrives with a vengeance. Last time, the crowd was so dense you could barely move without spilling your brew. This time, they’ve answered the call, doubling down with two stages. The iconic Heartbreaker Stage remains the beating heart inside Tictactoe, raw and intimate, while next door, the Daydreamer Stage at Wonder Space opens up, airy and wide, like a breath of fresh air. It’s a new chapter in Bangkok’s caffeine-soaked story – more space, more sound, and the same reckless celebration of coffee and chaos.  July 20. B490 via here. Tictactoe, 10.30am-5pm

It doesn’t feel like a rave, at least not in the nostalgic, sweat-in-a-warehouse sense. It feels more like a system waking up. Pulses, patterns, flickers of code made audible. Here, the dancefloor isn’t just occupied – it’s computed. Raw techno collides with algorithmic improvisation, unfolding in real time. Live modular sets by Dark_express and code-slinging performances from Skykys, CRSRCRSRRR and WrappedByte offer something messier than perfection, more human than it sounds on paper. Sweed b2b Chromixd hold the room in a constant hum, like machinery dreaming. There are no drops, no anthems, no familiar arcs – just a strange, hypnotic rhythm stitched from logic and chaos. This is not music you remember, it’s music you experience, running parallel to your heartbeat then glitching straight through it.  July 19. B300 via here. Blaq Lyte Rover, 9pm onwards

This two-day immersion into the cult of coffee is less a tasting event, more a sensory detour – beans, beats and oat milk with a superiority complex. Designed to blur the line between ritual and rave, the gathering spotlights Thailand’s swelling obsession with specialty brews while quietly slipping plant-based alternatives into the spotlight. Think silky textures, complex notes, zero dairy guilt. DJs Taidy, Patra, Bestboi and Esspee rotate like vinyl, spinning mellow rhythms into the background hum of caffeine and chatter. There are giveaways, sure and perfectly staged photo ops for the algorithm, but the real reward is atmosphere. No hard sell, no grand manifesto. Just the comfort of a warm cup in a space that gets it.  July 19-20. Free. Siam Centre Atrium 2, 10.30am-6pm

It’s not a party, it’s a pressure valve. A glitter-coated, sweat-slicked refusal to behave. This weekend, bodies move like protest signs and eyeliner bleeds with purpose. The lineup – Issypeople, Happy Bara, Peachji, Dookie – doesn’t so much play tracks as detonate them. Expect BPMs that don’t ask permission, heels that defy physics and outfits that scream louder than the speakers. It’s not about being seen, it’s about seeing yourself reflected in every sequinned stranger. There’s no cool detachment, no curated aloofness – just full-throttle joy pushed past the point of irony. Queer euphoria isn’t whispered here, it’s blasted through subwoofers and lit in strobes.  July 18. B300 via here. Club Back Door, 9pm onwards 

At this diner, inspired by Ciel Bleu, the new seasonal menu reads like a love letter to late summer: bright, strange, fleeting. Chef Gerard Villaret Horcajo doesn’t so much cook as orchestrate – each plate a composition, each ingredient with its own emotional register. There’s Hiramasa Crudo chilled with avocado ice cream and a watermelon gazpacho that tastes like sunburned skin and sea breeze. A tangle of homemade yakisoba arrives tangled with uni, sharp with Myoga. Foie gras doesn’t melt so much as shiver, offset by langoustine and tart cherry. It’s serious food, yes, but not joyless. Even dessert – tonka bean cheesecake with pecan miso – feels like a joke whispered in the dark. Not fusion, not fantasy, just feeling, plated. July 18 onwards. Starts at B3,700. Reserve via 02-687-9000 or email elements@okurabangkok.com , The Okura Prestige Bangkok

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

Some weekends aren’t built for plans. They’re built for basslines, low lighting, bodies in orbit. This one’s for surrendering. For letting house and disco bleed into your bones until thought feels irrelevant. Ouissam, Mo and Daox are at the helm – names that don’t need explaining if you’ve ever danced until your knees gave out. There’s no promise of transcendence, but you’ll get close. Expect the kind of night where time folds in on itself and conversations are reduced to eye contact and half-smiles. The music won’t shout, but it’ll stay with you – long after the sweat dries, after the lights come up, after you’ve left whatever version of yourself you brought at the door. Just listen. Then let go. July 18. B200 at the door. Bar Temp., 9pm onwards

Funk has always had a scent – ripe, rich, slightly sweaty. In Bangkok, it now has a taste. Enter Funkytown, the cocktail bar quietly fermenting its way into the city’s bloodstream. Tucked in somewhere between retro fantasy and future-forward experimentation, it was recently crowned best new bar at the B.A.D Awards, though accolades feel almost beside the point. Pae Ketumarn – whose CV reads like a greatest hits of Asia’s cocktail scene – runs the liquids lab with a kind of controlled madness. Together with a kitchen equally obsessed with seasonality, they’ve created pairings that don’t just complement but clash, echo, misbehave. Tamarind that bites back, herbs that smell like old lovers, citrus that feels fluorescent. Sustainability is less a trend here than a compulsion. Summer drinks shouldn’t be this complex, but we’re not complaining.  July 18-19. B5,000. Reserve via here or email info@nothingsacredbkk.com. Funkytown

Let’s Intersect, Bangkok’s indie-minded collective, leans into resistance with a vintage flea at Slowcombo. Here, you’ll find jackets that have outlived their original owners, ashtrays that once knew better parties, necklaces with forgotten backstories. It’s less about trend and more about texture – worn leather, sun-faded denim, the satisfying clink of ceramics. The venue’s wrapped in foliage, as if shielding it from the usual chaos, while soft drinks and softer lighting keep things civil. People come to browse, linger, chat, maybe flirt. Mostly, they come to see what survives when fast fashion and flatpack furniture fall away.  July 18-20. Free. Slowcombo, 11am-midnight

At Bar.Yard, high above Bangkok’s sprawl, two chefs – one from Mexico City by way of Bangkok, the other from Dublin with a Michelin-star in his back pocket – trade heat and heritage in a collaboration that feels more like a mixtape than a menu. Chef Andrew Walsh of Sazón and Chef Lamberto Valdez Lara of Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok have stitched together a line-up that swings between Spanish fire and Latin comfort: golden croquetas, octopus with just enough char, tuna larb that leans local but lands global. The beef quesabirria arrives as if in slow motion. Sazón’s sangria flows freely, Spanish wines hum in the background, and for two evenings, Bangkok doesn't feel like itself – it feels bigger, louder, deliciously elsewhere. For more information, check out Line account @bar.yard, call 02-056-9999 or email BarYard.Kimptonmaalai@ihg.com.  July 17-18. Reserve via here. Bar.Yard, Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, 7pm onwards

Tramhaus sound like a fire alarm set off in a gallery – blaring, urgent, oddly elegant. The Rotterdam five-piece have become a sort of live-wire export, dragging the postpunk canon through shoegaze haze and punkrock grit, then spitting it out somewhere between euphoria and collapse. Frontman Lukas hurls himself into the crowd as if trying to escape the song mid-note. It’s chaotic, yes, but studied – like they know exactly how much disarray you can survive. There’s no nostalgia here, no sepia-toned tribute to punk’s past. Tramhaus make music that feels like now: splintered, sharp, impatient. This weekend, Bangkok gets its turn. Wear boots, bring earplugs, maybe leave your feelings at home.  July 17. B600 via here. Blueprint Livehouse, 7.30pm onwards

MWAM fans, now it’s time for change again – a band in wolf masks, all thrashing guitars and bilingual battle cries, announces their return. And yet, fans of Japan’s Man with a Mission wouldn’t have it any other way. The Shibuya-born quintet – equal parts myth and mayhem – have just announced the Asia leg of their Howling Across the World tour, which sees them land in Bangkok this December. If you were there in 2018, you remember. The sweat-drenched fervour at Nakarin Space. The way ‘Raise Your Flag’ made everyone in the room believe they were leading some stylish, rock-fuelled rebellion. That night, Man with a Mission played their first ever show in Thailand as part of the Chasing the Horizon tour. It’s been six years, and the pack is finally circling back. This time, they’re headed to MCC Hall at The Mall Lifestore Bangkae on December 14. And they’re not coming alone. Singapore gets its turn at Capitol Theatre, while Zepp Kuala Lumpur is on the list too. Add to that another four stops – Guangzhou, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei. For a band whose very existence feels like a fever dream – lore has it they’re hybrid super-creatures created by a mad scientist in the Antarctic – they’ve managed to carve out a surprisingly lucid discography. Their sound is hard to pin down, mostly because they refuse to stay in one lane. One minute it’s alternative rock, the next it’s borderline nu-metal with synths and hooks that could soundtrack an action film. The lyrics slide between English and J

Another great piece of news this month for Thai citizens, and this one comes with a view. There are certain places that seem too cinematic to be real. The Phra Prang at Wat Arun is one of them. Catch it at dusk, as the Chao Phraya turns from brown to bronze, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was CGI. But this month, the towering Khmer-style spire – stitched together with porcelain shards, seashells and sheer devotion – got something even more official than a sunset Instagram story. It’s been added to UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. In bureaucratic speak, this means ‘not quite there yet.’ But let’s not be coy – the letter came signed by UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, praising Thailand’s submission and confirming it ticks every sacred, historical and aesthetic box. Locals call it the Temple of Dawn, but it’s not just about the light. Rising 82 metres into the Bangkok sky, the central prang is said to mirror Mount Meru, the mythical axis of the Buddhist universe. While other landmarks go heavy on the gold, Wat Arun is all about texture: floral mosaics made from broken teacups, painstakingly embedded by hand – a kind of architectural patchwork, delicate but defiant. This isn’t heritage that’s been sealed off in a velvet rope museum sense. Wat Arun is very much alive: monks walk barefoot past tourists in bucket hats, and locals still pray beneath the spire as riverboats honk in the background. It stands at the confluence of devotion and daily

By all accounts, Bangkok wasn’t meant to become the epicentre of experimental documentary. And yet here we are, while most of the city hides indoors from the rain or queues up for iced coffee, a quiet cultural rebellion is about to begin. What the Doc! (WTD!) – Thailand’s first-ever international documentary film festival – isn’t here to play by the rules. In fact, it wants to rip them up entirely. Running from August 22-31, this inaugural edition promises something thrillingly unpolished: real stories told by filmmakers who aren’t interested in being polite. 18 documentaries – six Thai, 12 international – will go head-to-head for top honours, and not a single one is here for background noise. These are bold, opinionated, often unpredictable works, picked from a staggering 1,599 submissions. They're not just ‘in’ competition – they ‘are’ the competition. No streaming, no replays, no safety nets. You show up or you miss out. There’s serious money on the line, too. Feature and short-length winners will walk away with B200,000 in their back pockets, with a jury prize of B180,000 close behind. There's also B100,000 waiting for the best female director, and another for the film that goes greenest – because yes, apparently saving the planet is also a genre now. The brains behind this ambitious move? Documentary Club with support from THACCA, the Department of Cultural Promotion, the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, Chamnong Rangsikun Foundation, Koh-Kae and White Light Studio. Toge

There’s something unreasonably moving about hearing the opening notes of ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ played by a full orchestra. The air changes. It’s not just nostalgia – though there’s plenty of that – but a kind of communal spell. On November 8 and 9 at Prince Mahidol Hall, the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra will conjure that very magic with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert, the third instalment of the live film concert series that pairs Hollywood fantasy with old-school musical precision. This is not the first time Alcopop and Five Four Live have dabbled in sorcery. Their past ventures into the wizarding world saw robes, round glasses and the occasional stuffed owl sprinkled across concert halls. But Azkaban feels different. Tonally darker, more mature, less fixated on chocolate frogs. Sirius Black escapes. Dementors float ominously over the Hogwarts Express. A time-turner whirls. It’s the moment the Potterverse grows up. Conductor Timothy Henty returns to lead the orchestra through John Williams’ shape-shifting score – arguably one of the franchise’s most playful and eerie. Expect fluttering woodwinds during Buckbeak’s flight and those jagged, breathless strings that accompany Harry’s late-night wanderings through the castle. All of it unfolds beneath a towering 40-foot screen, where Alfonso Cuarón’s fog-drenched cinematography plays out in high definition. But what makes these events special – over the sheer technical coordination required to sync bow to brooms

Dinosaurs may have bowed out 65 million years ago, but they refuse to stay buried. Their bones, like half-finished sentences, keep surfacing – dragged into the present by palaeontologists and the stubbornly curious. Thailand, not typically the first country that comes to mind when you think of ancient lizards the size of buses, is quietly rewriting that narrative. It’s not just temples and tropical fruit – beneath the soil lie secrets older than myths. The Thainosaur exhibition makes this point with a subtle kind of grandeur.  Photograph: Museum Pier Photograph: Museum Pier In the collective imagination, dinosaurs belong to places with wide deserts, fossilised bones half-buried in ochre earth and a cowboy holding a brush. Not Thailand. But this exhibition wants you to reconsider everything you thought you knew about this humid, noodle-filled strip of land. Because once, it was prowled by giants – real ones. Running from now until November 2 at Museum Siam's riverside offshoot, Museum Pier, Thainosaur doesn’t just hand you a plastic dino and a souvenir sticker. It lures you back hundreds of millions of years and then kindly walks you through it all. With realism, drama and the occasional sauropod. Entry is from 10am-6pm, daily. Photograph: Museum Pier Here's how the journey unfolds: Ground floorForget Hollywood’s A-list reptiles – this level is all about the ancients who crawled, swam or slithered before the dinosaurs took over. Here you'll meet Isanosaurus, an early sa

It starts, as all good things to do, with a rummage. The 18th edition of Made By Legacy returns this July 18-20, midday-11pm at its new home – sprawled across BITEC’s SAMA Garden like someone tipped over a particularly stylish suitcase. The venue’s new glasshouse, sun-drenched and lined with trees, feels less like a market and more like a living scrapbook: one page denim, the next hand-thrown ceramic, the next a stack of Patti Smith LPs that smell faintly of 1987. What began as a secondhand fair has become something else entirely. Not a lifestyle brand (god forbid), but a kind of mirror – reflecting back the objects we cling to, the eras we romanticise, the way a cracked teacup or slightly warped record sleeve can feel more real than anything flat-packed and algorithm-approved. There are over 150 vendors this year: from Japanese collectors to Thai artists, furniture restorers, indie publishers, potters, vinyl evangelists and those who still believe in the handwritten price tag.   Photograph: madebylegacy   And the music – always on vinyl, never an afterthought – drifts in with the ease of something overheard through a motel wall. Bowie, some forgotten disco, a bit of Japanese jazz. It gives the illusion, convincing and cinematic, that you’ve stumbled upon a flea market in another country, another decade. One where nobody’s trying to sell you anything, only share what they’ve found. Photograph: madebylegacy It’s curated, yes, but not in a suffocating way. There’s still roo

Somewhere between a tourist trap and a cultural relic, the tuk-tuk sits humming on Bangkok’s roadside – always a spectacle. Foreigners climb in wide-eyed, clutching their phones and expectations. Locals, on the other hand, usually steer clear. Until, that is, Tuktuk Radio turned the city’s noisiest ride into its most unexpected club on wheels. The YouTube channel, helmed by a crew that feels like pirate radio and performance art, trades in DJ sets performed live from moving tuk-tuks. Not pre-recorded playlists or tasteful ambient loops – this is full-throttle, bass-heavy kind of soundtracking. The music is loud, occasionally too loud, and sometimes it earns them an impromptu police stop. But even then, the set rarely skips a beat. The city becomes the backdrop, its chaos woven into the rhythm. What used to be a passive commute now pulses with something that feels like a celebration, or at least a very decent Friday night. Photograph: Tuktuk Radio What makes it addictive isn’t just the music. It’s what’s happening outside the frame – Bangkok in all its messy, magical chaos. Street vendors. Aunties in pyjamas. Neon signs that flicker like they’re trying to communicate. You’re basically watching a city mixtape, unfiltered and on the move. Photograph: Tuktuk Radio These are not flashy, overproduced broadcasts. They’re grainy, glitchy, often filmed on the fly. You get the sense that you’re being let in on something – not quite secret, but not yet mainstream. Like catching a ba

Killjoys, we’ve got massive news – My Chemical Romance is coming to Bangkok next summer. It’s been over two decades since My Chemical Romance first stitched eyeliner into the cultural fabric, and now, after years of rumour, rupture and reunion, the band is finally coming to Bangkok. Yes, really. The Long Live the Black Parade tour will land in Thailand in 2026 – marking not only the band’s long-awaited Southeast Asian debut, but their return to the stage following a post-pandemic resurgence that’s been nostalgic. For those who spent their adolescence tucked inside a hoodie, humming ‘Helena’ under their breath, this is more than a concert. It’s collective catharsis. Formed in 2001 by Gerard Way with brother Mikey, Ray Toro and Frank Iero, My Chemical Romance rose from post-9/11 disillusionment with a sound that flitted between theatrical and feral. Their second album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge launched them into the mainstream, but it was The Black Parade – a grand, gothic opera of grief – that etched their name into eyeliner-stained lore. After disbanding in 2013 with a cryptic farewell, the band returned in 2019 for a sold-out reunion in Los Angeles, then took that dark magic global – London, Tokyo, Mexico City. Now, Bangkok joins the map. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to get your hands on tickets. When are My Chemical Romance playing in Bangkok? The band will be at IMPACT Challenger Hall on Wednesday, April 22 2026. View this post on In

When Thailand decriminalised cannabis in 2022, it wasn’t just legislation that shifted – it was the entire mood. Overnight, the country known for some of the world’s most punitive drug laws became Asia’s green frontier. Khao San Road turned into a sort of tropical Amsterdam, only stickier. Shopfronts hawked pre-rolls beside pad Thai stalls. Dispensaries popped up like convenience stores, each promising ‘wellness’ with a wink. But the regular high didn’t last. This year, just three years after the grand opening, the shutters are being pulled back down – slowly, bureaucratically, but unmistakably. The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine now insists dispensaries must transition into medical clinics. A doctor on-site, a clinic licence, prescription slips. Paperwork over pleasure. The message is clear: fun time’s over. The irony, of course, is that many of these shops had licences. Around 18,000, in fact. But of those, only a fraction qualify as actual medical facilities. Come November, roughly 12,000 will be up for renewal – and unless they conform to the new rules, they’ll go the way of the hookah bars before them. Another boom gone bust. The government says it’s a necessary correction. There are concerns, after all. Kids getting high. Tourists lighting up on beaches like it’s a full moon party every night. A whiff of moral panic, served with a side of public health anxiety. The kind of thing that gets talked about at dinner tables and school meetings. But th

Coffee in Bangkok has come a long way from the days of powdered sachets and lukewarm cafe lattes. These days, it comes with milk alternatives, custom extraction times and, occasionally, music. The city's obsession with coffee has taken on a life of its own – there’s the Sawasdee Cup Coffee Party (or ‘coffee rave’, if you're being cheeky), where beats meet beans, and espresso is served with a side of bass.  The city’s obsession has crept into every available nook – down alleyways, inside shopping centres, tucked behind plant shops and vintage racks. You’ll find pour-overs served with tasting notes more detailed than a wine list, and baristas who talk about terroir with the conviction of sommeliers. There’s a sense that coffee has moved past the morning ritual into something else entirely. And if you thought the caffeine curve had peaked, think again. Photograph: sawasdeecup.coffeeparty Photograph: sawasdeecup.coffeeparty Thailand Coffee Fest, now in its tenth year, returns this July 10-13 from 10am-8pm at Impact Exhibition Centre, Halls 5-8. But it’s also something more committed – an evolving record of the Thai coffee industry’s growing consciousness. Organised by the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand (SCATH), this year’s instalment promises both foam art and future thinking, drawing together everyone from the farmers in Chiang Mai to the baristas fuelling Thonglor’s weekdays.  The theme, ‘Drink Better Coffee’, sounds deceptively simple. The cup in your hand could

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