Kaweewat Siwanartwong

August arrives not with a downpour, but with an eerie stillness – no rain, despite the season, and the kind of heat that makes staying indoors feel like a personal failure. July already feels like a dream someone else had, and now the calendar flips again, dragging us into the slow burn of late summer. It’s time to go out – if only to give the air conditioner a break and let the city remind us it’s still very much alive. There’s Capture Bangkok – a portrait of the city refracted through ten photographers and a hundred different angles. Concrete becomes poetry, chaos turns lyrical. A Time Out collaboration with Canon and Coca-Cola, but more importantly, a love letter to the streets we forget to see. The Phantom of the Opera returns – still haunted, still haunting. It first arrived in 2013, now it slips back in like it never left. Some things never quite say goodbye. At the Goethe-Institut, Stimmung – Stockhausen’s cosmic choral spell – gets its long-overdue Thai premiere, delivered in hypnotic harmony by Somtow Sucharitkul and the Calliope Chamber Choir. Over at House Samyan, two Billy Wilder classics flicker to life once more – Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment, each as sharp and devastating as the day they were made. And then there’s Taste of Tea – Bangkok’s biggest tea festival, perfumed with matcha, incense and a quiet sense of ceremony. August, it seems, is for the senses. All of them. Get ahead of the game and start planning your month with our list of the top things to

August arrives like a slow sigh, heavy with rain yet stubbornly fierce with heat – the city’s contradictions tangled like the wires overhead. It’s the kind of month that begs for escape, preferably somewhere air-conditioned and electric with possibility. And Bangkok delivers, quietly unfolding moments that flicker between the familiar and the fantastical. At the heart of it all is Capture Bangkok, a fresh lens on the city’s restless rhythm. 10 photographers, alongside campaign winners, pull back layers of noise and neon to reveal unexpected poetry – traffic snarls that pulse like music, tangled wires transformed into romance, and fleeting pockets of calm tucked between chaos. It’s a project that invites you to see the city anew, through eyes both seasoned and young. Meanwhile, Jurassic World: The Experience thunders into town with a breath that’s almost alive. More than 10 zones immerse visitors in Isla Nublar’s prehistoric pulse, where life-sized dinosaurs lurk just beyond sight and scenes from the film unravel around every corner. It’s not theatre – it’s a summons to step out of time, to feel what’s stirring just beneath the surface. Not far from this primeval roar, the Dragon Ball Heroes Rise exhibition offers a different kind of energy – electric, spiky and unmistakably alive. Over 40 life-sized characters stand poised for selfies and challenges alike, while immersive zones beckon visitors to fuse, fight and hunt for dragon balls in a vivid playground where nostalgia and

By August, the weight of relentless rain might have you craving something lighter – something to cut through the damp and slow the city’s pulse. But instead of hiding away, it’s worth rallying, because Bangkok’s cultural calendar is quietly humming with invitations to step outside the ordinary. Take SAMA Garden Movie Night, for example: three evenings of open-air cinema beneath a softly glowing dome, nestled among the trees. It’s the kind of event that turns watching a film into an experience – whether you’re nestled beside friends, a date or even your dog. The line-up feels like a gentle escape, with classics like The Notebook and Cast Away reminding us of love, loss and the inescapable pull of storytelling. If you’re a book lover whose summer reading list needs a refresh, the Big Bad Wolf Books Festival is a beast of its own – overflowing with over two million titles, it’s less a fair and more a literary labyrinth. The chaos is part of the charm, each stack begging you to surrender your sensible intentions and leave with more than you bargained for. For those craving spectacle, The Phantom of the Opera returns after more than a decade, reclaiming the stage with its gothic grandeur and haunting melodies. The show still mesmerises with the kind of emotional intensity that doesn’t just entertain but envelops, offering a velvet-draped escape into obsession and mystery. And if you want to chase something more primal, Jurassic World: The Experience invites you to walk among life-

Let's be real: the golden temples are great and a whirlwind tuk-tuk ride is a rite of passage. But if that’s all you do, you’re only scratching the surface of what makes Bangkok one of the most exciting cities on the planet. The city’s real magic isn’t on a postcard; it's in the details. It’s the slurp of noodles at a tucked-away stall, the discovery of a cool art gallery down a quiet soi, and the laid-back vibe of a riverside park where locals unwind. These are the places that make you fall in love with the city for real. So, how do you get past the tourist traps and into the good stuff? That’s where the Trip.Best Top 100 comes in. By sifting through over 100 million user reviews, Trip.Best by Trip.com has created the ultimate data-driven, local-approved hit list of standout stays, must-try restaurants and unforgettable nights out. This is your key to unlocking the city’s best-kept secrets, like checking into an impossibly chic urban oasis like Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok (a winner on the 2025 Global 100 Instagrammable Hotels list) or snagging a coveted table at culinary heavyweight Côte by Mauro Colagreco (crowned on the 2025 Global 100 Fine Dining list). Ready to see the Bangkok that locals are proud to call home? We’ve tapped into the Trip.Best list to get you started. Read on.

Soi Nana has a way of slowing you down, even when Bangkok doesn’t. It’s not the sort of place you stumble into by accident anymore – though it used to be. Once upon a time, these shophouses dozed behind corrugated shutters, a red-light side street that didn’t expect to be reinvented. Now, there’s a different kind of glow. Neon from cocktail dens. Cigarette smoke curling around someone’s slow walk home. The hum of a neighbourhood that has decided, in its own stubborn way, that it will be all things at once: a little louche, a little cosmopolitan, and always vaguely improvised. Tonight, I am sitting inside one of them – G.O.D., which stands for Genius on Drugs – with the man who arguably started it all. The room looks like it has been built to confuse: walls tiled in fractured mosaic, pillars like something salvaged from a ruined temple, and the low-lit, surreal intimacy of a chapel gone rogue. The cocktails, of course, are a different sort of scripture. Across the table sits Niks Anuman-Rajadhon, co-founder of this place and the string of bars that have made Soi Nana one of the capital’s most magnetic districts: Teens of Thailand, Asia Today, TAX, Independence. Bartenders across the world know him, but here on Nana he seems more like a local who never quite left the party. “People talk about bar culture like it’s a thing you can plan, but most of this just started because I liked being here.” Photograph: god_bkk Photograph: god_bkk A gin bar that rewrote a street Teens of

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.

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

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

In Italy, pizza isn’t just dinner – it’s ritual, conversation, a reason to linger at the table. Channeling that spirit, Executive Chef Andrea Accordi has taken the country’s most democratic dish and spun it into something entirely new: an eight-course journey that teases the line between tradition and theatre. Each round arrives like a small revelation – blistered just so at 365°C, topped with fleeting seasonal flavours, and layered with the kind of precision that never feels too precious. The menu moves from feather-light to unapologetically rich, stitched together by Accordi’s quiet humour and unmistakable touch. This isn’t pizza as comfort, or nostalgia – it’s pizza as invitation. To sit longer. To share more. To taste something familiar, and not recognise it at all. Every Friday-Sunday. Starts at B2,500. Reserve via 02-032-0885. Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok, 7pm onwards  

More Rice is back with its ninth release – and it hits like a long-overdue homecoming. This time, its label cofounder Sarayu steps forward with The Don. Mueang, his first full solo outing on the imprint since 2021. The EP is dense, deliberate and deeply rooted – a kind of sonic cartography that places Bangkok firmly on the underground map, without asking for permission. To mark the release, there’s a party – naturally. Bar Temp. plays host as Sarayu goes back to back with DOTT, two selectors spinning into the early hours with the kind of shared instinct that can’t be rehearsed. It’s not just a launch, it’s a moment – the sound of a scene folding in on itself, then blooming into something new.  August 9. B200-400 via here and B600 at the door. Bar Temp., 9pm onwards

This isn’t your typical stroll. Made in Songwat, in collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), invites you to explore the city’s most storied street through something more ephemeral – aroma. Under the theme ‘Scent’, this new walking tour through the Song Wat neighbourhood asks you to lead with your nose. Think spices drifting from old shophouses, tea leaves unfurling in hot water, incense curling in alleyway shrines. It’s a journey that lingers in the air long after you’ve moved on. But this is more than fragrance – it’s about slowing down, listening to stories, tasting what’s simmering, joining in workshops, and meeting the people who give the area its soul. Song Wat isn’t just seen – it’s sensed. August 9 and August 16. B1,500 via here. PLAY Art House, 2.30pm-5.30pm

Hypnotic vowels, whispered divine names, and six voices suspended in a spell – Stimmung is less a piece of music than an experience outside time. Composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen and inspired by the chanting of Buddhist monks, it’s a work that hovers between meditation and ritual, unfolding slowly over seventy minutes around a single shimmering chord. This August, the Calliope Chamber Choir, led by Somtow Sucharitkul, brings Stimmung to Thailand for the very first time. Presented at the Goethe-Institut, the performance offers a rare chance to encounter one of the 20th century’s most quietly radical works. As Anton Regenberg, former director of the Goethe-Institut, once said: it began with a chant, and became something altogether stranger. August 9. B500 via here. Goethe-Institut, 7.30pm onwards

Plug your iPods in baby – we’re going dancing like it’s 2006. Bangkok collides with Melbourne’s most unhinged export, Club Haus, for a night of sweat, syncopation and full-blown Myspace-era delusion. It’s low-rise jeans, glittery angst and a soundtrack that jumps from Southeast Asian bounce to Latin rhythms, stitched together with global sounds that won’t sit still. The theme? Think pixelated profile pics, bulletins at midnight, and top eight drama – all reimagined on the dance floor. Behind the decks: Haus of Ralph, Cristal No.5, Cocobutta2.0, Ada X, Digital Cherubs and Sriracha Czaddy. No irony, no algorithms – just chaos, camp and certified bangers. August 9. B400 via here and B500 at the door. Blaq Lyte Rover, 9pm onwards

Introducing Kade&Co. – not just a party, but a pulse. Founded by Kade of Lonely Girls Club, the new series spotlights women behind the decks across Asia and beyond. It’s a love letter to late nights and louder voices, where connection counts as much as the music.This is femme energy in motion – a space for anyone, DJ or not, to feel seen, inspired and just a little bit unruly. Think bold sounds, soft lights and a crowd that moves with intention. For the first edition, Malaysian trailblazer Aidaho steps in – founder of Cherry Bomb and master of high-octane blends, from afrobeats to runway-ready house. Joining her is Bangkok’s own SYADHA, spinning UKG, baile funk and whatever else sets the floor alight.  August 8. B300 via here and B500 at the door. Beam, 9pm onwards

A true selector’s selector, Chae touches down in Bangkok with a record bag that reads like a love letter to the dance floor – 90s deep cuts, future-facing grooves, and everything in between. A resident of Seoul’s Antidote crew, she’s built a reputation on sets that feel both intimate and expansive – full of warmth, rhythm and just the right amount of bite. Sharing the booth are two names shaping Bangkok’s underground in real time. Kunanon of High Wire Collective brings a razor-sharp mix of house, electro and minimal – no fuss, all finesse. Kornnlee dips into disco, indie dance and organic house with sets that sway between nostalgia and euphoria.  August 8. B200 via here and B400 at the door. Beamcube, 9pm onwards  

Organised by Thailand Post and the Philatelists Association of Thailand, this year’s theme, Letters of Friendship: From Bangkok to Beijing, reads like a promise whispered across borders. More than stamps – though there are 1,200 frames of them from 27 countries – the exhibition drifts into the unexpected. Royal-named plants, artworks penned by royal hands, face-changing opera and the haunting lilt of Mae Sri Nuan Lamtat blur the lines between performance and preservation. There’s food. There are workshops. There’s even a ‘Friendship Market’ – as though diplomacy might begin with dinner, or perhaps a miniature portrait of a forgotten king. August 8-12. Free. The General Post Office, 10am-8pm

Thailand’s biggest tea festival has landed – and it’s steeped in everything from tradition to experimentation. Central Ladprao becomes a teahouse of many moods, where matcha purists and Thai tea loyalists find common ground over fragrant brews and fusion blends. There’s ceremonial-grade matcha whispering umami in every direction, a mixologist flown in from Osaka turning leaves into liquid poetry, and shelves lined with teacups you didn’t know you needed – all at prices that encourage indulgence. Expect bakeries perfumed with houjicha, workshops that make brewing feel like alchemy, and enough loose-leaf to lose yourself in. Whether you’re sipping, shopping or just loitering with intent, it’s less a market, more a meditation – one cup at a time. August 8-13. Free. Central Ladprao, 10am-10pm

Billy Wilder never played it safe. His scripts snapped with cynicism, his characters lingered like smoke, and his films – equal parts bitter and brilliant – still leave their mark long after the credits roll. Sunset Boulevard gave us faded fame and fatal ambition. The Apartment turned loneliness into a punchline, then a quiet heartbreak. Somehow, they still feel unnervingly modern. Even now, Wilder’s fingerprints are everywhere – in the symmetrical worlds of Wes Anderson, the meta spirals of Christopher Nolan, the sharp sincerity of Greta Gerwig. He wrote people as they were, not as they wished to be. This August, House Samyan invites you back into Wilder’s world – flickering, flawed, impossible to forget. Sunset Boulevard screens from August 8 and The Apartment follows from August 22.  From August 8 and August 22 onwards. B160 via here. House Samyan.

There’s something quietly revealing about the spaces we keep – the way books are stacked, the way light falls across a half-made bed, the way a chair is never quite tucked in. This series sits somewhere between portraiture and confession, using interiors not just as backdrops but as emotional mirrors. It’s about the lives we lead behind closed doors, interpreted through texture, silhouette and shadow. Each image is a collaboration – not just between subject and camera, but between memory and mood, fashion and feeling. Clothes drape like second skins, rooms echo with the small details of daily life. A chipped mug says as much as a tailored coat. Identity, here, is not performed but lived – layered into curtains, folded into linens, hiding in plain sight. Until August 8. Free. Slowcombo, 10am-8pm

Once a month, The Meatchop plays host to something far messier than a tasting menu – a kind of culinary cage match, laced with blood, butter and storytelling. It’s where chefs gather not just to cook, but to spar, seduce and show off, one cut at a time. The evening is less about dinner, more about ritual – meat as medium, memory as garnish. This time, the spotlight swings to a Wagyu striploin so marbled it borders on abstract. MBS 9+ – the culinary equivalent of a designer label, if designer labels bled. There will be music, there will be smoke, there will be chefs hunched over flames telling stories about their mothers. It’s theatre, it’s chaos, it’s a communion of meat and myth, served rare. August 7. Starts at B3,500. Reserve via LINE: @meatchop or call 02-033-2709. The Meatchop, 6pm-10pm

In a world allergic to silence, there’s something faintly radical about sitting down with a book and doing... absolutely nothing else. The Reading Party offers a different kind of gathering – one where the connection is quiet, pages turn instead of conversations, and nobody minds if you don’t make eye contact for two hours. Here, solitude becomes its own kind of community. The event, hosted at The Commons Thonglor, unfolds every third Sunday with gentle regularity. People bring books, settle into pockets of sunlight or shade, and read side by side. You might not remember anyone’s name, but you’ll remember the hush, the quiet flick of someone’s page, the way time feels different when everyone’s facing inwards.   Photograph: The Commons Thonglor Photograph: The Commons Thonglor   Born from the idea of being ‘alone but not lonely’, the Reading Party answers a small ache in many people’s weeks: the desire for peace without isolation. Organised by BKK Lit Fest, Biblio, Roots and The Commons – and inspired by theWHOLESOME Book Club – the event is less about discussion and more about presence. There are no assigned titles, no icebreakers. Just you, your book, and the strange, affirming comfort of strangers doing the same thing. Here’s how it works: Book ahead or simply show up. On arrival, check in at the booth near the main entrance. Grab a discount card for a drink from Roots. Choose a spot – a cushion, a bench, a corner. Read for 90 uninterrupted minutes. Meet on the Top Yar

It would be easy to say Bangkok doesn’t breathe, but it does – in erratic, unpredictable patterns. In this city, the urban tree canopy covers just 8.6 percent of the city’s total area – a figure that feels less like a statistic and more like an apology. A puff of air between traffic jams. A whisper of breeze before a monsoon breaks. It’s a city whose rhythms are more clatter than cadence, whose idea of shade is often a seven-minute shelter beneath an overpass. And then, suddenly, along comes Cloud 11 Park. In southern Sukhumvit, the park sits, quite literally, above it all – part of a new vertical complex designed to house creators, thinkers and other types of digital dreamers. At its centre floats an elevated, open-air garden, the largest indoor sky park in the capital and possibly its most softly radical gesture in recent memory. Ten rai of something green. 17,000 square metres of something slow. The design is deliberate as it is placed at the heart of the complex, the park only sees direct sunlight briefly at noon. The buildings around it block the morning and afternoon glare, casting long shadows that keep the space cool. Air flows in through open channels, giving the impression of breeze rather than heat, calm rather than struggle. Photograph: Cloud 11 Bangkok Photograph: Cloud 11 Bangkok But it isn’t just one park. The main garden splinters into a network of pocket spaces, each with its own rhythm. There’s a park where dogs are free to forget they’re in a city. Spor

Creamfields is landing in Bangkok for the very first time – and it’s not just a rerun of that Pattaya gig from 2022. Nope, this is Creamfields Asia 2025, fresh-faced and rebooted, hitting Impact Exhibition Hall 5-10 on December 13-14. A proper debut, with new organisers ready to shake things up. If you didn’t know, Creamfields started out in the UK back in ’98 as a one-night club bash thrown by the legendary Cream promoter. Fast-forward, and it’s grown into the granddaddy of EDM festivals, taking over the late August Bank Holiday weekend with a monster line-up and branching out internationally – from Abu Dhabi’s desert to a Phu Quoc mega-complex. Now Thailand gets a slice of that glowstick magic. This time, the party’s indoors, spanning a whopping 33,000 square metres, co-hosted by Live Nation Tero, UTA Venture and Live Nation Electronic Asia – so it’s serious business. And to kick things off, they’ve landed Calvin Harris as the first headline act on December 14. Yes, that Calvin Harris – the festival veteran, billion-stream member and fresh dad whose beats have powered collabs with Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa and Sam Smith. The full roster is set to drop 50 artists across four stages, promising enough bass drops to make your phone vibrate through December. If you want in, early bird tickets – general and VIP – launch August 8 at 10am and run until August 10, 11.59pm on Thai Ticket Major’s site here. Tickets are all-standing, priced at B7,000, with VIP access available

There are few better places to dance than where nobody expects you to. This August, Bangkok’s century-old Hua Lamphong Railway Station will once again shed its bureaucratic quiet and become a makeshift ballroom, echoing not with train whistles or hurried footsteps, but with the bright, full sound of jazz. The Jelly Roll Jazz Club is back for one more year with Step into Swing Vol.2, and for one evening only, history will loosen its collar and tap its foot. It’s something messier – an experiment in joy, improvised between pillars and ticket booths, right where the city once departed. Built in 1916, Hua Lamphong is the place usually admired at a distance, spoken about in the past tense. But swing, with its unapologetic enthusiasm and refusal to stay still, invites you to inhabit the space fully – to twirl across polished tiles, to sweat a little under the stained-glass dome. The event is part of an ongoing push by the State Railway of Thailand to reimagine what Hua Lamphong could be, now that most long-haul services have moved elsewhere. It’s a cultural retrofit, powered not by planning committees but by dance shoes and brass instruments. This year’s gathering isn’t just for the fringe elite of swing dancers; anyone with a body and a vague sense of rhythm is welcome. A free workshop opens the event, designed for absolute beginners, or anyone feeling nostalgic for a version of themselves that used to take more risks.   Photograph: Jelly Roll Jazz Club Photograph: Jelly Roll J

Another announcement from Jackson Wang has landed, this time not as a surprise Instagram live at two in the morning, but with the deliberate flourish of a tour poster. Magicman 2 is happening and Bangkok is on the map. Two nights of it, in fact. October 3-4, a double bill that feels less like a concert and more like an endurance test for anyone who thought they’d moved on from the chaos of last time. Back then – last November, for those keeping count – his Bangkok show was less a performance than a fever dream. A packed crowd stood shoulder-to-sequined-shoulder,, many in work shirts they hadn’t bothered to change out of. He danced until his hair stuck to his forehead, he talked about home, he pulled fans on stage and told them to sing with him. By the time he finished there were people weeping in the car park like they’d been spat out of another dimension. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jackson Wang (@jacksonwang852g7) Now, with a handful of Asian cities joining the list, the second wave is looking just as exhausting, just as gleeful. There are no ticket prices yet, no venue, only a promise. The kind of announcement that is less a schedule and more an invitation to clear your October. Here are the cities and dates so far: Macao, October 11-12 Jakarta, October 18 Kuala Lumpur, October 25 Manila, October 2 Tokyo, November 6 Five stops in addition to Bangkok, each one guaranteed to be chaotic in its own particular way. Fans have already begun c

Lumphini Park is usually introduced as Bangkok’s green lung: a patch of grass and water lilies where joggers count laps and retirees move in slow synchronised waves to the sound of morning tai chi. But at its centre, slightly sun-faded and almost forgotten, stands a building with a name that seems to have slipped from the city’s collective memory: Lumphini Hall. Once upon a time it was impossible to ignore. The hall – born as a ballroom in the 1950s – held an improbable amount of glamour for a city that had not yet grown into its traffic. Under a flat roofline and a confident mid‑century modern facade, there was a stage that turned. Literally turned. A hydraulic circle that could bring on a new act without interrupting the flow of the music. People danced here in dresses stiff with tulle and shirts starched to a crisp. The Suntaraporn Band played waltzes, foxtrots, the occasional cha-cha, and more than a few dreams began in the spin of those evenings. This was where careers took off and, in 1956, where Benny Goodman, the clarinet-wielding American emissary of jazz, came to Bangkok. The State Department called it cultural diplomacy. Everyone else called it a very good party. For a time the hall was a landmark, its stage a rotating promise of cosmopolitan Bangkok. Then, as the city expanded around it and the decade of swing softened into something less formal, the music stopped. By 2024 the building had been deemed unsafe, the doors locked, the facade left to peel under the wei

Bangkok has never been an easy city to cross. Pavements narrow into nothing, motorbikes lurch out from nowhere and every small errand turns into an endurance test of exhaust fumes. For decades the default response has been the same: take a car, close the windows, hope for the best. And yet something quieter has been gathering at the edges – a fleet of small, pale blue electric buses that ask, very simply, what if we went about this differently? These buses are called the BMA Feeder and, unlike so many good ideas in this city, they are free. They run on batteries, their air-conditioning works and they seem entirely uninterested in honking. The stated ambition is lofty – tempt people away from private vehicles, slice a little off the city’s famously jammed roads and clean up the air in the process – but the experience is surprisingly gentle. Step inside one and Bangkok slows down for a moment. Photograph: BMA Feeder The first phase of the Feeder was tentative. Two routes became the proof of concept: Wat Puranawas – Opposite Phra Phuttha Yodfa Bridge (Memorial Bridge) (Daily, 6am-8pm) Thonburi Market – MRT Lak Song (Daily, 6am-8pm) Other early experiments disappeared quietly, which is how these things usually go. And then something unusual happened. It expanded. Now the city has added new lines that try to knit together the frayed edges of daily life: Din Daeng – BTS Sanam Pao (Daily, 6am-8pm) Samsen Road – Tang Hua Seng Department Store, Thonburi (Daily, 6am-8pm) Kheha Rom

If city life has taught us anything, it’s that stargazing is rarely a metropolitan pastime. Bangkok’s high-rises have a way of eating the horizon whole, yet for two evenings this year a small corner of the city will belong to the sky. The Bangkok Planetarium’s Star Party promises, for once, a night where the cosmos feels closer than the chaos of Ekkamai. Rather than guessing at which stubborn dot might be Mars, the Astronomical Society of Thailand will be there with telescopes, charts and the kind of calm precision that turns an indifferent blur into Saturn’s rings. It’s surprising how much of the universe survives the city’s glare, waiting for someone with a lens and a little patience to point it out. And it isn’t just about looking. The night comes with things to make, touch and pocket. Planets strung onto bracelets, the sort of slime that children can’t stop prodding, and a light art lab where lanterns glow like bottled constellations, bright rebellion against the noise outside. Photograph: Bangkok Planetarium The highlights Look through a real telescope with the Astronomical Society of ThailandForget the smartphone apps that label constellations for you. There is something infinitely better about peering through a full-sized telescope while someone who spends their life thinking about stars points out Saturn’s rings or the deep scatter of the Milky Way. Spend an evening inside science rather than just reading about itThere are activity corners where the serious busines

There’s a certain charm to a park that comes with its own resident dinosaurs. Or at least, that’s what they look like when you’re half-asleep and jogging past the lake at 7am. Lumphini Park, Bangkok’s first public park and an oddly thrilling microcosm of the city’s contradictions, has turned 100 this year. And frankly, it’s aged more gracefully than most of us. In 1925, King Rama VI generously gifted 360 rais of royal land to the public, marking a rare gesture of leisure-focused governance. However, it would take nearly two decades for the park to fully take shape and flourish into its final form.Completed in 1942 and now home to a monument of the King standing rather regally at the Rama IV entrance, Lumpini feels like it exists in a slightly alternate Bangkok. One where things move just a bit slower, the air is thick with birdsong not honking traffic, and the most pressing threat is a monitor lizard giving you side-eye. Let’s address the lizard in the room (everybody talks about them). The water monitors of Lumpini Park are not subtle. They’re massive, they roam freely, and yes, they look like they’ve been lifted straight from the Jurassic era. Tourists squeal, locals barely flinch. These semi-aquatic reptiles have become a kind of unofficial mascot – wholly unbothered by your presence. They sunbathe like retirees and occasionally startle a yoga class. It’s their park too, after all. Sprawling across central Bangkok, Lumphini is a rare thing: green space without pretence. No

There’s a moment – somewhere between the first awkward shuffle and the second-guessing of your limbs – when you realise dancing isn’t about being good. It’s about forgetting you were supposed to care in the first place. Dance in a Day is a roving workshop with a mission less about mastery and more about movement. From July 23-August 3, seven studios across Bangkok are throwing open their doors to anyone who’s ever tapped a foot under the table or secretly choreographed their reflection in the kitchen window. Just two hours, and perhaps a willingness to feel foolish in the best possible way. The format is simple. You arrive, unsure. You stretch, laugh, swing a little. Then suddenly, you’re moving – really moving – with strangers who feel increasingly less like strangers. There’s no pressure to perform, no final exam. Just an invitation to try. To flail if you must, but to flail wholeheartedly. The classes aren’t confined to one corner of the city. Whether you find yourself at Character EmQuartier, Moda Dance Studio, Rumpuree near Samyan, or tucked inside Inner Studio at ICS, each location promises the same: a judgement-free zone where experience is irrelevant and enthusiasm is currency. Other participating spaces include Hemingway, Character Bang Na and Saute Dance Studio – names you may or may not have heard, but ones that will, for a few days, double as sanctuaries for hesitant first steps and accidental twirls. It’s not about becoming a professional or posting the final res

It’s not quite the end of summer, but the heat has slackened just enough to entertain the idea of sitting outside – not to sweat, but to settle in. On August 1-3, SAMA Garden offers a three-night escape from the indoors, swapping streaming queues for open-air screens beneath a gently lit dome and a canopy of leaves.  What’s on offer is less about spectacle and more about atmosphere. A garden cinema, framed by soft lights and easy company, where you’re welcome to bring a date, a friend or even your dog (they’ve thought of everything – there’s a pet-friendly zone with ample space for snoots and tails). Each ticket, priced at B550, includes a film, a snack-and-drink bundle and access to what may be the most indulgent detail of the evening – a complimentary 15-minute massage, courtesy of Divana, available only for those who register via Line@SAMA Garden at least a day before. The screening schedule leans into comfort. No high-stakes thrillers, no sudden death. Just gently plotted narratives, a bit of romance, a touch of nostalgia and the occasional tear. Film schedule Photograph: The Intern Friday August 1, 6:30pm - The Intern Ben, a retired widower full of life, signs up as a senior intern at a booming fashion startup founded by the ambitious Jules. He’s not just there to learn the ropes, but soon becomes a quiet force of wisdom and warmth for everyone around him.   Photograph: 10 Things I Hate About You   Saturday August 2, 5:30pm - 10 Things I Hate About You Kat is a

There’s a moment – between tantrum and nap, mess and miracle – when a child sees something they don’t have words for yet. A tree that talks without speaking. A kite that mourns a landfill. A song that sounds like it’s been played since before they were born.  While most children's entertainment promises noise, sugar and barely disguised marketing, BICT on the Move arrives this August with something far stranger: sincerity. A mini wandering theatre festival that meanders through Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ang Thong and Loei, it does so without fanfare – only the quiet belief that children are more thoughtful than they’re often given credit for. With performances from France, Japan and Thailand, the festival doesn’t shout or simplify. It leans into ambiguity, lets silence hang, trusts young minds to draw their own conclusions. And – crucially – it’s all free. What’s on Pour Hêtre (To (Be)ech) - FranceA wordless performance by French duo Compagnie Iéto, who use acrobatics and raw movement to explore the fragile balance between humans and the natural world. Centred around a single beech tree, the piece unfolds without dialogue – yet says everything. The tree, carved and climbed upon, becomes a stand-in for memory, growth and the weight of being seen. Tonbi (Black Kite) - JapanCreated by artist-family Usaginingen and their eight-year-old daughter, this multimedia work combines animation, shadow puppetry and live music. Set on Teshima Island, once a landfill site, the story is told thro