Kaweewat Siwanartwong

Here we are, at the tail end of August, a month that seems to have slipped past in a blur of heat, rhythm and neon light. Before September arrives, it feels worth pausing to see what the city has offered this last weekend. For those drawn to secondhand treasures, Chang Chui Flea Market remains a small universe of possibility. Stalls brim with vintage fashion, handmade curios and objects that carry stories, while street food smells coil through the air and music threads through conversations. It is a place where trading becomes theatre, and every purchase feels like a tiny triumph. Meanwhile, Nippon Haku Bangkok turns a central hall into a bridge to Japan, with films, talks and screenings that recall the flickering glow of old cinemas. Tsui Hark, Philip Yung and Anthony Pun share space with tender, unsparing stories of modern life, leaving viewers oscillating between nostalgia and revelation. For sound seekers, the city hides secret gatherings like the Transport party. DJs bend house, techno and left-field grooves into a labyrinth of rhythm, where the day folds into night and the unexpected becomes inevitable. And then there is the softer, soulful Sunday at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. Jazzy Brunch transforms Rossini’s and The Living Room into a stage for Chef Stefano Merlo’s nostalgic Italian creations, paired with live jazz that bends the light across the room. Lobster linguine, burrata bruschetta and lasagna resonate like notes in a long, lingering melody – an edible echo of

Just recently, we found ourselves sitting at the chef’s counter of a restaurant tucked down a side street near Chinatown – the kind you could almost miss. Peek inside and you might catch the soft glow of a charcoal grill, the blur of a hand turning something over the flames. Inside, the light is warm and low, pooling over idiosyncratic paintings and a quiet army of cat figurines. This is Nothing Sacred, the ten-seat chef’s table from Grammy Award-winning producer-turned-chef Alex Jarvis and his partner, singer, songwriter and restaurateur Nicole Scott. Here, dinner is never just dinner: each course arrives with its own music, composed by Alex to match the rhythm of the plate. The effect is intimate without being precious – a room designed to feel like home, but one where the home-cooked meal has been replaced by something far stranger and more deliberate.   Photograph: nothingsacredbkk   Photograph: nothingsacredbkk     What sets the experience apart is the music, curated and composed by Jarvis, a two-time Grammy-winning producer, to accompany each dish – a soundtrack for the palate, unfolding in harmony with the flavours on the plate. Conceived together, Jarvis and Scott, an artist and restaurateur, have crafted a space where food, music, and art collide, redefining what an intimate dining experience can be. We were curious – how do two creatives so rooted in the music world pivot to a restaurant venture, and what does it take to translate their artistry from stage and s

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

Time Out asked me to write a list of my favourite new cafes, and as I started to put it together, I found myself thinking back on how this all began. For the past eight years, my passion has been exploring Bangkok’s coffee scene. It started simply because I’ve always loved coffee. When I had a full-time job, I'd spend my weekends searching for interesting new cafes. Every time I discovered a place with delicious coffee or beautiful decor, I felt a spark of inspiration and didn't want to keep it to myself. Sharing those moments on Instagram became my way of documenting these small, joyful discoveries. It’s been my personal gallery, and I'm still amazed that so many people have followed along on this journey with me. Over the years, people have always asked me, ‘How do you find all these new cafes?’ There's no one answer. Back in the day, I was part of a group of ‘cafe hoppers,’ and we’d share new spots with each other. I'm also lucky to have friends in the design world who sometimes give me a heads-up about a new project they're working on. For everything else, it’s a mix of my own methods: scouring hashtags, checking my social media feeds, and sometimes, I just stumble upon a new place while I’m out exploring. Visiting so many places has taught me a lot. The most important lesson is that passion is an incredible source of energy. I love talking to baristas and owners, and in those conversations, I always see the dedication that drives them. Whether it’s their love for coffee,

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.

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-

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

Sundays at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit take on a new rhythm, as the hotel invites those who move between appetite and curiosity to a series of jazzy feasts. Themed Sunday Jazzy Brunch unfolds across Rossini’s and The Living Room, where regional and international flavours are stitched together with live jazz that lingers like a memory. This edition marks Eating Out Day with a homecoming to Italy: Chef Stefano Merlo, former Rossini’s maestro and Iron Chef Thailand winner, revisits nostalgia through food. Lobster linguine, lasagna bolognese, prosciutto-topped pizzas and a lavish burrata bruschetta bar turn the act of dining into a performance, where every bite resonates and every note from the jazz trio bends the light across the room in gentle, unexpected ways. August 31. Starts at B2,690. Reserve via  02-649-8888, BKKLC-Dining@marriott.com or visit www.sheratongrandesukhumvit.com. Rossini’s and The Living Room, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, midday-3pm

The vividly instinctual universe of Phannapast Taychamaythakool, where paintings, prints and mixed media become conduits for love, fear and imagination. Known to many as a contemporary Thai artist and designer who has collaborated with Gucci, Sulwhasoo, Anthropologie, Jim Thompson, Lucaris, Balvenie and Swatch, her work here reveals a quieter, more intimate language. Each piece maps an emotional journey – tracing where feelings linger, how they shift and the ways they signal themselves. Her imagination acts as both compass and release, transforming private reveries into forms that pulse with life and sincerity. In this exhibition, instincts are not just expressed but embraced, leaving the viewer with a body of work that feels tender, unguarded and profoundly human. Until September 15. Free. Rivercity Bangkok, 10am-7pm

There are gatherings, and then there are evenings that feel like a small, vibrating universe of sound and flavour. Beer flows, plates clatter, and somewhere between the banjo rolls, fiddle reels, mandolin chops and upright bass thumps, conversation becomes music in its own right. This edition carries an added poignancy: a farewell jam for Chaya, the singer whose voice has threaded through countless nights. Friends and strangers are invited to pick, strum and sing alongside her, to linger over shared dishes and cold drinks and to mark the passing of a chapter with laughter and improvisation. The air is thick with nostalgia and joy, and by the time the final note fades, the memory of this particular evening lingers like the tail of a song you can’t quite stop singing. August 30. Free. Radicle Beer Co, 8pm-10pm

Melbourne’s underground has its own heartbeat, and Sleep D carries it across house, techno, ambient and experimental electronic with authority. Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos conjure raw, analogue-heavy sets that feel tactile, as if each knob twist and fader slide leaves an imprint on the room. DZ Gas blurs boundaries further, fusing dub, disco, left-field rhythms and electronic grooves into something slippery and unpredictable. And then there is Elila B, moving through house, techno, trance, electro, breaks and Brazilian funk with an ease that is at once dark, groovy and deliriously fun.  August 30. B300 via here and B500 at the door. Siwilai Radical Club, 9pm onwards

Thanatcha Chairin’s solo exhibition feels like stepping into a space where the past and present negotiate quietly on the gallery walls. Her new sculptural works continue an investigation into how cultural objects evolve, reframing everyday forms to reveal their hidden lives. Wood carving and gold leafing, techniques steeped in tradition, coexist with humble, vernacular materials – from chopsticks to shipping envelopes – each piece charged with renewed significance. Familiar shapes are subtly distorted, reconstructed, or adorned, prompting reflection on the shifting meanings of ritual, value and memory in a world racing toward modernity. The result is a dialogue between reverence and reinvention, a gallery where history is never static but alive, pliable and strangely intimate, asking viewers to reconsider what tradition might mean today. August 30-September 20. Free. Richard Koh Fine Art Bangkok, 11am-7pm  

This Saturday, a secret location in central Bangkok will become true, a hideout whispered about until the night before. The day stretches from midday until 10pm, a carefully plotted journey through eclectic and exotic grooves as Adam Purnell, Kimoji and Transport trade tracks like mischievous secrets. Each set folds into the next, a narrative of rhythm and unpredictability, coaxing the crowd from idle curiosity into a kinetic pulse. And when night falls, the story continues at Clutch Bar, secured and intimate, where music pushes past exhaustion and the city goes along. Hours blur, and by three in the morning it is impossible to tell whether you have danced through time or simply through the streets. August 30. Tickets are sold out but you can get the after party tickets for B500 via here, midday-3am

From the southern tip of Aotearoa to booths scattered across the world, Eden Burns carries with him a sound both mischievous and precise, a rhythm that sidesteps predictability. His catalogue spans Optimo Music, Public Possession and Beats In Space, proof of a restless producer unwilling to stay in one corner for long. Live, the effect is electric. His sets unfurl like a narrative, equal parts devotion and mischief, veering into curveballs that land not as tricks but revelations. One moment feels like stumbling onto a hidden beach, the next like dancing in a storm. Joining him are Ayahtareek of Kleaning Service collective, layering house and disco with a grounded pulse, and Bangkok’s own DOTT, celebrated for grooves that shift shape without losing focus. August 29. B300 via here and B500 at the door. Beamcube, 9pm onwards

The end of the month usually brings the quiet dread of bills and restraint. But at Chang Chui, the ordinary act of buying and selling is recast as theatre. Stalls brim with secondhand fashion that still carries the scent of old nights out, handmade trinkets that insist on being touched and oddities that defy explanation yet demand ownership. You can part ways with a jacket you once loved and watch it slip into another life, or stumble upon a record you never knew you needed. Between the browsing there are drinks to sip, music spilling into the air, strangers who may not stay strangers for long. It is commerce reframed as a kind of collective play. August 29. Free. Chang Chui, 5pm-midnight

There are parties, and then there are nights that feel like time travel with a bassline. Chapter 10 of Disco Diaries leans firmly into the latter. It is less about nostalgia than about the chaos of sequins, the reckless urge to move and the sheer stamina of a crowd determined not to sit still. Two DJs steer the evening with a kind of sly authority, trading tracks like secrets, folding technical precision into a sound that feels both unruly and exacting. The floor becomes a collective confession booth, where everybody is compelled to speak in rhythm. By the time the night dissolves into sweat and laughter, it is difficult to tell whether you were dancing with strangers or with yourself. August 29. B500-600 at the door. APT 101, 9pm onwards

Good Finds Friday arrives as a curated vintage fair, transforms shopping into something closer to a pilgrimage. The stalls brim with nostalgia: mid-century modern chairs polished to a quiet glow at Sunny Delight, racks of handpicked pieces at Club Lowstock, tailored menswear at Ginn’s Daddy and eccentric treasures courtesy of Captain Thanadet. Food vendors circle the edges, ensuring the pursuit of the perfect lamp or jacket comes with the scent of street noodles in the air. The philosophy here is fewer better things, a call to buy less but cherish more, where every object carries its own story. Each seller keeps their earnings in full, a small act of rebellion that feels unusually generous in a city obsessed with transactions. August 29. Free. Fewer Better Things, 7pm-10pm

Bangkok has never lacked for spectacle, but a gathering of more than 60 Thai craft and designer brands at Terminal 21 feels like something else entirely. Across three floors, the offerings spill out in their own rhythms: hand-stitched dresses and soft knits on M, delicate jewellery and leather pieces on G, and, on LG: the irrepressible lure of dried fruit and street food sitting alongside souvenirs meant to travel further than their makers ever could. The promise of a complimentary workshop for anyone spending B1,200 adds another layer of intimacy. Until September 8. Free. Terminal 21, 10am-10pm

Already one of her generation’s most distinguished voices, Violette Wautier first caught the public gaze as a contestant on The Voice Thailand and swiftly forged her path as a chart-topping musician and prize-winning performer. She has since soared to international fame, recognised as Thailand’s most-streamed English-language artist, thanks to evocative tracks such as Smoke and her debut album Glitter and Smoke, which echoed across Southeast Asia with remarkable resonance. Her artistic vision fuses elements of Thai sensibility with global soundscapes, weaving a beguiling tapestry that speaks authentically to diverse audiences.  August 28. B600 at the door. Beer Belly, 11pm-midnight

Do you ever find yourself addicted to the chaos of music festivals? When the season hits its stride and weekends blur into lineups, I’m darting between stages with the stamina of someone on tour, convinced that missing even a single chorus would be a betrayal of the pilgrimage. In Thailand, the scale has only expanded. The city courts the global heavyweights. Yet, away from Bangkok’s neon skyline, there is a festival that is distinctly Thai in temperament, the sort that trades skyscrapers for mountains and imports for morlam. The Big Mountain Music Festival in Khao Yai is a festival where Thai genres share space with pop imports, and where the mountains loom as much a headliner as any artist on the bill. Heading there this year? Here’s everything you need to know about the fest, from tickets, lineup and weather forecast to the stage names. When is the Big Mountain Music Festival 2025 in Khao Yai? This year's festival is scheduled to take place on December 6-7. Where is the Big Mountain Music Festival 2025 in Khao Yai? The festival for this year is set to take place at the scenic venue of The Ocean Khao Yai, Nakhon Ratchasima. When are the tickets on sale? Early cow tickets will go on sale starting September 5 at 8am and will be available until 11.59pm on September 7 at a special price of B2,000 (regularly B2,500).  VIP Early Cow tickets will also be available from September 5 at 8am onwards, priced at B4,000 (down from the regular price of B5,000). How to get tickets Tickets

You may have grown up dancing to the school-disco thud of ‘Get Busy’, the sticky summer of ‘Temperature’, the blunt demand of ‘Gimme The Light’ – they belong to the collective muscle memory of anyone who lived through the early 2000s. Sean Paul was not background noise; he was the atmosphere itself. Sean Paul Henriques, born in Kingston in 1973, came of age in a country where riddim is religion. By the late ‘90s, his voice was already cutting through crowded airwaves, and by the turn of the millennium, he had become one of Jamaica’s most successful cultural exports. He is a Grammy winner, a chart regular and a man who has toured more than 120 countries without losing his accent or his conviction that dancehall deserves the world’s stage. Now, more than two decades on, he is finally stepping into Bangkok for the first time. A one-night performance in October will mark his Thai debut, though in truth, the city has been dancing with him for years. The playlists, the club remixes, the nostalgia-fuelled karaoke nights – they’ve all been rehearsals for the real thing. So if October is already circled in your calendar, take note – this won’t be a night that slips quietly by. For those intent on being there when Sean Paul finally brings Kingston heat to Bangkok, the real question is how quickly you can secure a ticket. Here’s what you need to know. When is Sean Paul performing in Bangkok? Sean Paul makes his debut in Bangkok with a one-night-only show on Tuesday October 14. Where is

In the shadowed folds of Bangkok’s Rama 3, just behind the neat lines of KingSquare Community, there’s TEA Art Hub, a warehouse that becomes something else. TEA Art Weekend arrives without fanfare, unfolding across two afternoons on August 23-24. It is free, yes, but more importantly, it is magnetic in the way good art exhibitions often are. This event was featured on our ‘things to do’ list last week, and what sets TEA Art Weekend apart is its devotion to East Asian art. It’s not simply a collection; it’s an invitation to listen – to see how culture travels through brushstrokes, clay, fabric and film, and how these expressions ripple quietly beyond borders. Photograph: TEA Art Hub Half the warehouse is given over to a hybrid cinema-performance space. Open-air-style screenings, live shows and music, with food and drinks scattered around, encourage slow engagement rather than rush. Films can end, songs can start and you can drift through both without feeling you have to choose. Photograph: TEA Art Hub Photograph: TEA Art Hub Photograph: TEA Art Hub Featured artists include Ken Yutdanai, Hup.Ceramic, Studio Garage and Sauce Harrison, while ic.lab.bangkok transforms old clothing into imaginative fashion objects – shirts become tote bags, each stitch a gentle reminder of reinvention. Film highlights are just as considered. Saturday presents four short animated pieces before the Oscar-winning Drive My Car. Sunday screens Mori, The Artist’s Habitat, a biopic of Japanese pai

Bangkok rarely asks us to pause. The city moves in a blur of exhaust fumes, neon lights and relentless schedules. But from August 21-September 20, a 43-metre stretch of MRT passage at Samyan Mitrtown is doing just that – inviting us to slow down and look around. The tunnel isn’t just a corridor anymore; it’s a destination, a canvas where the city’s landmarks meet hidden fantasies, waiting for anyone willing to leave their mark. This is MasterPeace Pain-ting, a collaboration with Frasers Property Thailand, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority and Samyan Mitrtown. It’s not about showing off talent; it’s about making something together. Colouring here is a pause from the city’s constant, a tiny rebellion against routine where every brushstroke matters. Each hue adds a beat to the mural, every doodle sparks joy. Photograph: Samyan Mitrtown Photograph: Samyan Mitrtown With a brush in hand and a canvas brought to life by Tent Katchakul, the ordinary suddenly becomes a story we all share. Tent, the Bangkok artist who somehow captures the chaos and charm of city life in delicate, looping lines, has transformed the tunnel wall into a sprawling Doodle Art mural. The Grand Palace glimmers next to the Giant Swing, leafy Chatuchak Park folds into Hua Lamphong Station and familiar streets ripple into imagined ones – including Samyan Mitrtown, FYI Center and KLOS Ratchada. Tiny surprises peek out from every corner – mini cityscapes that wait to be di

‘Bitch, I said what I said / I’d rather be famous instead.’ It feels fitting that Doja Cat, the reigning queen of internet-born chaos turned stadium-scale superstardom, is bringing her world tour to Bangkok this December. On December 18, IMPACT Exhibition Hall 5-6 will turn into a neon-tinted playground as she lands with the ‘Ma Vie World Tour’. Doja Cat has always been something of a shapeshifter. She started uploading tracks to Soundcloud at 16, teaching herself to bend piano chords into slick beats and twisting childhood dance lessons into a stage presence that looks half pop deity, half cartoon villain. Growing up in Los Angeles, her sonic DNA absorbed Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, Nicki Minaj and Drake, but it was her 2018 upload ‘MOOO!’ – that broke the internet and catapulted her far beyond cult status. Since then, she has refused to slow down. The Grammy winner has headlined Outside Lands, dropped the deluxe Scarlet 2 CLAUDE, and sent singles into stratospheric Billboard territory. ‘Paint The Town Red’ topped the Hot 100 for three weeks and ruled the Global 200 for four. ‘Agora Hills’ hit number-one on Top 40 Radio earlier this year, her eighth time conquering the format. At this point, she’s less chart-topper than cultural shorthand. Her live shows are another beast entirely. At Outside Lands this summer, she unveiled ‘Jealous Type’ mid-set, then casually hosted a secret after-party at San Francisco’s iconic drag venue Oasis, spinning her unreleased album Vie to a room

The cinema is always at its most seductive when it arrives as an event. Hong Kong films, with their mix of grit, glamour and a peculiar tenderness, have long travelled further than the harbour they were born in. They’ve defined genres, exported icons and, every so often, reminded us that a story can feel both foreign and eerily familiar. This August, Bangkok becomes the latest host for that electricity with the Hong Kong Film Gala Presentation, a six-day plunge into the city’s cinematic bloodstream. Running from August 29-September 3 at House Samyan, the festival brings together eight films that span crime, catastrophe, romance, animation and documentary. It isn’t just a slate of screenings, but a gathering – of directors, actors and audiences who still believe in the charged space between projector and screen.   Photograph: Papa     Among the line-up is Papa, Philip Yung’s stark retelling of a 2010 case that shook Hong Kong. Anchored by Dylan So’s performance and followed by a conversation with producer Amy Chin. Sharing the programme is Cesium Fallout, Anthony Pun’s high-stakes thriller about a radioactive leak, its tension magnified by the presence of Andy Lau, Bai Yu and Karen Mok.   Photograph: Cesium Fallou   Photograph: Montages of a Modern Motherhood     Photograph: Last Song For You     If melodrama has always been Hong Kong cinema’s secret weapon, this year it arrives with force. Montages of a Modern Motherhood reframes domestic sacrifice through an unsentim

In 2009, the lights went down and the Bangkok International Film Festival never came back up. What had once been a bold attempt to place Thailand on the global cinematic map slipped quietly into memory, leaving behind faint echoes of red carpets and hurried subtitles. For nearly two decades, the festival lived more as myth than memory – mentioned occasionally in conversations about what Bangkok could have been, rather than what it was. Now, the Bangkok International Film Festival is back from the pause – or at least from the cultural coma it’s been in since 2009. After a 17-year absence, the festival, once a glittering attempt to place Thailand alongside the Busans and Osakas of the world, is being revived with ambitions as grand as its name. This time, the organisers seem determined not merely to host another red carpet showcase but to reclaim Bangkok’s position as a cinematic capital in Southeast Asia. For those who grew up after its disappearance, BKKIFF might land more like a typo than the title of a once-prominent event. For those who remember the early 2000s, the festival was briefly a symbol of possibility: an era when Bangkok’s malls became makeshift arthouses and Thailand dared to see itself as a stage for world cinema. Then it disappeared. Politics, money, the usual culprits – soon the event faded into cultural trivia, half-remembered in footnotes and old photographs. Now, from September 27 to October 15, the festival returns, armed with 19 days of screenings, cerem

Before stepping onto a stage, Lisa – Thailand’s most celebrated export and the weapon in BLACKPINK’s arsenal – paused for a brief exchange with Louk Golf, the English tutor turned pop-culture fixture. He handed her a simple gift: a hand-woven bamboo fan, the words ‘ruay nat’ woven boldly across its surface. In the southern dialect, the phrase translates to ‘super rich’, a tongue-in-cheek blessing that doubles as a knowing wink to her global success. He added a message at once earnest and self-aware: ‘I will always be one of your biggest fans.’ It sounds almost too neat – the world’s most bankable pop star holding up a provincial handicraft – but Lisa’s career has been built on making such coincidences feel inevitable. She only has to pose with a toy or glance at a snack for it to become a trend. The Labubu doll, once a niche collector’s item, became an international obsession after she was seen cradling one. In the strange economy of fandom, her choices can swell into global movements. A woven fan from southern Thailand may be next.   Photograph: Dasdnn     The object itself is hardly glamorous. For generations, Thais used fans like these to stir flames in village kitchens or to fight the heavy heat of April afternoons. They were practical, cheap, unfussy. Bamboo, abundant and forgiving, was split into strips and threaded into shape. Patterns grew more elaborate over time but the purpose remained humble: something to keep the air moving. Now, by sheer accident of celebrity

It’s strange to think of November in Bangkok without Maho Rasop. The annual gathering – once a shorthand for discovering music you didn’t yet know you loved – has been a fixture in the city’s cultural calendar, a rare blend of precision and chaos, polish and grit. Last year, it was Air who drifted into the skyline, their set suspended somewhere between nostalgia and dream. I remember it not just as a performance, but as a collective hallucination; a crowd swaying in a rare moment of perfect weather.   Photograph: Maho Rasop     This year, though, the festival is on pause. In its place comes something that feels at once smaller and more deliberate: Maho Rasop Series, a chain of standalone concerts unfolding across November and December 2025. Less sprawling field, more curated rooms. The same people – HAVE YOU HEARD?, Seen Scene Space, Fungjai – but now playing with intimacy as their headline act. The absence of the festival was not a creative decision alone. The press release didn’t dress it up. The global economy is fragile. Artist fees keep climbing. Audiences are cautious with their spending. The regional circuit has grown more crowded, each city trying to host its own miniature Glastonbury. And so, Maho Rasop – usually a sprawling, weekend-long escape – is sitting this one out.   Photograph: Maho Rasop     It’s a sobering reminder that ‘support your local scene and festival’ isn’t just a nice slogan to print on a tote. Without audiences, without sponsors who understand

It’s hardly breaking news, yet it slips under the radar for so many travellers. A quiet little perk that’s been here all along. There is, in fact, a free Airport Shuttle Bus between Don Mueang (DMK) and Suvarnabhumi (BKK) – the catch, if you can even call it that, is you must have a flight ticket for that day. The journey takes somewhere between one and two hours, the precise figure dictated by Bangkok’s ever-theatrical traffic. You’re spared the roadside taxi hunt, the bargaining, the navigation of car park staircases with luggage in tow. Instead, you’re herded into an air-conditioned bus that leaves with the frequency of a metronome and waits just long enough for the stragglers. How I’ve lived here this long without knowing is frankly embarrassing. It’s worth noting: buses depart every 30 minutes and will linger for 15 minutes at the pick-up, in case you’re running from one gate to another like a late-stage romcom protagonist. Here’s what the route actually looks like: Don Mueang Airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport Pick-up location: International Terminal, Terminal 1, 1/F, Gate 6, Don Mueang Airport Drop-off location: Passenger Terminal, 4/F, Gate 5, Suvarnabhumi Airport Operating hours: : 5am-midnight Suvarnabhumi Airport to Don Mueang Airport Pick-up location: Passenger Terminal, 2/F, Gate 3, Suvarnabhumi Airport Drop-off location: International Terminal, Terminal 1, 3/F, Gates 7-8, Don Mueang Airport Operating hours: 5am-midnight You’ll need to flash either your ticket o

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 – perched directly on Sukhumvit Road between the Punnawithi and Udom Suk BTS stations. It’s 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

If Bangkok in August is a film, for now, it’s not the breezy rom-com of your dreams – it’s a sweaty, water-logged drama, heavy on atmosphere and low on personal space. The rain doesn’t so much fall as loom (but it will, heavy), ready to arrive when you’ve just dried your shoes. Heat clings like a subplot that refuses to resolve. In such a climate, air-conditioning isn’t a luxury – it’s a plot device. Which is perhaps why Skyline Film Bangkok has decided to stage the cinematic escapism of watching films on an actual ice rink. Not just cold air, but frozen water beneath your feet. This isn’t your usual ‘movies under the stars’ scenario – it’s movies under the rink lights, surrounded by frost and the faint scrape of skates. You get the sort of chill that even a theatre’s air-con can’t match, plus the unexpected pleasure of pairing popcorn with the faint scent of Zamboni polish. Sub-Zero Ice Skate Club x Skyline Film, a two-day event presents six films for all temperaments – from existential daydreamers to pink-plastic idealists – served with complimentary drinks and the option to glide, twirl or cling nervously to the barrier during free skating sessions. Because if you’ve come all the way to an ice rink to sit still, you may as well earn it.   Photograph : Skyline Film Bangkok The setting is Sub-Zero Ice Skate Club Sukhumvit, where August 23-24 will see a parade of genres unfold against a backdrop of cold mist and rinkside chatter. Tickets are B550 – a sum that buys not just