Philipp Meier

Clubbing is always on Phuket’s itinerary, but this weekend leaves room for pasta evenings and rooftop films, too. Malta’s Carl Bee brings house and techno to Armania Phuket in Patong, while Wildealer takes his Thai-rooted club sound to Illuzion. In Bang Tao, Infuse Restaurant & Bar’s Pasta-licious Night lines up Italian comfort food, including oven-baked lasagne and a live pasta station. Skyline Film turns Central Phuket Floresta’s rooftop into an outdoor cinema, with a programme stretching from Before Sunset to Ratatouille. A rooftop pool party is also advertised at Radisson RED Phuket Patong Beach, though the venue’s status needs checking before you book.

Wildealer began in 2015 as a Chonburi duo, bringing together a photographer turned DJ and a professional club DJ. That appetite for dance music from different cultures still runs through the project’s deep house, tech-house and techno, with Thai roots informing a sound that has travelled to DC10 Ibiza, Albania’s UNUM Festival and Circoloco. The Illuzion billing also cites appearances alongside Seth Troxler. Expect rolling basslines and club grooves with room for a few less predictable turns. Oct 24. B500. Wildealer at Illuzion Phuket, 31 Bangla Road, Patong. 9pm-4am. Information and VIP bookings: 064 454 4985

Romance, laughter and popcorn take over the rooftop at Central Phuket Floresta, where Skyline Film pairs outdoor screenings with wireless headphones. Friday opens with Before Sunset, following Jesse and Céline’s Paris reunion, before About Time adds time travel to the romantic complications. Saturday brings 500 Days of Summer and the Bangkok chaos of The Hangover Part II – ideally not to be replicated afterwards. Sunday’s Ratatouille sends a rat into a Paris kitchen before The Devil Wears Prada swaps chef’s whites for fashion-world power dressing. Take your pick and bring someone who can sit still.  Oct 23-25. B350 per film. Skyline Film Phuket, Rooftop parking, 3rd floor rooftop parking area, Floresta wing, Central Phuket. Friday screenings at 6.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturday’s first screening at 6.15pm, followed by the second film at 8.30pm. Sunday screenings at 6.20pm and 8.40pm. Doors open at 5.30pm each day; seating is first come, first served

Artisan pop-ups and a Polaroid photo booth give this advertised rooftop pool party a few diversions between dips. The music spans hip-hop, reggae, R&B and Afrobeats, with local and international bites, cocktails, spirits and coolers on offer. The ticket page also advertises a separately priced hookah lounge package. Before making plans, check directly with the hotel: Radisson’s website currently says its rooftop lounge is closed until further notice, despite the event remaining listed on Megatix.  Oct 24. Early bird B750 plus fees; regular admission B1,000 plus fees. Pool Party at The RED on Patong Beach, 48 Ruam Jai Road, Patong. Ages 21+

Heads up, pasta heads. Infuse Restaurant & Bar at Diamond Resort Phuket brings back Pasta-licious Night, whose ‘pasta, pasta and more pasta’ motto leaves little room for misunderstanding. The advertised selection runs from golden, oven-baked lasagne and creamy carbonara to fresh pesto and rich truffle mushroom pasta, with chefs preparing pasta alle vongole at a live station. For a little heat, try the penne all’arrabbiata. Save room for the signature tiramisu verrine, served in a glass.  Oct 24. B599. Pasta-licious Night at Infuse Restaurant & Bar, Diamond Resort Phuket, Soi Cherngtalay 14, Bang Tao. 6pm-9pm. Reservations: 062 245 5704

Heads up, pasta heads. Infuse Restaurant & Bar at Diamond Resort Phuket brings back Pasta-licious Night, whose ‘pasta, pasta and more pasta’ motto leaves little room for misunderstanding. The advertised selection runs from golden, oven-baked lasagne and creamy carbonara to fresh pesto and rich truffle mushroom pasta, with chefs preparing pasta alle vongole at a live station. For a little heat, try the penne all’arrabbiata. Save room for the signature tiramisu verrine, served in a glass.  Oct 24. B599. Pasta-licious Night at Infuse Restaurant & Bar, Diamond Resort Phuket, Soi Cherngtalay 14, Bang Tao. 6pm-9pm. Reservations: 062 245 5704

Malta’s Carl Bee returns to Armania Phuket with a sound that moves through deep house, minimal, tech-house and techno. His CV includes Hï Ibiza and Amnesia, releases on Intec and Break New Soil and support from Carl Cox. He has a knack for digging out lesser-known tracks and making them work on a dance floor, so rally your mates for a late-night session of house grooves and melodic bangers. October 23. Listed from B3,000; confirm whether this covers admission or a table booking and what’s included. Carl Bee at Armania Phuket, Patong. Listed hours 10pm-4am. Ages 21+; bring ID Oct 23. From B3,000. Carl Bee at Armania Phuket, Patong. 10pm-4am. Ages 21+; bring ID

European cooking meets Thai produce when Chef Hamish from Michelin-starred Aulis Phuket takes over Mrs B Bar & Table for one night. Having grown up in England and trained at Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume, he now draws on local ingredients for dishes that put his European grounding to work. The five-course menu includes mackerel tartare, mushroom-stuffed chicken and charred king oyster mushrooms, finishing with Phang Nga jasmine rice pudding and local farm mulberries. Full Moon Dark Ale, a dark craft beer, is the suggested accompaniment. Book ahead for the Saturday dinner. Oct 17. B2,850++ per person. Chef Hamish kitchen takeover, Mrs B Bar & Table, 19/1 Lagoon Road, Boat Avenue, Cherngtalay. From 7pm. Reservations: 093 586 98 28

Zimbabwean DJ-producer Nitefreak has been shaping his sound since 2009, bringing a melodic, percussive and emotionally charged approach to afro-house with a progressive edge. His releases with Francis Mercier, support from Black Coffee, Keinemusik and Bedouin, and millions of streams have carried that sound well beyond Zimbabwe. He also co-founded Afroholic Records and earned a place in 1001Tracklist’s’ ‘Future of Dance 2022’ selection. Friday brings him to Roots at Café del Mar Phuket’s Clubroom for a night of African drum rhythms, tightly wound grooves, vocals and futuristic synths. Rally your mates for this one. Oct 16. B500 final-release tickets; free ladies’ pass by RSVP, subject to availability. Nitefreak at Roots, Café del Mar Phuket, Clubroom, Kamala. 10pm-late. Ages 20+. Online-ticket check-in closes at 12.30am

Forget the bananas – come for the sunset. Banana Beach Club by Sollis 2.0, on Phuket’s mainland near Layan, has white sand, coconut trees and longtail boats to set the scene while the sky turns orange. Saturday’s Big Community Sunset adds music and a fire show at 7pm, with B500 entry including one cocktail from the special menu. Settle into the beach-club setting with sunbeds and cabanas nearby, and let the afternoon stretch into the evening. This is the Banana Beach in Thalang, so make sure your map isn’t sending you to Koh Hey. Oct 17. B500 entry, including one cocktail from the special menu. Big Community Sunset at Banana Beach Club, Banana Beach Club by Sollis 2.0, near Layan, Thalang. From 4pm; fire show at 7pm

Into wine dinners and got cash to burn? JAMPA x Blackbird’s Spanish Wine Dinner pairs the restaurant’s farm-to-table, open-flame cooking with five wines spanning Rioja Alavesa, Catalunya and the coastal vineyards of the Basque Country. The line-up includes 2021 Valserrano Crianza, while the four-course menu starts with blue shrimp, jampooling and heirloom tomato, followed by beetroot, lotus root and kuro beurre blanc. Sound like a vegan dinner? Nah, far from it: free-range chicken comes with makhwaen and broccolini, before banana, date and quince pear round things off. Book a table at JAMPA’s home in Tri Vananda, Thalang, for an evening of Spanish wines and a distinctly local menu. Oct 15. B3,500++ per person. JAMPA x Blackbird Spanish Wine Dinner, JAMPA Restaurant, Tri Vananda, Thalang. From 7pm. Reservations: 076 342 122

Ron Poe dials up the energy at Armania Phuket this Friday. The Filipino DJ-producer has spent more than a decade behind the decks, mixing electro, EDM, house and open-format mash-ups with an instinct for reading the room. Armania’s international resident is back on Bangla Road for a late-night session billed around house and tech-house, with big beats and familiar tunes worked into the mix. Bring your dancing shoes. Oct 16. From B3,000; check what’s included with the venue before booking. Ron Poe at Armania Phuket, 11 Bangla Road, Patong. 10pm-4am. Ages 21+ 

Fancy revisiting disco’s mirror-ball years without relying on another cookie-cutter ’70s themed night? CLC Phuket’s Disco Studio 54 combines dinner with live vocals, dancers and acrobats, backed by songs associated with Boney M., the Bee Gees, Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer. The show starts at 8pm, with CLC open from 6pm for dinner, before the night loosens its tie and heads towards the dancefloor. Current tickets for Disco Studio 54 are listed from B2,000, with CLC adding 7% VAT and 10% service charge. Oct 9. From B2,000, plus 7% VAT and 10% service charge. Disco Studio 54, CLC Phuket, Bang Tao. Venue from 6pm; show 8pm

Every autumn, Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival takes over Phuket Town, with a name too innocent for the proceedings. At Chinese shrines including Jui Tui and Bang Liao, spirit mediums undergo cheek-piercing with knives and skewers, while devotees gather for street processions, fire-walking and prayers to the Nine Emperor Gods. Vegan food stalls line the streets, and white clothing symbolises purity. This year, the opening pole-raising ceremony takes place on October 9, followed by nine days of observance from October 10-18 2026. Those observing the festival abstain from sex, booze and animal products as part of a period of physical and spiritual cleansing. The most confronting rituals involve ma song, spirit mediums believed by devotees to be possessed by gods and to take on the community’s misfortunes. For visitors, the contrast between quiet devotion and the thunder of firecrackers can be startling. Given the scale, intensity and shifting schedule, it helps to know where to go and when. Here’s the lowdown. Photograph: Philipp MeierPhuket  What’s this all about? The festival’s origins are commonly dated to 1825, during Phuket’s tin-mining era. One local account links it to an outbreak affecting both a visiting Chinese opera troupe and the local Chinese community. In this telling, locals adopted a vegan diet but found no relief until they also began worshipping the Nine Emperor Gods. They credited their subsequent recovery to the combined observance and continued it annually, e