The third weekend of blustery September is rolling in, and while Bangkok’s skies threaten another soaking, the city’s cultural calendar refuses to sit indoors. Forget hiding from the drizzle – this Saturday you could be stretched out on the grass at Benjakitti Park, book in hand, surrounded by others doing exactly the same.
Reading in the Park is the latest chapter in the Offline Book Club series from the crew behind BKK Lit Fest. Instead of a hushed cafe or fluorescent library, they’re taking things outdoors, into the open-air amphitheatre where the skyline hovers politely in the background. It’s all about a communal pause button in the middle of a city that hardly slows down.
It couldn’t be easier to join. Pack whatever you’re currently reading – dog-eared paperback, hefty hardback, your Kindle or the battered copy you’ve been meaning to finish since June – and something to sit on. The invitation is as low-key as it gets, just a willingness to put your phone away for two hours. Extra points if you bring a spare book to swap; nothing breaks the ice quicker than handing over a novel that wrecked you at 2am.
There’s no cost, no sign-up, no algorithm nudging you into the ‘correct’ genre. Just a two-hour pause on Saturday September 20, from 4pm-6pm. Should the weather intervene, the plan is simply to try again another day – a refreshingly analogue solution in a world that loves to over-explain. Of course, Bangkok being Bangkok, a sudden rain could force a reschedule. But really, that’s part of the season – the city’s unpredictability meeting the slow certainty of a page turning.
It’s not about networking, or ticking cultural boxes, or even finishing a chapter. It’s about creating a small pocket of calm, shoulder-to-shoulder with people who also believe that sometimes the best company is a book, and maybe, the stranger sitting next to you.
It won’t solve the monsoon or your wet socks, but it might make the city feel a little less anonymous. And who knows – you might leave with both a new book and a new friend.