Tita Honghirunkham

 

      Photograph: Time Out Bangkokkhao Yai Art Forest   The day starts in a building that still smells faintly of its own history. Bangkok Kunsthalle sits down a lane off Soi Nana in Chinatown inside the old Thai Wattana Panich printing house. The building burned, stood empty for two decades and now holds art without hiding the damage. Its staircases are scorched and its beams remain exposed. At 9.45am on Saturday, the light falls through the upper windows in long, flat slabs. The whole place feels like a room left alone to think. At 10am,a B500 round-trip shuttle leaves from outside, Thursday to Sunday,. Book ahead because seats are limited. It is an unusually civilised arrangement: turn up at a Chinatown gallery and, a few hours later, step into a forest three provinces away without driving or making another decision. We sleep for the first hour, as you do. The road out of Bangkok is dull until it suddenly isn't. Flyovers give way to billboards, warehouses and car dealerships, then limestone appears somewhere past Saraburi. The land stops looking flat before you quite register the change. Approaching Pak Chong, the roadside becomes unmistakably Khao Yai: corn stalls, sunflower fields, garden centres, a farm advertising alpacas and plenty of Tuscany rendered in Thai concrete.   Stop for Isan lunch at Penlaos Photograph: Time Out BangkokLunch and coffee at Penlaos Stop at Penlaos on the way in. What began more than a decade ago as a street stall is now a barn-like restau

Over the past half-decade or so, much has changed in the way we live, work and play in our cities. It wasn’t too long ago that lockdowns rendered the city centre all but obsolete and brought to the fore the vital role of our immediate neighbourhoods and communities.  Now, the balance has been restored. Our local neighbourhood remains fundamental: mini-villages where the barista knows your order, where local restaurants, bars and indie businesses thrive, and where communities continue to band together for all sorts of cool stuff, from art walks and day festivals to creating greener streets and pedestrian-friendly spaces. And six years on from the pandemic, the city centre is seeing a renaissance, with brand-new music venues, galleries, coffee shops and more opening up and welcoming a new generation of hybrid workers and the back-to-the-office crowd (and, of course, city-breakers and tourists).  On this year’s list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods, you’ll see this mix play out. There are downtown hubs and seaside strips, homely enclaves and warehouse districts, all nominated by our global network of on-the-ground experts. This lucky lot spends their time exploring every corner of their hometowns to discover the best places to eat, drink, shop and hang out right now, so you can trust we know what we’re talking about. To decide the final ranking, a panel of Time Out editors vetted each neighbourhood against a range of criteria, including food and drink, nightlife, unique loc

Khalid last played Bangkok in 2018 – back when our interviewer was still in high school. Eight years on, the singer is older, a little wiser by his own admission, and very ready to see what the city does after dark. This time he plays UOB Live, EmSphere on November 29 with the It's Always Summer Somewhere' Tour, and he intends to fit more than soundchecks and setlists into the trip. Photograph: thegr8khalidKhalid - Exclusive interview The songs you grew up with If you were near a phone speaker in the late 2010s, you know Khalid. The El Paso-raised singer built his career on warm R&B and songs that include ‘Location’, ‘Young Dumb & Broke’, ‘Talk’, and ‘Better’. Four studio albums and seven Grammy nominations later, he is bringing the full catalogue back to Bangkok. Khalid’s latest, After the Sun Goes Down, arrived in 2025. As he puts it:  ‘It's really an album about freedom – letting your hair down, going out there and having fun, embracing the night for the mysterious experiences it has to offer.’ The tour name comes from the same impulse. ‘Summer, to me, is an emotion,’ he explains.  ‘It means feeling your most fun, free, going out, exploring the night, celebrating life with your friends and bringing the heat wherever I go.’   He remembers playing a show at around -1°C and still willing summer into the room:‘'We really are bringing this summer with us wherever we go.’ The man commits to the concept. Photograph: thegr8khalidKhalid - Exclusive interview Khalid wants a prop

Bangkok’s best film nights rarely feel like a standard multiplex trip. This month, Thailand’s Oscar contender opens BKKIFF 2026 at ICONSIAM before reaching House Samyan, while Sala Saneha turns a 70-year-old building into a 25-seat wine-bar cinema.  Add French, European and Thai films at Alliance Française Bangkok and you’ve got a sharp running diary of screenings worth pencilling in.

There’s a version of Thailand that exists purely on screen: a jagged limestone island hiding a villain, a beach so perfect it sends backpackers wild, a rooftop bar where four strangers wake up with no memory of the night before. None of it is fake, exactly. Somewhere along the way, though, the line between ‘shot here’ and ‘must go here’ blurred – and Thailand’s tourism board took notice. This isn’t a list of films that happened to use Thailand as scenery. Plenty have, and most changed nothing. This is about the handful that did: the ones that turned a cinema seat into a boarding pass and a scene into a bucket-list photo, before the government eventually stopped watching from the sidelines and started engineering the effect. Call it set-jetting or film-induced tourism; either way, films have been shaping Thai travel itineraries since 1957. 1957: the film that renamed a river Photograph: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)The set-jetting guide to Thailand Start with the strangest case of all: it wasn’t even filmed in Thailand. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) was shot in Sri Lanka, won  seven Oscars and told a heavily fictionalised story of the Death Railway – the brutal Second World War line built by Allied prisoners of war and Asian labourers under Japanese occupation, whose construction killed well over 100,000 people. Photograph: Niels MickersThe set-jetting guide to Thailand   Then came the real plot twist. The bridge is in Kanchanaburi, but the river was never call

Every Thai kid of a certain generation knows the scene: sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, remote ready, waiting for the theme song that made everything else wait. Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon had their place, but Thailand had its own universe of  Channel 3 line-ups, homegrown studios and characters who felt like neighbours. Most never entirely disappeared. YouTube has become an accidental childhood archive, with official releases, scattered uploads and more English dubs or subtitles than you might expect, often free to watch.  For anyone now in their early 20s, this is a nostalgic guide to the Thai cartoons that defined childhood – what still holds up, what remains Thai-only and where to find each one today.

Chestnut ice cream, craft-soda sorbet, chocolate and yet more ice cream – with steamed buns, vinyl and sunset cocktails breaking up the sugar rush. Eight Song Wat stops, one afternoon and no time to dawdle. Song Wat Road runs about 1.2 kilometres between Chinatown and the river, making  it a natural walking route rather than a checklist. Laid out under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) after a major fire that swept through Sampheng, the road is said to follow a line he personally traced on a royal map – hence Song Wat, roughly ‘drawn by the king’. Its first section was completed in 1892 and the road reached its present form in 1907, becoming a vital commercial artery as the district rebuilt around it. For much of the next century, Song Wat simply got on with business: warehouses, gold traders, family-run shophouses and goods moving in from the river.  Then came the street artists and coffee roasters. In 2022, local Kiattiwat Srichanwanpen launched a community initiative that has grown from 10 businesses to around 60.  This crawl came down to eight stops in four hours. I started around 2pm and needed to leave before 6pm, so allow at least four hours: three and a half is possible only if you keep every stop brisk. Give yourself longer if you’d rather linger, check each venue’s opening hours before setting out and don’t cut it so fine that you miss golden hour at Sober Record Bar – that would defeat the point of all the rushing.

This isn’t a guidebook, and nothing here is ranked. These are eight places we visited for one very specific, sometimes slightly odd reason – a coffee shop, a guitar store, a Buddha with a secret. Each time, that reason turned out to be the smallest part of the story. Treat the excuses below as a starting point: we’ve dug into what’s actually waiting once you walk through the door.

Somewhere around the third rewatch of a LISA video, it hits you: that alley looks extremely familiar. Bangkok has been moonlighting as one of pop’s favourite film sets – and not in a ‘look at our skyline’ way. Directors keep returning for the stranger stuff: abandoned malls, brutalist office blocks, a fire station and a night market full of second-hand engine parts. Something about the city’s particular brand of decay photographs beautifully. And it isn’t only K-pop, although K-pop has clearly got the memo. Troye Sivan shot much of ‘Got Me Started’ here. Agust D wandered through Chinatown’s old scrap-metal quarter for one of his most stripped-back visuals. LOONA treated the whole city like a mood board in 2020. The Thailand Film Office counted 26 international music-video shoots during the first eight months of 2024 alone – nine of them South Korean. Bangkok isn’t merely a backdrop any more; it’s practically a recurring cast member. So here’s the tour: the buildings, streets and rooftops you’ve spotted without knowing it, and the songs that put them on screen.

Something exciting is happening in Bangkok’s restaurants: the food is only half the story. Walk into the right place and you’ll find a building with a century of memories in its walls, ingredients a chef drove three hours to bring back or a family recipe they have dared to reinvent. These five restaurants make every meal part of a bigger, deeply personal narrative. What stayed with us wasn’t the plating or the price tag, but the radically different ways they interpret ‘Thai food’ – and how a grandmother’s cooking, an old family pharmacy  or a cache of nearly forgotten recipes found its way to our table. Here’s where to find them and why they’re worth crossing town for.

Photograph: random thoughtsBangkok ‘It made New York, Paris or London, overall, feel very old.’  The anonymous writer behind Random Thoughts wasn't trying to insult three of the world's most celebrated, greatly loved cities – they were simply describing how Bangkok felt against their experience of New York and Paris: spontaneous, open and startlingly modern. The diary-like Random Thoughts account is better known for intimate, diary-style observations than provocative city rankings. This time, though, a few frank lines put Bangkok ahead of New York, Paris and London. ‘It made New York, Paris or London, overall, feel very old.’    The writer’s identity remains secret by design – more on that later – but they currently live in Paris and have also lived in New York. Sure, it’s one traveller’s opinion – a hot take, breezing in, perhaps. A personal, subjective view, and hey, everyone’s entitled to their feelings. But those names being dropped come with some context. This is someone who actually knows those cities, has lived in them, and still felt Bangkok was worth raving about. The post travelled well beyond its devoted readership, too – and the comments are still trickling in. ‘What blew my mind was the flow and spontaneity of the city, how you mix high and low,’ they say. ‘This was very new, very fresh and very modern for me.’ Paris and New York are both ‘having some kind of a renaissance’, they add, but this (Bangkok’s) energy is harder to find there.’   ‘Best meals ever’ Pho

Lisa's latest footwear choice came from PACE Shoes, the Bangkok label founded in 2014 by Pimpisa ‘Patty’ Promfang. Its handcrafted sandals and sculptural heels have the feel of art objects rather than mass-market accessories, with shapes you will not find on every shop floor. The label grew from Promfang’s ‘make them yourself’; to see the pieces in person, make an appointment at Casa De Pace in Wang Thonglang. Casa De Pace (appointment only), 70 Soi Lat Phrao 80, Lane 20, Khwaeng Wang Thonglang, Khet Wang Thonglang, Bangkok 10310.

By Krusty, the day’s sugar-to-coffee ratio had tipped decisively towards sugar, and I wasn't complaining This small, newly opened café is pastel, pared-back and naturally photogenic, with proper fried ice cream as the draw. It is not one of Song Wat’s loud, long-established names; it is a quiet, cute stop for anyone café-hopping through the neighbourhood, which was precisely why it worked before the afternoon changed gear. 1222/3 Song Wat Rd, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Daily, 11am–7pm.

Hidden down an unmarked alley, Choch is devoted to Thai bean-to-bar chocolate made with cacao from provinces including Lamphun and Chumphon. The staff are happy to explain each bar’s origins. I chose the Choco Roselle, although the King Thangkwian with manuka honey was tempting, and paired it with a matcha canelé that disappeared almost immediately.  1192 Song Wat Rd, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Monday-Thursday 10am-6pm, Friday-Sunday 10am-7pm.

Koff & Bun occupies a converted shophouse, all exposed brick, wooden tables and the low hum of a hard-working espresso machine. Its coffee pedigree includes the 2018 Thailand National Roasting Championship, and the menu ranges from espresso and Americano to Brazil-Laos and 2449 Thailand house blends, both favouring chocolate and caramel over bright acidity. The reason to stop, though, is the pairing: traditional Chinese steamed buns – black sesame, custard, salted egg and pork among them – served with specialty coffee. Old and new share a plate on a street whose revival rests on exactly that combination. 983/2 Song Wat Rd., Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm; Saturday-Sunday, 9am-6pm.

Next came Gu Long Bao, which handles the sweet-versus-savoury question better than anywhere else on the route. It has made Teochew-style steamed buns for more than a century, and you can watch them being folded through the window if you time it right. Sweet potato gives the dough its pale-gold colour and gentle sweetness; fillings run from minced pork and salted egg to black sesame and taro. The order to remember is shumai balanced on a glass of iced Thai milk tea – a savoury dumpling riding above a sweet, creamy drink and somehow making sense from the first sip. Seating is scarce, so grab yours and keep walking. 983 Song Wat Rd, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm, closed Sunday.

I started at Nuury Chest Nut, the kind of place best tackled with an empty stomach and a clear head. Open since 2000, it hides down Trok Saphan Yuan, a small alley off the main road.  The shophouse feels part living room, part old office, with patterned floor tiles, marble tables and shelves of old teapots and brass ornaments. Its menu revolves around chestnuts spooned over ice cream – an oddly specific premise that makes perfect sense once you’’re holding a tub. A few seats in the alley let you watch Song Wat go by, and this street always provides something to look at. 206 Trok Saphan Yuan, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Monday–Saturday, 8am-5pm; Sunday, 8am-4pm.

There’s a suspicious amount packed into Lido Connect’s second floor. In one run of shopfronts, Nailvana does nail art; Xanap, develops actual rolls of 35mm film; Unisound Bangkok sells second-hand Japanese guitars and other instruments; and RENTROOM fills curated racks with vintage and Y2K clothing. Add rotating small Thai labels including Unfound Project, Blulagoon and 22 October Group, and you have a floor held together by one idea: ‘things a slightly niche Bangkok 20-something would actually want’. Nothing feels mall consultant-approved. It’s more as if a group of friends were handed shopfronts and told to sell whatever they were already obsessed with. Address: 2/F, Lido Connect, 256 Rama I Road, Siam Square (between Soi Siam Square 2 and 3) Hours: Most second-floor shops open roughly 11am-8pm, though times vary by tenant; check individual Instagram pages before visiting Read: ‘Bangkok's 10 best film labs’ by Tita Honghirunkham, Feature Writer. Read: ‘The best vintage shops in Bangkok’ by Kraprib Premsinee, Writer.

This Rama V-era palace comprises two main buildings: Chitralada Hall, originally built as a residence for King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), and Paruskavan Hall, home to Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanadh. Chitralada Hall now houses the Royal Thai Police Museum, while Paruskavan Hall is used by the National Intelligence Agency. The main draw is the route through Chitralada Hall, where floor arrows lead visitors room by room around an Italian villa-style building that blends Art Nouveau, Baroque and Rococo influences. Guides stationed throughout explain the palace’s history and each space. Pause in the former dining hall: after the 1932 revolution, the People’s Party used it as a meeting place, earning it the nickname ‘Thailand's first government house’. Continue to the Police Museum for uniforms, equipment and historical documents tracing the development of Thai policing, alongside  reconstructions of past cases and displays on different areas of police work. A visit is more than a wander through an old palace – it is a compact lesson in Thai political and social history. Thanon Si Ayutthaya, Dusit, Bangkok. Tuesday to Friday, 10am-4pm. Free entry.

You may have driven along Thanon Ratchawithi and spotted a pointed spire rising above the trees without knowing what it belongs to. That is Phaya Thai Palace, where European grandeur meets leafy garden charm. Construction began under Rama V before the palace was extensively remodelled under Rama VI. It has since served as a royal residence, hotel and, later, part of Phramongkutklao Hospital. Its defining landmark is Phiman Chakri Throne Hall and its tower, while the Roman Garden convincingly evokes a European courtyard. After exploring, stop for coffee at Café Norasingh, set inside a characterful  historic building and well suited to lingering over the view. Thanon Ratchawithi, Thung Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok. Saturdays and Sundays only. Two sessions: 9am-11am and 1.30pm-3pm.

A century-old palace hides in plain sight within the Bank of Thailand’s riverside grounds, unknown even to many Bangkokians. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) commissioned Bang Khun Phrom Palace as a residence for Prince Paribatra Sukhumbandhu, and it is often ranked among Thailand’s most beautiful palaces. The building is a time capsule of late-19th-century European design, confidently blending Baroque and Rococo influences. Ornate stucco, arched windows, marble staircases, carved wooden doors and elaborately decorated ceilings fill the interiors. The grand staircase starts broad and narrows as it rises, echoing Europe’s great palaces and theatres, while the circular, European-style Music Pavilion once hosted performances at royal receptions. Following the political changes of the 1930s, the palace served as government offices before the Bank of Thailand moved in in 1945 and eventually turned it into the Bank of Thailand Museum. Guided tours cover the palace’s history, life within its walls and the development of Thailand’s monetary system – an unusual meeting of grand architecture and financial history. Thanon Samsen, Wat Sam Phraya, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok. Saturdays and Sundays only, by advance booking. Two sessions: 10.30am and 2.30pm. Free entry.

The beating heart of royal Bangkok – and still unlike anywhere else in the city. Built when King Rama I founded Rattanakosin, the Grand Palace housed Thai kings for generations. Although no longer a full-time royal residence, it still hosts major state ceremonies and remains one of Thailand’s most-visited landmarks, with good reason. Step inside and the first thing that hits you is the sheer amount of gold, with roofs and spires catching the light in every direction. Glazed tiles, mirrored mosaics and intricate details cover the buildings. The complex is divided into outer, middle and inner courts, with highlights including Wat Phra Kaew (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Phra Thinang Chakri Maha Prasat, Phra Thinang Dusit Maha Prasat and the Phra Maha Monthien group. Don’t skip Wat Phra Kaew itself. Its Rattanakosin-era craftsmanship is extraordinary, from gilded chedis and coloured glasswork to a spectacular ordination hall. Around the cloisters runs the Ramakien mural, a continuous painted retelling of Thailand’s version of the Ramayana and one of the world’s longest and most complete murals of its kind. Ancient stone sculptures from several countries dot the grounds, making the complex feel less a single attraction than an archive of Thai heritage. Phra Borommaharatchawang Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok. Daily, 8.30am-3.30pm. Free for Thai nationals; B500 for non-Thai visitors.

Suan Sunantha Palace is now best known as the home of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, but it was once an inner royal residence, with halls and living quarters for female members of the royal family. Sai Sudthanophadol Hall has been preserved as a museum documenting the daily lives of women at the royal court through clothing, personal belongings, handicrafts and household objects. Downstairs displays everyday items, clothes and the kitchen; upstairs recreates the private living quarters including a bedroom, bathroom, reception room and sitting room, offering a close-up look at court life. This is said to be the birthplace of nam phrik long ruea (literally ‘chilli paste that sailed the boat’), a dish credited to Chao Chom Sadap during the reign of Rama V. She reportedly transformed leftover kitchen ingredients into a dish fit for the King during a river outing, creating an enduring royal-court classic. Suan Sunantha Palace is also remembered as a centre for training young noblewomen. The phrase sao chao wang (‘palace girl’) became shorthand for a distinctly Thai grace and refinement. The museum’s clothes, objects and old photographs evoke the elegance and the discipline of daily palace life. Thanon U Thong Nok, Dusit, Bangkok. Monday to Friday, 9am-3.30pm. Free entry.

Ask a Talat Noi local for directions and you may be sent past a mechanic elbow-deep in a carburettor, a 200-year-old shrine wreathed in incense and a queue for filter coffee. The neighbourhood has never felt the need to choose between grease, history and flat whites. Apparently, that’s exactly the point. Time Out Global has revealed its 40 Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World for 2026, with Talat Noi at No.14 – Bangkok’s best-ever result on the annual list. The riverside neighbourhood has spent roughly 150 years changing jobs, from port to engine-parts district, while newer cafés, bars and creative studios have moved in around the old guard rather than pushing it out. Who else made the cut? Here’s the global top 15, with Bangkok between Lisbon and Stockholm. The coolest neighbourhoods in the world 2026 – top 15 Jongno 3-ga – Seoul, South Korea L'Ocean District – Rabat, Morocco Neos Kosmos – Athens, Greece Chinatown – Los Angeles, USA Govanhill – Glasgow, UK Kitakagaya – Osaka, Japan Chapinero Alto – Bogotá, Colombia Koenji – Tokyo, Japan Downtown – St. Catharines, Canada Esquilino – Rome, Italy Russafa – Valencia, Spain Tân Định – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam São Bento – Lisbon, Portugal Talat Noi – Bangkok, Thailand Slakthusområdet – Stockholm, Sweden See the full 40 on Time Out Global → Why Talat Noi, why now? If you haven’t made it down to Talat Noi, the appeal is simple: it’s the slice of riverside Bangkok that never quite decided what it wanted to be – and stopped apologis

If your For You Page has served up a steady stream of indie-pop heartbreak over the past two years, Malcolm Todd needs little introduction. Bangkok can now hear it live: the American singer-songwriter brings the Do That Again Tour to UOB LIVE at EMSPHERE on December 6, setting up one of the year’s louder breakup singalongs View this post on Instagram A post shared by Malcolm Todd (@malcolmtodd)   Todd built his following the modern way, with early singles going viral on TikTok before he signed to Columbia Records. His warm, melancholic sound moves between indie pop and alternative R&B – made for replaying after a breakup you’re not quite over. His 2024 single ‘Chest Pain (I Love)’ was his breakout hit after taking off on TikTok, while ‘Earrings’ became a global sleeper hit and reached the top 20 in Thailand and several other markets. He also has a track simply called ‘Thailand’ on his Sweet Boy mixtape, making this Bangkok date feel rather overdue. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UOBLIVE (@uoblive_bangkok) ‘Earrings’ and ‘Chest Pain (I Love)’ should get the loudest reception at UOB LIVE, though the setlist is likely to draw from across Todd’s back catalogue – plenty of breakup-diary material to choose from. Tickets start at B2,500, with VIP packages rising to B10,900. Sales open in three stages from September 28. Where: UOB LIVE, EMSPHEREWhen: December 6 2026Tickets: Fanclub Presale: September 28, 10am–10pm Live Nation Tero Pr

Photograph: GDHHENRY's First Dates Thailand is getting its own 50 First Dates – with the original’s memory-loss twist reversed. GDH’s HENRY's First Dates opens nationwide September 17 2026, starring tNadech Kugimiya, known for the horror hit Death Whisperer 2, and Minnie Nicha Yontararak, an i-dle member making her acting debut. Here,  the male lead’s memory resets each night and the female lead must make him fall for her again each day. Henry runs a small hotel on the Phang Nga coast and wakes each morning having forgotten the previous day. Lucy, a hot-air balloon pilot who travels for work, falls for him anyway and must court him again from scratch. It reverses the 2004 film, in which Drew Barrymore’s character had short-term memory loss and Adam Sandler did the chasing. The production filmed across six provinces – Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Chiang Rai – spanning major tourist hubs and lesser-visited destinations.  The film is Sony Pictures International Productions’ first production made in Thailand, in partnership with GDH – the studio behind Bad Genius and the Oscar-shortlisted How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies. Director Mez Tharatorn (I Fine..Thank You..Love You) co-wrote the screenplay with Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn (How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies) and Benjamaporn Srabua (Love Destiny: The Movie). Kiat Kitchareon, Ble Patumrach and Vivien Tipakorn Chaiprasit complete  the cast. Announced in August 2025 as one of five upc

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Central Chidlom (@centralchidlom) What it is Created by Vivienne Westwood Ltd with Nomad Exhibitions, the show spans more than four decades of the late designer’'s jewellery. Archive and runway pieces appear for the first time across eight rooms covering punk roots, Wonderland fantasy, the eco-conscious Do It Yourself years, 18th-century parures and the house’s signature Orb. Why it matters here Bangkok is the tour’s fifth stop, after Wellington, Shanghai, Chengdu and Macau. Its next destination is yet to be announced, so this is the window to see the collection in Thailand. What to expect The jewellery is staged with clothing, photography, video and complete catwalk looks, showing how each ring or brooch worked as part of an entire outfit rather than as an isolated object. An on-site Vivienne Westwood Exhibition Shop handles the inevitable temptation afterwards. The jewellery, in context Westwood used jewellery as an argument. Her anti-establishment politics, environmentalism and fascination with British history all took physical form. The Orb is the clearest example: created in 1985 by placing a Saturn-like ring around the traditional British sovereign’s orb, it splices space-age imagery with royal iconography. That collision of old authority and deliberate disruption sums up her design philosophy in one object. Worth seeking out The Galaxy Room makes its debut in Bangkok through a collaboration with Microsoft. Choose the pi

Some films fade. Love of Siam still hasn’t. When Chookiat Sakveerakul’s coming-of-age drama opened in November 2007, its gay romance was largely absent from the marketing. Audiences discovered it mid-film, stirring controversy before the reviews turned to acclaim. By the end of awards season, it had swept Best Picture at Thailand’s major national film awards. Nearly two decades later, it is often credited with helping clear a path for Thailand’s booming Boys’ Love industry. For a generation shaped by Siam Square, it remains the local coming-of-age film against which the rest are measured.  We spoke to Pich Witwisit about what Love of Siam still means nearly two decades on – read the interview here. Now GMMTV is giving the story a second life on stage. View this post on Instagram A post shared by GMMTV (@gmmtv) GMMTV has confirmed Love of Siam The Musical, a stage adaptation at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre. The  announcement has the pull of an old cassette rediscovered – the same melody and ache, ready to play again. Production details remain scarce. Fans are already wondering how the musical will recreate Siam Square, handle songs including ‘Gun Lae Gun’ and ‘Piang Ter’ and bring Mew, Tong, Ying and Sunee to the stage. It is a demanding film to adapt without flattening its emotional weight, but  GMMTV has picked a title with a devoted audience and plenty to argue about. For now, the dates and venue are confirmed: Love of Siam The Musical runs at Muangthai Ra

Thailand’s book world rarely does things quietly. The 31st National Book Fair – officially Book Expo Thailand 2026 – takes over Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre from October 23-November 1, with ten days of books, comics, manga, BL titles, children’s reads, second-hand finds and foreign-language editions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Thai Book Fair (@thaibookfair) The numbers from the previous edition set a fairly daunting benchmark. The 30th National Book Fair in March drew more than 1.5 million visitors over 11 days and generated more than B474 million in sales – both record figures for PUBAT, the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand. More than seven in ten visitors were Gen Z, while horror and detective fiction were among the strongest-selling genres. So much for the image of book fairs as hushed affairs populated mainly by people browsing poetry . This edition is slightly shorter at ten days, filling  Halls 5-7 on QSNCC’s LG floor. The familiar seven-zone format returns, covering general books and fiction, Wonder Y – the fair’s dedicated BL/yaoi section – Book Wonderland for comics and teen reads, children’s and educational books, second-hand titles and a foreign-language section for anyone looking to stock up on English or Japanese books . This year’s theme is ‘Unread Messages’, playing on the idea that opening a book can feel like finally around to a message that has been waiting for you. PUBAT has carried the con

Bangkok International Film Festival 2026 opens on September 13 with a film already carrying some serious momentum: Thailand’s official Oscar submission, 9 Temples to Heaven. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BKKIFFofficial (@bkkiffofficial) Sompot Chidgasornpongse's Cannes-premiered family drama leads the opening at ICONSIAM, where Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi will preside over the ceremony. The red carpet unfolds beside the Chao Phraya River, with international actors arriving by boat to dock at the venue – a suitably cinematic start for a festival still rebuilding its scale after several years away. From there, BKKIFF runs until September 27, with more than 150 films screening across Doc Club & Friends, Samyan Mitrtown, Paragon Cineplex and CentralWorld’s SF World Cinema. Screenings, Q&As and competition strands run daily, making this a city-wide festival rather than a single-cinema showcase. The Oscar connection gives this edition an especially strong opening hook.  9 Temples to Heaven was selected from a shortlist of eight films by Thailand’s National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations following wins at Shanghai and New Zealand and a Directors' Fortnight premiere at Cannes – the first Thai film in that section in 19 years. Its BKKIFF screening comes just days before its nationwide release on September 17. For a festival only in its second year back, opening with a film already attracting that level

Thailand has chosen a Cannes-premiered family pilgrimage drama for the 99th Academy Awards – months before most local audiences have had the chance to see it. Photograph: 9 Temples to Heaven, 2026Thailand’s Oscar 9 Temples to Heaven has been selected by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations as Thailand’s official submission for Best International Feature Film. The announcement follows a festival run spanning Cannes, Shanghai and New Zealand, all before the film’s Thai theatrical release . Written and directed by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, the film follows nine members of one family on a one-day pilgrimage to nine temples. They race to ‘make merit’ in the hope of changing the fate of their grandmother, who has been told she has little time left. The premise is rooted in Thai belief, though Sompot has described its underlying themes – family, faith and hope – as universal. That unusual route began with a world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. It was the first Thai film selected for the section in 19 years, following Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Ploy in 2007. As Sompot’s first narrative feature, it was also eligible for the Caméra d'Or. Photograph: 9 Temples to Heaven, 2026Thailand’s Oscar Awards followed at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, where Sompot won Best Director and lead actor Sompop Songkampol won Best Actor in the Golden Goblet Awards’ Asian New Talent competition. In New Zealand, the film later

If you’ve ever lost an evening scrolling through pictures of other people’s cats, this one’s for you. Ma Ma Meow brings more than 1,000 cat stamps from around the world to the Thailand Stamp Museum – proof that postal services everywhere share your priorities. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Thai Stamp Museum (@thaistampmuseum) Meet the cats behind the stamps The centrepiece, ‘Every Cat Tells a Story’, spotlights 100 cats submitted by members of the public, each with a short story. Forget famous felines: these are ordinary cats curled up on someone’s sofa – arguably far more interesting if you’re a cat owner. There’s also a guide to 20 popular cat breeds for anyone keen to learn more about the animals behind the stamps.   View this post on Instagram A post shared by Thai Stamp Museum (@thaistampmuseum) Turn your own cat into a stamp The exhibition isn’t just for looking. At the ‘Make Your Cat Stamp’ station,  visitors can transform a photo of their cat into a stamp design, adding to the museum’s collection with every contribution. Elsewhere, ‘Meow Mission’ invites visitors to fold origami cats to add to the exhibition. Cat-loving collectors can also browse the new iStamp collection and hunt down a series of especially cute stamps around the museum. When: August 15–October 18, 2026; Wednesday–Sunday, 8.30am–4.30pm (closed Monday, Tuesday and public holidays) Where: Thailand Stamp Museum, Saphan Kwai, Bangkok. Nearest station: B

Prepare to gitchie gitchie ya-ya da-da: Moulin Rouge! The Musical has finally confirmed its Bangkok dates, taking over Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre from August 17 to September 12, 2027. Major international stage productions don’t visit the city nearly often enough, so this is big news. After conquering Broadway and the West End with rhinestones, romance and enough pop anthems to soundtrack a night out, the Tony-winning musical makes its Bangkok debut courtesy of Live Nation Tero. View this post on Instagram A post shared by เมืองไทยรัชดาลัย เธียเตอร์ (@rachadalai) Adapted from Baz Luhrmann’s gloriously excessive 2001 film, itself inspired by Paris’s legendary Moulin Rouge cabaret, this lavish jukebox spectacular whisks audiences to Belle Époque Paris. Penniless American writer Christian falls for Satine, the nightclub’s dazzling star, but romance quickly gets complicated: a possessive duke is circling, the club’s future hangs by a thread and every declaration of love comes wrapped in towering vocals and sequins. The production officially opened at Broadway’s at Al Hirschfeld Theatre in 2019 and won over critics and audiences. At the 2021, Tony Awards it collected 10 trophies, including Best Musical, cementing its place as one of modern theatre’s biggest crowd-pleasers. Now for the bit everyone’s been refreshing their feeds for: tickets. Presale for R Card members, Live Nation Tero members and sponsors run from September 14 to 27, 2026, followed by general sa

After decades of waiting, Thai volleyball fans finally have the news they’ve longed for: the national women’s team is going to the Olympics for the first time. The historic ticket was secured in a nail-biting final against hosts and 13-time Asian champions China at the 2026 AVC Women’s Volleyball Asian Championship in Tianjin. Thailand prevailed 3-2 in a five-set thriller to win a fourth Asian title and successfully defend the crown they claimed in 2023. This was far more than another trophy. Thailand have competed on virtually every major stage, but the Olympic Games had always remained tantalisingly out of reach – until now. Credit, too, to Coach Aot, Kiattipong Ratchatakriangkrai, who returned for a second spell as head coach and steered the team to this landmark triumph. The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games run from July 14 to July 30, 2028. The women’s volleyball schedule and Thai broadcast details have yet to be announced. For now, start warming up those vocal cords. Team Thailand are about to take the Olympic court for the first time.

Yayoi Kusama died from multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital on August 14, aged 97, according to David Zwirner, the gallery that represented her. The Yayoi Kusama Museum and Foundation announced the news on August 27. As tributes pour in, here’s ours: a look back at Bangkok’s history with the Japanese artist – and where to see one of her pumpkins in the city today. Kusama grew up in Matsumoto, where visual hallucinations of dots and patterns began in childhood and became the language of her art. She moved to New York in 1957 in search of artistic freedom, then returned to Japan in 1973. Four years later, she voluntarily moved into a Tokyo psychiatric hospital, working from a nearby studio for the rest of her life. Bangkok had its own Kusama history: a 2005 show at 100 Tonson Gallery; Dots Obsession at BACC in 2009; giant pumpkins at CentralWorld and Siam Paragon for Bangkok Art Biennale 2018; and Louis Vuitton’s 101-pumpkin takeover at Parc Paragon in 2023. Most has since moved on: exhibitions end, installations are shipped elsewhere, and the Louis Vuitton screens at The Place nod to the collaboration rather than display original Kusama works. One thing remains, though. Fittingly, it’s a pumpkin.   Where to see Yayoi Kusama in Bangkok right now The pumpkin at Siam Patumwan House Photograph: Siam Motors GroupBangkok At the time of writing, this is the only Kusama sculpture we could confirm is still standing in Bangkok. JWD Art Space handled the import, transport and ins