Kaweewat Siwanartwong

November in Bangkok means art season running at full tilt, with the city's beautiful contradictions on full display – gridlocked traffic outside, hushed white cube spaces within. Art lives everywhere here: sprawling museums with cathedral-high ceilings, scrappy project rooms above third-wave coffee spots, galleries that look structurally questionable yet house work capable of stopping you mid-stride. Need to feel confused, delighted, unsettled or quietly gutted? Bangkok's got you sorted. The range is genuinely unruly. One evening you're facing neon installations unpacking migration politics, next morning you're locked eyes with a centuries-old portrait that feels disturbingly alive. Contemporary pieces question what existing in this particular metropolis actually means, modernist works get reinterpreted for right now, and the odd old master hangs about with surprising swagger. What makes things tricky is sheer choice. New shows open constantly, so deciding where to spend your Saturday afternoon becomes its own minor ordeal. Consider this less a definitive ranking and more your orientation map through a city that simply won't quit making, showing and interrogating through visual culture, monsoon season be damned. Everything below we've visited personally, stood in front of and probably Instagram-stalked first. Every single exhibition here deserves your time. Stay one step ahead and map out your plans with our round-up of the best things to do in Bangkok. Get ahead of the game

We're staring down the second weekend of November with some seasonal events, and whilst the rain has mercifully taken a brief intermission, we all know it's lurking just off-stage, ready for its encore. But that seems a bit unfair to the month, really, because there's plenty happening this weekend to justify leaving the sofa. The Royal Wardrobe of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit continues its run at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, showcasing decades of diplomatic fashion that managed to be both culturally significant and genuinely stunning. Bangkok Soundscape offers something altogether different: this festival blends concerts with songwriting sessions, pulling producers, artists and lyricists from every corner of the planet. Meanwhile, MŌCANA returns to Lhong 1919 for its third edition, bringing contemporary artists who treat heritage as a living conversation rather than a museum piece. Kaewtrakan J., Arjinjonathan and Templeboy VI lead the lineup, with live performances ensuring you're not just staring at walls all evening. And if you're after something less contemplative, Blue Parrot Gone Wild promises 12 hours of poolside mayhem courtesy of Farangs Gone Wild. They're launching The FGW Super Squishy, a frozen cocktail whose tagline ‘built for bad ideas and good times’ functions as both marketing and warning label. Choose wisely. Or don't. November's forgiving like that. Get ahead of the game and start planning your month with our list of the top things to do this November.

As the country mourns the passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, Bangkok's tempo shifts. Venues stay open and music still plays, but with a quieter grace. It's a month of small joys and thoughtful gatherings before the year slips away. Anyway, we're almost there – one month until NYE. November brings slightly cooler air, though 'cool' is pushing it. The 11th month unfolds with a gentler energy, making space for moments that feel both present and reflective. Kick things off with Ghost2568: Wish We Were Here, a surreal blend of art, nostalgia and light that lingers somewhere between memory and dream. Or escape reality altogether with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert, where the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra breathes life into John Williams' score beneath a 40-foot screen. For something warmer, TYLA's We Wanna Party Asia Tour lands in Bangkok – all amapiano shimmer and attitude. Transport stretches a disco-lit day across 14 hours of pure movement at Chang Chui. Then swap sequins for strings at the Southeastern Old Time Gathering, a weekend of bluegrass, Irish trad and old-time tunes that feel like they've travelled across centuries to reach you. Get out there, enjoy! Stay one step ahead and map out your plans with our round-up of the best things to do in Bangkok.

Planning Halloween already? It maybe a little early, but the nights are drawing in, the air feels cooler, and before long, the season’s most mischievous celebration will be upon us. Thailand may not have the same obsession with ghosts and ghouls as other countries, but Bangkok knows how to throw a night worth remembering.  Soon enough, downtown Bangkok will shift into a carnival of costumes, flickering lights and characters that seem plucked from another world. Streets, bars, galleries and rooftops will offer everything from quirky pop-ups to immersive experiences, leaving little excuse not to get involved. It’s never too early to start plotting your own night of mischief, assembling your coven, or deciding which haunted corners of the city you’ll explore. Looking for something strange, eerie or delightfully absurd? Time Out Bangkok has your back. While we might not carry proton packs, we know where the best thrills are hiding. From haunted bars and rooftop rituals to costume competitions and spooky markets, our ever-growing guide will keep you informed and entertained. By the time the last lanterns flicker and the city’s ghosts retreat, you’ll know that Bangkok’s Halloween is not just a night on the calendar – it’s a festival of mischief, style and just enough fright to make it unforgettable.

In Bangkok, the music scene has transformed over the past few years, led by crews of DJs and collectives – both Thai and international, who are tackling imbalances in the industry by carving out their own creative corners. These collectives do more than play music: they build communities, experiment with sound and space, and create opportunities for voices too often overlooked. And the number of groups pushing this forward is far greater than most realise. Collectives are the empowering force. DIY at heart, they share resources, skills and ideas, providing spaces free from discrimination and harassment. Each crew has its own identity: some focus on multidisciplinary arts, others on workshops and mentoring, and some simply craft nights that feel electric and alive. What unites them is a vision of equality, inclusivity and diversity – for their members and for everyone who joins. Detour is the one for those chasing tracks you hear once and immediately need to know more. RomRom bends genres and expectation, from Bhangra to Brazilian hip-hop, creating nights defined by atmosphere rather than label. Non Non Non gives a queer sanctuary, where electronica, EBM and techno collide and the crowd feels at home. Kleaning Service turn up once a month with their offbeat 'cleaning' sessions, a tongue-in-cheek disguise for nights that refuse to behave predictably.  Transport, meanwhile, are a softer, warmer embrace of the dancefloor. moor brings underground international talent rarely seen i

October arrived with a bit of rain, but Bangkok doesn’t really do dull seasons. The city thrives on contrast – traffic outside, white-walled calm within. It’s a place where art lives in every possible corner: vast museums with echoing halls, hidden rooms above coffee shops, galleries that look like they might collapse yet hold works that could floor you. If you want to be confused, delighted, unsettled or quietly moved, this city rarely disappoints. The variety is unruly. One evening you might stumble across a show where neon tubes light up the politics of migration, the next morning you’re staring at a centuries-old portrait that feels impossibly alive. There’s contemporary work that questions what it means to exist in a city like this, modernism reinterpreted for the present, and the occasional old master hanging with surprising confidence. What complicates things is choice. With new exhibitions opening constantly, picking where to spend an afternoon can feel like work in itself. So think of this less as a definitive guide and more as a starting point – a way to orient yourself in a city that refuses to stop making, showing and questioning through art, no matter the weather. Stay one step ahead and map out your plans with our round-up of the best things to do in Bangkok.   Get ahead of the game and start planning your month with our list of top things to do this October. Whether you're a regular gallery-goer or just art-curious, these are Bangkok’s best spots to live the ar

October in Bangkok doesn’t tip-toe in. As the rains finally turn polite and the air dries, the city arms itself with spectacles that crackle in neon, shadow and trembling melody. Museums open new worlds. Theatres unfurl fresh tales. Bars and cafes welcome midnight whispers. On the music front it’s chaos of the best kind. The Smashing Pumpkins return after nearly three decades, giving a set that could flicker from 1979 to their new rock-opera. Mariah Carey is back too, hair flips intact, marking 20 years since The Emancipation of Mimi with seven-octave theatrics Bangkok hasn’t seen in years.  Sean Paul finally touches down for his Thai debut, bringing the riddims that once soundtracked every school disco. Connan Mockasin drifts in with his woozy dream-funk, while Blackpink stage a three-night stadium takeover that will probably sell out faster than you can open a group chat. Over at the Contemporary World Film Series, Something Like an Autobiography plants its flag. Penned by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki and his actress-wife Nusrat Imrose Tisha during lockdown, it folds their marriage into fiction, even as Farooki steps in front of the camera for the first time. It’s a quietly radical piece about memory, identity and how lives unspool when we least expect. And for those who sleep with their lights off: the Junji Ito Collection Horror House turns dreams into architecture. Over 1,500 square metres, you might find Tomie’s cursed beauty, balloon-headed predators or Souichi’s mischievous

Here we are again, only this time we’ve landed at Funky Lam Kitchen – a modern Laotian menu that doesn’t flinch from bold, full-throttle flavours. The cocktails and the wine list aren’t there to soothe but to spar, chosen deliberately to hold their ground against the fire. Step inside and you’re in a space that feels like someone’s memories turned into design: a renovated shophouse lined with old BMW motorbikes, walls hung with images that hint at histories both personal and political. Funky Lam isn’t simply another addition to Bangkok’s dining map. It’s the dream realised by Sanya Souvanna Phouma – the man who gave the city Bed Supperclub, Maggie Choo’s and Sing Sing – alongside his fellow Laotian partner Saya Na Champassak, whose grandmother, once the princess of the south, was famed for menus devised with the palace chef for royal tables. Together, they’ve built something more than a restaurant: a love letter to Lao cuisine, a revival staged with funk, grit and affection. Photograph: Funky Lam Kitchen And that’s why I’m here, to ask how two men who grew up in Paris, haunted by both French kitchens, the stories tucked between plates of olam and glasses of Beer Lao and Laotian memories, ended up here. The inheritance of nightlife and airways ‘It’s in my DNA,’ Sanya says when I ask if his father’s club influenced him. His father, Prince Panya Souvanna Phouma – Harvard graduate, son of a Prime Minister, head of Royal Laos Air – once co-owned The Third Eye, a psychedelic club

Let us tell you straight off: if someone in Thailand says they’ve never heard of Arak ‘Pae’ Amornsupasiri, I’d raise an eyebrow. He’s lived through so many chapters – starting out as a guitarist in Slur in the late ’90s, then branching into solo music and acting, and lately daring to helm his own films. His debut The Stone: Phra Tae Kon Ke didn’t just stir the Thai scene – it went international. We found a fitting place to talk in one go: REC.Bangkok, the sleek Wireless Road bar we’ve taken over for the afternoon. Its dim lights, sharp corners and relaxed energy felt like the perfect backdrop for Pae’s many facets – cool, intense, playful.   Photograph: STYLEdeJATE Each role, a fresh mountain to climb Pae isn’t someone you can pin down to one job description. Singer, actor, director – each title could be its own full-time career, yet he insists on doing all three. Not out of some restless inability to choose, but because every role offers him a new kind of friction to wrestle with. And he seems to enjoy the fight. What links these identities is a stubborn urge to not simply meet expectations but to vault quietly over them. As an actor, he’s always battling that silent question: how do you satisfy the director, the writer or the creative who hired you? Sometimes their request is modest, almost underwhelming. Yet Pae wants to push further, or at the very least match the depth of what they had in mind. When he switches to music, the challenge shapeshifts. He asks himself: how

If you wanted to make a film, how would you promote it? A trailer, perhaps. A poster campaign. A carefully timed festival debut. What you probably wouldn’t think of – unless you’re Note Pongsuang – is opening a bar. I’m sitting inside Doi Dum Punk, the small bar decorated with bits of art on the wall, newspaper pasted as wallpaper and a guitar that looks like it’s never been touched. Outside, a tag hangs on an electric post declaring, almost gleefully, ‘fun fact, punk is dead’. Before sitting down, Note handed me a hand-drawn tag with a list of movie roles to choose from: a lonely punk boy, a heartbreak monk, a drunk tourist or a mountain zombie. Of course, I go for an ‘undercover prostitute’. Now, with a gin and tonic in hand, I watch him talk through this improbable scheme with the easy certainty of someone who has, more than once, bent Bangkok nightlife into new shapes. Photograph: Note Dudesweet Photograph: Note Dudesweet Note is the founder of Dudesweet, a name still uttered like an inside joke that turned into a generational movement, and of National Bar, a space that looks like it tumbled out of his Silpakorn sketchbooks. As a living archive of the city’s indie scene, and for me – someone who grew up hearing stories of early-2000s warehouse parties with badly photocopied flyers – it feels like slipping behind the curtain of a myth. His legend is well known, but Doi Dum Punk, a pop-up bar designed to fund and promote a screenplay, is the reason I’m here with a came

This list is from 2024. Our latest ranking for 2025 is live here. In 2024, what exactly makes a neighbourhood cool? Craft breweries, natty wine bars and street art are well and good, but the world’s best, most exciting and downright fun neighbourhoods are much more than identikit ‘hipster hubs’. They’re places that reflect the very best of their cities – its culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink – all condensed in one vibey, walkable district. To create our annual ranking, we went straight to the experts – our global team of on-the-ground writers and editors – and asked them what the coolest neighbourhood in their city is right now, and why. Then we narrowed down the selection and ranked the list using the insight and expertise of Time Out’s global editors, who vetted each neighbourhood against criteria including food, drink, arts, culture, street life, community and one-of-a-kind local flavour. The result? A list that celebrates the most unique and exciting pockets of our cities – and all their quirks. Yes, you’ll find some of those international hallmarks of ‘cool’. But in every neighbourhood on this list there’s something you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a photography museum that moonlights as a jazz club? Or a brewery with a library of Russian literature? How about a festival dedicated to fluff? When communities fiercely support and rally around their local businesses, even the most eccentric ideas can become a reality. And that, in our eyes, is

These days, the vegan scene feels impossible to ignore, especially in Bangkok. From hidden street stalls to refined fine dining, plant-based food has become a way to explore the city differently, to taste its traditions without compromise. That’s how we stumbled across Lokal Vegan, an Instagram account devoted not just to food, but to the culture, stories and communities behind it. At the helm is Vladislav ‘Vlad’ Tolokontsev. He’s not only running Lokal Vegan, he’s also the mind behind Vegan Guide: Street Food in Bangkok and an intricate map of the city’s plant-based eateries. His work isn’t simply about listing restaurants – it’s about uncovering the city’s hidden gems, spotlighting family-run stalls, and showing that eating vegan can be adventurous, delicious and connected to local culture. Photograph: lokalvegan It’s a neat parallel to what we do at Time Out – telling our readers where to go, what to eat and what makes a city tick – but through Vlad’s lens, Bangkok’s flavours and stories are filtered entirely through plant-based living. We caught up with him to talk about why he stayed, how he navigates the city’s complex food scene and the dishes that continue to surprise even the most seasoned vegans. Photograph: lokalvegan A mission beyond the plate ‘I want to change people’s perception of vegan food,’ Vlad begins, almost apologetically, though he needn’t. ‘I want to show how delicious, diverse and affordable it can be, so that more people choose plant-based options

KYLA Gallery's latest gathering brings together five artists who've each built entire universes around their original characters. The Character Club transforms the gallery space into a proper social hangout for creations that exist somewhere between cartoon boldness, quirky personality studies and those dreamlike companions who feel weirdly familiar even though you've definitely never met them before. Each artist speaks through their own visual language and storytelling approach, creating what's essentially a lively lounge filled with humour, nostalgia and genuine wonder. It's playful, pop-culture-soaked and refreshingly unpretentious about celebrating imagination in all its human (and decidedly not-so-human) forms. Every character here carries their own backstory, waiting for you to wander over and strike up a conversation. November 7-December 7. Free. KYLA Gallery, 3pm-midnight

P.S. Publishing has spent the past decade quietly carving out space for women writers to explore relationships through their own voices and styles. Now this compact publisher is throwing open its doors with an exhibition celebrating nearly 100 books that prove small format doesn't mean small impact. The event packs in proper activities beyond browsing. Talk sessions turn readers and writers from strangers passing by each other on shelves to actual people having honest conversations about love, heartbreak and everything messily in between. Speed Dating follows, pairing you with seven different authors for quick-fire exchanges. Fancy making something? The DIY Book station lets you nick a preface, paragraph and With love and… closing line from various P.S. titles to create your own tiny publication. Meanwhile, Sis Market flips the script with writers and illustrators playing vendors whilst readers shop their handmade creations. Upstairs, Something Blue Library hosts workshops and reading sessions for anyone craving a quieter moment amongst kindred book lovers. November 7-16. Free. Kinjai Contemporary, 11am-9pm

Arin Rungjang's solo project starts with Thong Yod – those traditional Thai golden drops – and spins them through sculpture and film until they become something altogether more questioning. What begins as dessert transforms into a meditation on how we remember, how culture shifts and how history's so-called truths often deserve a proper interrogation. Golden teardrops hang suspended like falling rain throughout the exhibition, whilst stories from distant lands flow together in ways that blur boundaries between past and present. It's essentially about the fluidity of narrative – how memories from different eras can suddenly converge and reshape our understanding of what actually happened. Rungjang's work asks you to reconsider the weight of time itself, using something as humble as a sweet treat to unlock bigger questions about cultural inheritance and collective memory.  Until February 15, 2026. B300 at the door. MOCA Bangkok, 10am-6pm

Sauce's latest exhibition picks apart the performance we all put on daily – that carefully curated smile, the ‘good person’ act we maintain to meet societal expectations, the emotional mask we wear because power structures demand it. His works treat the smile not as genuine happiness but as a shield concealing suffocated feelings and identities crushed by systems that control both body and mind. Building on his 2023 solo show Exoskeleton, which examined the concept of Body under Body – essentially the shell encasing your true self – this series pushes further. What happens when orchestrated expression becomes so automatic you forget what's real? When politeness transforms from choice to survival mechanism? Sauce's pieces force you to confront how we've all become masters at performing emotions on command, smiling through gritted teeth whilst our actual selves remain buried beneath layers of social conditioning. Uncomfortable viewing, perhaps, but bracingly honest. Until November 30. Free. Joyman Gallery, 11am-6pm

Pnk.ff's second solo exhibition celebrates everything we usually try to sweep under the rug – the fumbles, the messes, the moments when life doesn't quite go to plan. Rather than hiding these beautifully awkward bits of being human, the artist drags them out and gives them proper gallery treatment. What you'll find here are personal, clumsy snapshots transformed through playful and humorous artworks that feel refreshingly honest. It's essentially an invitation to laugh at your own stumbles whilst recognizing that these wonky moments are what make ordinary stories genuinely memorable. Because let's be real, some days simply refuse to go smoothly, and often it's precisely those off-kilter experiences that stick with us longest. Until December 27. Free. KICH Ari Space, midday-7pm

PLAY art house and Rosewood Bangkok have teamed up for their first artistic collaboration, shining a spotlight on Song Wat Road through the eyes of local creators. This exhibition peels back the layers of one of the city's most storied neighbourhoods, where century-old shophouses sit alongside slick new cafes. It brings together artists working across different styles and media, each capturing the peculiar magic of this never-sleeping street. You'll find pieces inspired by everything from the cracks in ancient tiles to chance encounters outside family-run businesses that have been serving the same customers for generations. It's essentially a love letter to Song Wat Road's beautiful contradictions – the way trendy cocktail bars nestle beside traditional Chinese medicine shops, and how morning market chaos gives way to evening temple rituals. Proper neighbourhood storytelling at its finest. Until January 11, 2026.  3/F, Rosewood Bangkok, The Gallery, 9am-9pm

This collection captures those fleeting moments where human happiness lives on through art, preserving the beautiful times we're always trying to hold onto. The works here blend a fascination with geometrical forms, reflecting an ideal of abstract balance that feels genuinely alive and constantly shifting. Everything moves with time yet somehow maintains this perfect harmony through sheer simplicity. It's like stepping through a portal where your thoughts can roam pure and liberated, drifting alongside creativity without constraint. What makes this series special is how it translates those intangible feelings – the ones you can't quite put your finger on but know are precious – through clean lines and calculated shapes that still manage to feel wonderfully spontaneous and unbound. Until November 23. Free. PLAY art house, 10am-5pm

Graffiti Social Club started as a Taiwanese gathering back in 2019 and has now made its way to Thailand for the first time. Founded by curator REACH, this isn't your average street art showcase – it's a proper celebration of how graffiti has grown from underground rebellion to a legitimate global art movement. Over the past six years, the platform has popped up in major museums and galleries across Taiwan, giving local spray-can wielders a chance to rub shoulders with the international scene. This Thailand debut brings together 12 acclaimed artists from Taiwan, Japan, the United States, Europe and, naturally, Thailand itself.  Until January 4, 2026. Free. River City Bangkok, 10am-8pm

Can faith exist when we're all scrolling? It's not a question White Temple necessarily answers, but one it asks you to feel through your body, through sound, through silence. Thai artist Dujdao Vadhanapakorn and Taiwanese artist Chen Jun Yu have created this collaborative performance at the Jim Thompson Art Centre, blending art and technology like some sort of contemporary ritual. You're not just watching. You're a confessor, releasing secrets through your mobile, through sound, through shadows, through the presence of someone you'll never know. Between technology and belief, between chanting and Wi-Fi signals, something emerges. The performance becomes a bridge, connecting physical Bangkok with the digital world, linking languages, cultures and faith in ways that feel both ancient and desperately now. November 13-14. B300 via here. The Jim Thompson Art Center Event Space, 6.30pm

Every second Sunday, TK Park transforms into unofficial headquarters for board game devotees who've decided screens can wait. The setup works whether you're arriving alone (someone will adopt you within minutes), attempting a low-pressure date (competitive Catan reveals character faster than months of texting), or reconnecting with mates you've been meaning to see for weeks. Nobody's judging your strategy, though they might question your decision. Bring snacks if you're thoughtful, bring enthusiasm if you're not. Either way, you'll leave having remembered why humans invented games long before they invented phones. November 9. Free. TK Park, Central World, 11am-5pm

Santiago Zarzosa's exhibition tackles gravity and energy through abstracts that actually earn the term. His large-scale paintings feature poured pigment cascading downwards, balancing fluidity against density whilst spontaneity wrestles with control. He reads these collisions as metaphors for masculine and feminine forces: opposing, attracting, completing each other without requiring resolution. Meanwhile, his Geometrical Explorations series shifts register entirely. Here, graphite, charcoal and watercolour create delicate frameworks where ruler-drawn precision meets improvisational gesture. One hand measures; the other improvises. The resulting pieces map internal landscapes rather than external ones, charting where calculated thought and instinct meet without either dominating. It's work that resists easy categorisation, which feels appropriate for an artist examining dualities. Call it philosophy rendered in pigment, or just call it unusually thoughtful painting that doesn't apologise for its ambitions. Until November 30. Free. Matdot Gallery, 10am-6pm

Japanese street artist Aruta Soup makes his significant Thai solo debut with work that refuses to take itself too seriously – a rarity in contemporary art spaces that often mistake solemnity for depth. His paintings marry free-flowing linework with colours that practically vibrate off the canvas, capturing a specific kind of joyful energy that feels increasingly difficult to manufacture. At the centre sits ‘ZERO,’ his bandaged rabbit character who's become something of a mascot for optimism despite looking like he's recently survived something unfortunate. The rabbit represents fresh starts and hope, which sounds almost painfully earnest until you see how Aruta Soup renders it: with enough playfulness to undercut any potential schmaltz. It's street art that's migrated indoors without losing its original spirit – still accessible, still speaking to connection rather than exclusion. November 8-December 21. Free. Maison JE Bangkok, 11am-7pm

Right, bookworms, this is not a drill. That brilliant floating bookshop everyone's been banging on about, the Doulos Hope, is finally sailing back to Bangkok. From November 7-30, you'll find her moored at Khlong Toei Port, doors open from 1pm-8.30pm daily. She's just wrapped up a stint in Sattahip, and now it's our turn. If you missed her last visit in 2023, here's the deal: this isn't your average bookshop. The ship belongs to GBA Ships, a German non-profit on a mission to deliver knowledge and hope to communities worldwide. But they've got the goods to back it up. Photograph: Doulos Hope Once aboard, you'll find yourself wandering through more than 2,000 titles in English and various languages – science, art, cookery, sport, children's books, academic texts, dictionaries, maps, the lot. Everything's priced to actually buy, not just admire, which makes a refreshing change.  What makes the whole experience rather special, though, is the crew. These aren't your typical retail staff – they're volunteers from over 35 countries who actually live aboard. Chat them up about their travels, how they ended up here, what life's like at sea. It's the sort of cultural exchange you'd normally have to leave the country for. Entry costs B20 (kids under 12 and seniors over 65 get in free). If you fancy discovering your next great read whilst standing on the deck of a genuine seafaring vessel, get yourself down to Khlong Toei Port before she sets sail again.

Art books and independent publications have always been more than just paper and ink. They're meeting grounds, conversation starters, communities built on shared curiosity. For three days this December, the Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC) is where ideas collide and creators find their people. The Bangkok Art Book Fair is back for its seventh edition, running from December 5-7 at BACC. This year's theme is the heartwarming ‘You Can Sit With Us’ – an invitation that makes everyone feel like coming home. It's saying what the fair has always quietly believed: whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever sparked your interest, art books and independent publications are ready to welcome you in. Photograph: BANGKOK ART BOOK FAIR Since launching in 2017, BKKABF has carved out a reputation as the kind of platform that doesn't just showcase work – it reignites something in the people who make it. Each year brings a different theme, but the throughline remains: creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum. It responds to the world around it, reflects it back, sometimes challenges it entirely. What makes the fair particularly compelling is watching it grow beyond its original borders. Independent publishers and creators from across Asia and further afield arrive with work you won't find anywhere else. It's cultural exchange at its most tangible, the kind where you can actually flip through someone's labour of love and ask them about it. Photograph: BANGKOK ART BOOK FAIR This year br

Loy Krathong falls on November 5 this year, and by sheer luck, it's also the night of 2025's biggest Super Full Moon. We don't know what we did to deserve this, but we'll take it. The moon will be 356,800km away, which is close enough to look massive in the sky. Astronomers call this 'perigee', which just means it's at the nearest point in its orbit. Either way, it'll be about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than your average full moon. Bangkok's opening 33 parks for the celebrations this year. They'll stay open until midnight, so there's plenty of space to gather by the water and do the whole thing properly. Some will be busier than others – Benjakitti and Lumphini tend to get packed – but even the smaller spots usually have a decent atmosphere once the sun goes down. The whole point of Loy Krathong has always been letting go of things. Grudges, regrets, that argument from three years ago you're still replaying at 2am. Whatever it is. Just please, for the love of Mother Nature, use an eco-krathong. The Chao Phraya's already dealing with enough without another thousand foam circles floating around until February while we all avert our eyes and pretend the turtles are fine. On November 5, It's one of those rare nights where the city's usual chaos quiets down just enough to let something else through. The Super Full Moon just makes it all a bit more dramatic, which feels about right for a festival that's basically an exercise in controlled chaos and good intentions. W

Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit passed away peacefully on October 24 at the age of 93, the Thai Royal Household announced. She departed at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, leaving behind a legacy that touched millions of Thai lives. The royal family will observe a year of mourning, and Thai people have been invited to wear black or subdued colors for 90 days to honor her memory. For many Thais, Queen Sirikit was more than just royalty. She spent decades working with rural communities, championing women's causes and keeping traditional Thai arts and crafts from disappearing. A lot of people saw her as a maternal figure who genuinely cared about ordinary people's lives. You can still see her influence everywhere in Thailand today – particularly in the traditional textiles and crafts she worked so hard to preserve. The rural development programs she supported and her focus on women's empowerment have shaped how charitable organizations operate in Thailand ever since. Daily life in Bangkok continues mostly as usual. The government hasn't mandated any business closures or shut down entertainment venues, though event organizers are being asked to keep things respectful. That said, some events across the country have been cancelled out of respect. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has postponed the Vijit Chao Phraya 2025 light and sound show, the Skyline Film shut down their showings over the weekend, and the 2025 BamBam 'Hometown' concert in Bangkok has postponed ticket sales.

It's not hard to see why Thailand's long-awaited high-speed rail project has turned into such a drawn-out saga. The promise is grand: sleek trains hurtling north from Bangkok to Nong Khai, crossing the Mekong into Laos, then gliding on to Kunming and eventually Beijing. In theory, it's the stuff of glossy tourism videos and diplomatic speeches – a link between kingdoms and economies. In practice, it's a work in progress that's dragged on for over a decade and is still only halfway there. Officials now say the first leg, a 253-kilometre route from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, could open by 2028. The second phase, stretching to Nong Khai, might follow in 2031, with a bridge linking Thailand's network to the Laos-China line. The numbers are staggering – B434 billion, 609 kilometres, years of revisions – but the stakes are higher still. This isn't just a transport story; it's about whether Thailand can keep pace with its fast-developing neighbours. 'High-speed rail is expensive to build and operate,' says Thomas Bird, Time Out Bangkok's resident train expert and author of Harmony Express: Travels By Train Through China. 'It is not always profitable and some lines – as is the case in the People's Republic of China – have to be subsidised by the government. However, there are many economic benefits associated with modern rail. Fast and efficient connections can expedite trade and tourism. As China is Thailand's biggest trade partner and most important source of tourists, this is a

Halloween obsession comes closer. Not only do we have to plan the outfit, but also the party, and Time Out Bangkok has already picked the best one for all in a single list right here. And Halloween outdoor? This year, Banthat Thong Road is once again summoning the spirits with the second Banthat Thong Freedom Street For All, a street-long celebration where spookiness, street food and sheer creativity all come out to play. On October 30-November 1 2025, this stretch of Bangkok’s Banthat Thong Road that is usually busy with students, steaming bowls of noodles and late-night dessert queues, gets a seasonal glow-up.  Chula Soi 16 becomes the centre of attention, where Nueng Nom Nua hosts a haunted installation designed to unsettle even the most daring. Ghost storytellers weave through the crowd, delivering spine-tingling tales that somehow feel as engaging as they are unsettling. Around them, a cosplay competition nudges the boldest to outdo each other, crafting costumes that range from the ingeniously eerie to the gloriously grotesque. Street food vendors line the road, serving up smokey bites and sweets that blur the line between comforting and uncanny, while performers and interactive installations pop up in unexpected corners, ensuring no moment is entirely predictable. Families, friends and solo wanderers alike find themselves swept along, laughing at the absurd, jumping at the startling and marvelling at the creativity on display. Highlights: – Haunted house, roadside editi

This is a city that builds towers just to add rooftop bars on top, that paints motorbike helmets with glitter, that treats traffic like performance art. So of course it’s now taking its flirtation with the future literally skyward. This week, EHang – a Chinese aviation firm best known for turning sci-fi sketches into machinery – launched Thailand’s first Advanced Air Mobility Sandbox. It’s a government-approved test zone that lets pilotless air taxis float legally above the city, rewriting what Bangkok traffic might mean in the next decade. The star of the show, the EH216-S, looks like something from a designer’s dream sequence. The launch drew a mix of aviation officials, local engineers and curious onlookers who watched the aircraft complete its test loops without so much as a wobble. It wasn’t the spectacle of technology for its own sake, but a public rehearsal for something bigger – a move towards making air taxis part of the city’s everyday rhythm. The Ministry of Transport pitched it as a step toward smart urbanism and carbon-free travel, which could link high-rise life with island escapes in a single glide. If the next stages go as planned, these aircraft could soon be hovering between Bangkok and its weekend playgrounds – Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui – replacing ferry queues with flight paths. And while it all sounds a touch futuristic, it fits Bangkok’s logic perfectly: the city where wires tangle, towers shimmer and the impossible feels entirely plausible.  Up here, a

Anyone passing through the MRT station by Samyan Mitrtown might notice the usual underground passageway has taken on a strange new life. Well, the place, not far from Time Out Bangkok’s office, once again adds a splash of city colour. What once felt like a corridor between trains and shopping now stretches like a shadowed woodland, draped in deep reds and greens, as Samyan Mitrtown transforms it into a cursed forest tunnel for this spooky season. Photograph: Samyan Mitrtown Photograph: Samyan Mitrtown The path winds past gnarled branches and moss-draped walls, leading to a corner that feels like a witch’s hidden cabin. Inside, shelves bristle with jars of mysterious powders and bubbling potions, and the dim red lighting flickers across the tunnel, casting long, eerie shadows. Walking through, you might get the chill of wondering if something could leap from the darkness, or if a whisper might brush past your ear.  Samyan Mitrtown has a tradition of turning this stretch of Samyan Mitrtown-MRT Tunnel into a seasonal spectacle, and this year’s Into The Woods still nails it.  The cursed forest tunnel is open daily, free of charge, from October 20-31. Let's have the unexpected delight, and once you do, it’s hard to forget the way the red light dances across the twisted trees and the bottles of glittering mystery on their shelves.

In recent years, documentaries have slipped from niche fascination to mainstream pastime for Thai audiences. What was once considered too earnest or academic has found new life through platforms like Netflix and the Documentary Club, whose screenings turn truth-telling into a form of entertainment. These days, a well-made documentary can rival a blockbuster for emotional impact, proving that reality, when framed with care, can be just as gripping as fiction.  Once confined to tucked-away art houses and university halls, documentaries now, again,  share the same screens as blockbusters. You might spot a nature film wedged between superhero sagas or an experimental piece showing beside a romcom. The genre has found a new rhythm in Thailand’s cultural scene, echoed in film festivals, talks and workshops that bring creators and viewers face to face. Photograph: Taiwan Documentary Film Festival in Thailand Photograph: Taiwan Documentary Film Festival in Thailand Among these is the Taiwan Documentary Film Festival, a relatively young but significant fixture on the calendar. It doesn’t shout for attention; it invites it, through portraits of Taiwanese lives that reveal both distance and closeness. Each film unpacks something we might recognise – a family ritual, a political ache, a city caught between nostalgia and change. Returning from November 12-16, the event stretches across Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Songkhla, weaving connections between audiences in different regi

If you’ve ever found solace in the sound of a pencil dragging across paper, or spent hours lost between the folds of a sketchbook, October in Bangkok might feel like home. The Bangkok Illustration Fair returns at Central World from October 23-26, a four-day collision of colour, paper and perspective that has grown from a small creative gathering into one of Southeast Asia’s most beloved art events. The event is now in its fifth year, and it’s a living sketchbook. 200 artists from 17 countries have been selected to show their work, from Thailand to Japan, Italy, Greece and Taiwan. The fair resists hierarchy, letting new illustrators share the same space as veterans. More than 50 reviewers, from studios and agencies across the world, roam the aisles each year in search of artists who catch their attention. And it’s not just the on-site booths and sales for those chosen; every artist who applies gets their own corner to showcase work on BangkokIllustrationFair.com. Photograph: Bangkok Illustration Fair For the first time, the fair introduces ‘International Alliance’, a new zone dedicated to cross-border collaboration, giving artists who have only met through screens a chance to talk, share and perhaps start something new. Other familiar corners return too: ‘B2A (Business to Artist)’, where illustrators meet potential clients, and ‘Portfolio Review’, where a ten-minute chat might quietly alter a career. Photograph: Bangkok Illustration Fair The highlight, though, hides in the

Bangkok has a habit of reinventing itself, sometimes faster than its residents can keep up. A month ago it was all about Dusit Central Park, the glossy new Silom shopping complex with a rooftop garden called Dusit Arun. Then came Cloud 11, the soon-to-open creative hub in South Sukhumvit promising to gather artists, filmmakers and tech dreamers under one enormous sky garden. Both places share a certain ambition – vast open-air spaces suspended above the city, designed to make Bangkok look up again. But while the architects and designers have had their moment, December will belong to the music. At the tail end of the year, central Bangkok will welcome FVTURE Bangkok, Southeast Asia’s largest hyperclub – a phrase that sounds like marketing exaggeration until you see the blueprints. Designed to hold 6,000 people, this isn’t a club so much as a city within one. Imagine if Ibiza’s Amnesia, Berlin’s Berghain and a spaceship collided somewhere over the Chao Phraya – the result might look something like this. The idea was born from a team that knows the industry inside out. Victor Wang, who has spent years running nightlife operations across Asia, leads the project with Michele Wang, a detail-obsessed operator focused on long-term sustainability rather than short-lived spectacle. The music direction falls to Pablo Vas, the DJ and curator behind Bangkok’s Down Temple and Tucan, both known for turning sound into ritual. Together, they seem determined to give the city something it hasn’

We get it. New Year’s Eve can be a bit of a trap. All that talk of glittering countdowns and once-in-a-lifetime parties, and yet somehow you end up in the corner, clutching a flat drink, wondering if midnight’s really worth the wait. So imagine swapping the confetti cannons for waves, sequins for sand, and the city skyline for an island where time doesn’t really care what day it is. Now in its 12th year, Fly To The Moon keeps going. Set on Koh Mak, one of Thailand’s last unspoiled islands, it trades the usual noise for the quiet confidence of nature doing its thing. No shopping streets or neon signs, just coconut groves, soft light and locals who actually know your name by the end of the night. The island’s eco-minded approach means fewer people, smaller crowds and intimacy that’s become rare in the festival circuit. Photograph: Fly to the Moon Those who return every year say it’s about greeting the first sunrise together, a collective exhale before the year begins. You don’t just celebrate the new year here, you let it find you, somewhere between salt air, sound, and a sky still holding last night’s stars. Thinking of going this year? Here's the lowdown on tickets, stages, who’s playing and accommodation. When is the Fly to the Moon Festival 2025? This year's festival will take place from December 28-January 2 2026. Where is the Fly to the Moon Festival 2025? This year’s festival will once again be held on Koh Mak Island in Trat. When are the tickets on sale? You can grab