Kaweewat Siwanartwong

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

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

Thailand’s music calendar has been playing coy this year. Rumours of cancellations, whispered talk of comebacks, line-ups teased then quietly reshuffled – it’s been messy, but in that very Thai way, somehow the beat goes on. Even with the uncertainty swirling around some of the city’s biggest names, Bangkok remains blessed with an embarrassment of festivals, from single-day marathons to sprawling weekend escapes. It helps to be strategic. Do you want a sunburnt afternoon by the sea or a midnight rave in a warehouse? Do you tolerate camping, or does the idea of queuing for a shower fill you with dread? Whether you’re loyal to one genre or happy to let the algorithm of chaos decide, there’s something with your name on it. Beachfront chill-outs, rooftop hip-hop sessions, jazz in the park, electronic odysseys that stretch until sunrise – Thailand does it all, often in the same week. And if you’ve been slow on the tickets, don’t panic. Festival season here stretches itself thin, spilling across months like an endless afterparty. Hip-hop, afrobeat, rock, disco, experimental electronica – you can take your pick, or try them all, until your ears give up. Thailand isn’t short on sound, only on weekends. So yes, it’s chaotic, sometimes unpredictable, but it’s also glorious. Have a scroll through our guide, circle a date and prepare to swap the city’s traffic jams for something infinitely louder. RECOMMENDED: Bangkok’s best upcoming concerts in 2025

Some instruments seem destined for Bangkok. Saxophones in neon bars. Guitars on makeshift stages. Even an occasional sitar wafting through an incense-lit cafe. But a five-string banjo? Not exactly. Yet that’s what Sunny – Chanasinj ‘Sunny’ Sachdev – chose as his pandemic obsession. What began as an algorithm-fed curiosity has spiralled into a community movement, pulling the unlikely sound of bluegrass into the city’s rooftops, beer halls and YouTube feeds. Through Bluegrass Underground Bangkok, rooftop jam sessions and even a road trip to North Carolina, Sunny has positioned himself at the centre of a scene few expected to exist in Thailand. He calls it community-building, but it feels like something stranger and more cinematic: an offbeat soundtrack to Bangkok nights, carried on strings that once belonged only to Appalachian hillsides. Photograph: Bluegrass Underground Bangkok   We caught up with Sunny via email – a fitting medium for a conversation that meanders between banjo twang, superhero comics and the quiet revolution of turning Bangkok into a hub for Irish reels and American roots music. The accidental banjo player Sunny admits it was never part of a plan. ‘YouTube algorithm! It turned my friend into a flat earther, and me into a banjo player,’ he writes. It wasn’t just novelty. He had long been drawn to older traditions, even if he hadn’t labelled them. ‘Medieval-sounding Irish tunes would sneak into my playlists at house parties, confusing everyone. I suspect a l

Time has this annoying way of slipping past, and suddenly we’re staring down the second weekend of September. The rainy season might have you reaching for an umbrella, but Bangkok’s cultural calendar refuses to slow down. If anything, it feels like the city is bending the drizzle into excuses for discovery, and this weekend proves it. Flashlight Market returns, transforming the old warehouse vibe into a playground for food, daily essentials and handcrafted finds that reimagine Thai culture in playful, modern ways. If you’re chasing music, Berlin-based Norwegian DJ Telephones takes over the decks with two decades of genre-bending house, proto-techno and cosmic grooves, while Mumsfilibaba adds a festival of acid, UKG and disco that makes you forget the humidity. Later, Sunset Splash x Innerbloom promises a poolside escape above the skyline, with DJs, live percussion, dancers and complimentary cocktails for the ladies from 2pm to 4pm, all set against Bangkok’s golden sunset. For something awe-inspiring, the China National Acrobatic Troupe stages feats that defy gravity: trapezes, tightropes, cycling handstands, glass-balancing contortions and tumbling through hoops that leave you wondering how humans can move this way. And if your weekend requires a more indulgent pace, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit’s Sunday Jazzy Brunch is turning prawns into an international affair, complete with live jazz, chef-led counters and dishes from Thailand to Spain and Italy, all served with a sense of t

August disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a memory of heat and neon nights, and now here we are in September, month nine. If you’re the type to take luck seriously, it’s supposed to be a good number, so fingers crossed. And really, this month looks like it might just deserve that luck: September is absolutely stuffed with things worth leaving the house for. Start with How Do You Do, Snoopy? The 75th anniversary exhibition brings Snoopy and the Peanuts gang to Bangkok like you’ve never seen them before – four immersive zones, over 25 artists, 24 fashion collaborations and a treasure trove of archival comics that somehow feel entirely alive. If you’re hunting for something a little grittier, the Tay Flea Market is back, all 90s nostalgia, band tees, Carhartt jackets and leather. Hia Jump has curated chaos in the best possible way. Music lovers can catch Summer Salt, breezy and intimate or Tyler, The Creator, whose Chromakopia Tour promises the spectacle that turns a venue into another universe. Then there’s Sting, still sharp, still inventive, with the Sing 3.0 World Tour bringing decades of hits into a lean, thrilling set. Finally (but not really), film fans can rejoice: the Bangkok International Film Festival makes its long-awaited return with over 200 international films, kicking off with Tee Yod 3 (Death Whisperer 3). There’s never been a better time to wander, listen and watch – September is shaping up to be the kind of month that reminds you why you live in

We’ve hit month nine of 2025, can you believe it? The year has been a whirlwind, yet Bangkok’s art scene keeps blooming like it’s on its own schedule. Bangkok Design Week might have taken its energy south to Songkhla for Pakk Taii Design Week, but don’t worry if you’re sticking around the capital – the city still has plenty to keep you wandering, pausing and occasionally losing yourself. Bangkok has this way of surprising even the most seasoned art lovers. Exhibitions pop up with startling frequency, each one a chance to step into someone else’s imagination, whether it’s a tiny gallery tucked down a soi or a sprawling installation demanding all your attention. We’ve wandered through them, lingered in the corners, and scribbled our own impressions. The list below gathers the exhibitions that genuinely stand out – each one offering something distinct, a little spark to shake up your routine. If you’re planning a weekend, or even a short wander after work, these shows are worth the detour. Trust us, they’re the kind of experiences that make you remember why you fell for the city’s creativity in the first place. 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 September. Whether you're a regular gallery-goer or just art-curious, these are Bangkok’s best spots to live the art life.

Every generation has its underground. The kids in Detroit had warehouse techno, Berlin danced through the night under broken roofs, London rewrote its adolescence in basements. Bangkok, a city that can swing between holy silence and frenzied chaos in the space of a tuk-tuk ride, is no different. Here, underground music is less a trend than an ongoing negotiation between heat, noise, police raids and sheer determination. One of the names whispered most insistently in these circles is Kangkao. The collective, formed just a few years ago, has become less a crew than a cultural experiment. It throws parties that are meticulously unpolished, gatherings that foreground vinyl in an age of USB sticks, spaces where fashion, art and music cross-pollinate without ever needing a press release. Kangkao doesn’t aim to be glamorous – it aims to be necessary. Photograph: kangkao_ The brothers Payu Von Bueren and Jakrin Von Bueren, both Kangkao residents, are among the figures keeping it alive. When we meet at the Trinity Complex – still echoing with last year’s Halloween set that ended in police intervention – they are thoughtful, candid and unusually unguarded for DJs whose job usually requires them to deflect behind a booth. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kangkao ค้างคาว (@kangkao_) Brothers before decks The story begins at home, before either of them knew what ‘underground’ meant. ‘Our dad was always collecting records,’ Payu recalls. ‘So we grew up surro

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

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

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

Let's be real: the golden temples are great and a whirlwind tuk-tuk ride is a rite of passage. But if that’s all you do, you’re only scratching the surface of what makes Bangkok one of the most exciting cities on the planet. The city’s real magic isn’t on a postcard; it's in the details. It’s the slurp of noodles at a tucked-away stall, the discovery of a cool art gallery down a quiet soi, and the laid-back vibe of a riverside park where locals unwind. These are the places that make you fall in love with the city for real. So, how do you get past the tourist traps and into the good stuff? That’s where the Trip.Best Top 100 comes in. By sifting through over 100 million user reviews, Trip.Best by Trip.com has created the ultimate data-driven, local-approved hit list of standout stays, must-try restaurants and unforgettable nights out. This is your key to unlocking the city’s best-kept secrets, like checking into an impossibly chic urban oasis like Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok (a winner on the 2025 Global 100 Instagrammable Hotels list) or snagging a coveted table at culinary heavyweight Côte by Mauro Colagreco (crowned on the 2025 Global 100 Fine Dining list). Ready to see the Bangkok that locals are proud to call home? We’ve tapped into the Trip.Best list to get you started. Read on.

Sayantani ‘Zeena’ Roy’s solo exhibition is a quiet kind of revelation. Her photographs turn landscapes and city corners into living timelines, spaces where memory, decay and becoming seem to fold into one another. These aren’t snapshots of places; they are emotional coordinates, moments that ask you to pause. Weathered walls, diffused light, the soft grain of a frame – every image exhales stillness. A rusting bike hidden in a Bangkok warehouse, light spilling through Sagrada Familia, corridors empty yet heavy with presence, all suspended between past and present, longing and letting go. Standing in front of them, you begin to feel the pulse of the spaces themselves. These are places that do more than exist; they live, breathe and remind us that time is never just linear. September 21. Free. Le Cafe des Stagiaires.

This Sunday, Slowcombo is opening a  session where crystal-clear intention meets curiosity: guided manifestation, subconscious reprogramming through RTT, sound healing and oracle readings all collide in one carefully woven experience. Attendees are invited to peel back layers, release the stories that hold them back and get a glimpse of what their soul actually wants. There’s no performance, no pressure, just a room tuned to self-discovery, quiet insights and unexpected clarity. Spaces are deliberately limited, so the energy stays intimate, supportive, almost sacred. It’s less about achieving something immediate and more about stepping into a rhythm that feels unmistakably your own. September 21. B1,999-2,200. Reserve via Instagram: @pinky.pyn. Slowcombo, 4pm-6pm

This Saturday, Bar Temp transforms into a quiet haven for anyone ready to explore the subtler side of dance music. Founders of Boiled Wonderland Records and Jugaar Records take over the decks, guiding the night through textured rhythms, gentle grooves and tracks that linger just long enough to pull you in. It’s not about the flash or the drop, but the kind of sets that reveal themselves slowly, rewarding attention and curiosity. Every selection feels deliberate, a conversation between the DJs and the room, inviting both longtime fans and those new to the scene to lose themselves in sound. By the end, it’s less a party and more an intimate journey – a night where music is felt as much as it is heard. September 20. Tickets at the door. Bar Temp., 9pm onwards  

Since bursting onto the scene in 2018, Baby Oliv has become a force you can’t ignore. Her sets slip effortlessly between house, baile funk, bass, budots and Jersey club, each mix a celebration of movement, identity and sheer joy. She’s graced stages across Asia and Australia, from festival mainstages to underground club rooms, always carrying a distinctly feminine energy that turns any floor into a playground. Now stepping into production, her tracks are as fearless as her performances – sensual, bold, built for bodies that won’t sit still. Sharing the night are Bangkok’s own Furry, spinning playful hip-hop and hyperpop edits, and Sriracha Czaddy, founder of YUMM and a queer club provocateur. Together, they promise a whirlwind of ballroom, Latin rhythms, Jersey bounce and glittering pop that leaves nothing but celebration in their wake. September 20. B200 via here and B400 at the door. Beam, 9pm onwards

There’s something soothing about watching colour ripple across water, as if paint had decided to learn how to breathe. The Marbling Art Workshop, subtitled The Journey of Colour and Water, leans into that calm, offering a few hours where control gives way to chance. Each pattern is unpredictable, each piece a small accident that somehow feels deliberate. Hosted at TCDC Bangkok’s Public Rooftop Garden, five floors above the city, the setting itself does half the work – greenery curling against skyline views, a pocket of stillness in a city that rarely pauses. You don’t need training, only a willingness to let pigment drift where it wants. It’s free, open to everyone, and strangely therapeutic. Think of it less as crafting and more as giving your thoughts room to float. September 20. Free. 5/F, TCDC, 1pm-3pm

Leather has always been more than surface – it carries memory, texture, even contradiction. Unveiling Leather: The Language of Modularity gathers seven artists to test just how far that thought can stretch. Here, leather isn’t draped neatly over chairs but stitched, folded, bent and layered until it becomes structure, not skin. Some works recall architectural precision, sharp and geometric, while others surrender to the material’s natural instincts, twisting and flexing into forms that feel almost alive. The exhibition lingers on modularity, on how shapes adapt as easily as lives do, shifting to meet new spaces and new demands. There’s tradition woven through each piece – craftsmanship and heritage intact – but the focus tilts firmly toward the present, where innovation and imagination tug leather into uncharted terrain. September 20-December 7. Free. Four Seasons ART Space by MOCA Bangkok, 10.30am-7.30pm

A Dream of Red Mansions is hardly light material – sprawling, tragic, saturated with longing – but this season it takes on an unexpected form. The National Ballet of China, one of Asia’s most formidable companies, is translating the Qing dynasty novel into the language of Western ballet, a collision of traditions that feels both daring and inevitable. On stage, more than 80 dancers move through heartbreak, desire and the slow collapse of a noble family, their gestures sharpened by elaborate sets, intricate costumes and lighting shipped straight from Beijing. At its core sits a love triangle so doomed it feels modern, the kind of story that asks whether duty and feeling can ever live side by side. The ballet suggests the answer, as always, is complicated. September 20. B2,000-4,500 via here. Thailand Cultural Centre, 2.30pm and 7pm

Shereif Eldesouky’s new exhibition is a meditation on how we break apart and find our way back. The Egyptian mixed-media artist, now based in Bangkok, draws on memory and sibling love, framing both as fragile yet astonishingly resilient. His chosen metaphor is the reef: sometimes bleached, sometimes reborn, always in flux. The pieces trace cycles of sorrow and repair, suggesting that the same emotional currents that pull us away can, in time, return us to one another. Eldesouky mirrors this in his process, painting, dismantling, then reassembling fragments into forms that speak of survival and renewal. It’s at once personal and planetary, asking us to see our own bonds in the same light as coral – vulnerable, but never beyond revival. September 20-November 15. Free. Bangkok 1899, 11am-6pm

Kajonsak Rungsuriyan’s latest exhibition doesn’t so much tell a story as stage a parable. It begins on a nameless planet, a place both strange and eerily ordinary, where life once moved in lockstep with the natural world. Over centuries, though, harmony curdled into quiet destruction. The inhabitants learned to take until taking felt normal, a pattern passed down like heirlooms, too familiar to question. Kajonsak calls this imagined world Eighty-Two x Forty. Its people see not depletion but the smallness of their own desires, as if narrow vision were a form of survival. Spend long enough there, the artist suggests, and even you might accept it, even like it. The exhibition asks a disquieting question: at what point does complicity stop feeling like choice? Until October 5. Free. KYLA Gallery and Wine Bar, 3pm-midnight

Baldo is the kind of DJ who resists neat categories. Based in Barcelona, he’s a producer, label head and the quiet engine behind Subwax Distribution and Physical Education. Nearly ten years at Razzmatazz gave him the training ground to refine a sound that’s hard to pin down but impossible to ignore: acid squelches, deep house warmth, grooves sharp enough to keep you wide awake at 5am. His sets carry the same restless curiosity as his records on Permanent Vacation, Running Back and E-Beamz. He’s not coming alone. Krit Morton and Chucheewa step in for a back-to-back, each bringing a different pulse: Krit’s tight, electro-inflected hypnotism against Chucheewa’s playful blend of funk, breaks and Thai flourishes, fresh off a whirlwind Euro tour. Expect sparks, not predictability. September 19. B300 via here and B500 at the door. Beamcube, 9pm onwards 

Tintin Cooper has a way of holding up a mirror that doesn’t flatter but fascinates. Her latest exhibition peers at Thailand and Southeast Asia through the eyes of outsiders, before flipping the lens back onto locals negotiating endless waves of tourism, migration and the clichés both sides quietly cling to. Here, the works are stitched together from the messy fabric of online life: animal memes, TikTok clips of holidaymakers misbehaving, ‘passport bro’ forums and Thai news headlines. Cooper treats this digital chaos as autobiography, shaped by a childhood spent adapting to languages and gestures that were never quite her own. Even the titles read like cultural fragments. One canvas lifts from Matichon’s bleak June headline I’m Ok, Not Ok, while another lovingly immortalises Moo Deng, Thailand’s internet-famous pygmy hippo, as if memes were scripture. Until November 8. Free. SAC Gallery, 11am-6pm

Bangkok doesn’t exactly need more colour, but this September it’s getting a fresh coat anyway. As part of European Heritage Days 2025, the French Embassy and Sawasdee France are pulling off something unusual: pairing the city’s centuries-old corners with the boldness of contemporary street art. The plan is straightforward but ambitious. Over in Charoen Krung, Talat Noi, South Sathon, Surawong and Lumpini, Thai and European artists will transform blank walls into sprawling murals, the kind that quietly shift how a neighbourhood feels. You can wander by each day and watch as the images unfold, spray by spray. There’s also a seminar on September 18 at the Grand Post Office, where curator Alisa Phommahaxay will unravel how artists like JR and Christo turn concrete into conversation. Until September 21. Free. Talad Noi and surrounding areas. 

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to walk straight into a fever dream of fright and festival vibes, well, Bangkok in October is about to give you answers – loud, glowing, spine-prickling answers. This October, Bangkok gets a little darker, a little louder, and a whole lot more fun. Junji Ito, the master of unsettling horror, is making a rare appearance with his Junji Ito Collection Horror House. It’s the kind of event that whispers ‘don’t look behind you,’ and yes, he’ll be here in person, giving the city a taste of his uniquely creepy world. Perfect timing for Halloween, of course. Photograph: Chang Chui Creative Park But should you prefer your scares with beer and questionable decisions, then head west. Thonburi’s Chang Chui Creative Park is throwing what can only be described as a haunted house party for grown-ups. From October 3-5, 3pm-midnight, Ghost Story Liquor turns the park into something between a folklore rave and a foodie seance. Entry’s free, spirits are flowing (in every sense), and over 150 drink labels are showing up with more than 300 boozy concoctions to sample. It’s like Oktoberfest died, came back, and found a better DJ. Food-wise, over 50 stalls sling dishes bold enough to distract even the hungriest poltergeist, with Sun Valley Thailand making sure no one leaves unsatisfied, even those floating a few feet off the ground. Photograph: Chang Chui Creative Park And then there’s the ghost story zone If you fancy hearing spine-crawling tales from Bang

Minimalism might be the cult of our generation, but let’s be honest: most of us are haunted not by having too much, but by the guilt of not having quite enough. A half-empty wardrobe feels tragic, like a ghost town of unworn shirts and the one jacket you swore would make you look mysterious. October, with its theatrics of death and afterlife, has a way of turning closets into graveyards. If clothes could rattle chains, they’d be doing it every time you slide the hangers. Then comes LOH Market, here to perform fashion exorcism. For three days from October 10-12, Cheeze Looker is dragging the city’s most forgotten garments into the light, transforming the rooftop of Big C Rama 4 into something between a swap meet, a flea fair and a group therapy session for hoarders. This isn’t retail in the glossy mall sense; it’s more like a communal purge, the sort of collective unburdening that makes you wonder why you were ever clinging to that neon vest from 2012. Photograph: Cheeze Looker The market is divided into four zones, each one catering to a specific brand of baggage. The ‘loh zone’ is for anyone living in fear of a rail collapse. ‘michelin star zone’ is a cheeky way of saying you’ll probably score a top from someone’s abandoned wish list for less than your iced latte. ‘One price zone’ keeps things democratic at B100 a pop, while ‘It’s just taking up space at home zone’ is where furniture, lamps and the regrettable chair you dragged from Chatuchak finally get their second act.

วนกลับมาอีกครั้งกับงาน Negroni Week 2025 พร้อมบาร์ทั่วไทยอีกกว่า 239 แห่ง คราวนี้บาร์แต่ละแห่งต่างหยิบสูตรค็อกเทลคลาสสิกที่มีจิน แคมปารี และเวอร์มุธ ซึ่งบางร้านครีเอตการเสิร์ฟแบบรมควัน บางร้านก็เสิร์ฟแบบใสแจ๋วราวกับคริสตัล บางร้านครีเอตโดยการเพิ่มโซดาเป็นส่วนผสม หรือบางร้านเสิร์ฟแบบเรียบง่ายบนก้อนน้ำแข็ง เหมือนอย่างที่เคานต์คามิลโล เนโกรนี ชอบดื่มสมัยเขาอยู่ที่ฟลอเรนซ์  งาน Negroni Week เริ่มจัดขึ้นในปี 2013 โดยความร่วมมือกับองค์กรการกุศล นั่นแปลว่าค็อกเทลทุกแก้วที่ดื่มก็เท่ากับการได้ร่วมสนับสนุนสิ่งดีๆ พร้อมกันไปด้วย โดยปีนี้ทาง Negroni Week จะมอบรายได้ให้แก่ Slow Food องค์กรที่ทำงานด้านความยั่งยืนซึ่งเกี่ยวข้องกับการอนุรักษ์วัฒนธรรมอาหารของท้องถิ่น ฉะนั้นยืนยันได้เลยว่า งานนี้จึงไม่ได้มีดีแค่ถ่ายรูปแก้วสวยๆ เอาไว้อวดบนโซเชียลแน่นอน  ซึ่งสิ่งที่ทำให้ ‘เนโกรนี’ น่าสนใจก็คือ รสชาติที่ไม่เคยจืดชืดและไม่มีอะไรมากลบเกลื่อน ทุกแก้วต่างเต็มไปด้วยเอกลักษณ์ อย่าง Campari ที่มีความขมเฝื่อน หรือจินที่เพิ่มความ ‘เข้ม’ และ ‘คม’ เวอร์มุธที่ช่วยให้บาลานซ์อย่างลงตัว เรียกได้ว่าเป็นค็อกเทลที่มีความสมดุลเท่าๆ กัน  ซึ่งเครื่องดื่มแต่ละแก้วต่างก็มีสไตล์เป็นของตัวเอง อย่างมาร์ตินี่ก็จะออกแนวเท่หน่อย โมฮีโตมีลุคที่ดูแล้วสดใส ส่วนโอลด์แฟชั่นก็มักจะทำให้นึกถึงลุคเคร่งขรึมแบบคุณพ่อ แต่ถ้าเป็นเนโกรนีละก็ มันจะทั้งขม ทั้งสดใส มีลุคเพลย์บอยขี้เล่น แต่ก็ยังอยู่ในร่องในรอย เหมือนอย่างเพื่อนที่นัดกันแล้วชอบมาสาย แต่เมื่อมาถึงทีไรก็จะมีเรื่องเด็ดๆ มาเล่าให้ฟังทุกครั้ง ไม่แปลกใจเลยว่าทั้งหมดนี้ทำไมจึงต้องมีสัปดาห์เนโกรนีอันแสนพิเศษในตัวของมันเอง   เพราะฉะนั้น หากคุณนับไม่ได้ว่าเมื่อปีก่อนดื่มไปแล้วกี่แก้ว ซ

There are concerts you buy tickets for because your mates are going, and then there are concerts you rearrange your life around. Tyler, The Creator falls firmly into the latter. When news broke that he’d be touching down in Bangkok, the city’s group chats lit up like a neon sign. Suddenly everyone had opinions on set lists, outfits and how early to show up at Impact Arena.  ‘Tyler, The Creator is coming here next week.’ It’s the fact that slices through the rumours of cancelled festivals, line-up reshuffles and the city’s perpetual rumours about who’s playing where. For a moment, Bangkok feels like the centre of a very particular universe: one where a Grammy-winning rapper decides to drop in and thousands of people lose their collective cool. Photograph: Tyler, the Creator Tyler lands on September 16 at Impact Arena, the Thai stop of his world-spanning Chromakopia tour, the album that hit number one on the Billboard chart and refused to budge for weeks. It’s been hailed as a career peak, the kind of project that lets an artist strut and stretch without looking over their shoulder. His shows are just as relentless – Complex calls him one of the best live rappers, while the Los Angeles Times went with ‘electrifying.’ Photograph: carnivalbkk Photograph: carnivalbkk But before the concert itself, there’s homework – or at least wardrobe prep. Carnival, Bangkok’s cult streetwear label, has teamed with Sony Music to host a week-long pop-up at Warehouse 30. Titled ‘Don’t Tap Th

Some cities have a knack for unexpected collisions. Bangkok is one of them. Where else could you find a jazz band jamming next to a morlam troupe while aunties in sequinned blouses clap along to a swing dancer in two-tone shoes? Golden Mount Swing is precisely that sort of gathering – a temple fair turned dance floor, where nostalgia for the 1930s gets remixed with the smell of grilled squid and the soundtrack of a Thai countryside party. The Hop Bangkok, the city’s swing dance crew, are plotting this time-bending carnival on September 14 at Saket Ratchawora Mahawihan Temple, the kind of old Bangkok neighbourhood that still has wooden shophouses and whispers of another century. From 3pm-11pm, the area transforms into a hybrid jazz club, village fair and street market. Imagine lindy hoppers in suspenders twirling under neon temple lights, then picture someone’s grandma joining in with a ramwong circle – it all makes sense when you’re there. Photograph: The Hop Bangkok At the centre of it all are The Stumblrs, a band with one foot in Duke Ellington’s world and the other in molam’s trance-like rhythms. Their setlist ricochets between swing standards – ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, ‘Take the A Train’ – and Isan-inspired reworks that shouldn’t work together but somehow do. It’s the kind of music that refuses to sit politely in the background. Photograph: The Hop Bangkok But the event isn’t only about music. There’ll be tap dancers tapping, swing couples showing off impossible spins an

There are few drinks that come with a built-in personality. A martini is clean, a mojito is eager, an old fashioned always insists on reminding you of your dad. The negroni, however, manages to be bitter and bright, louche yet disciplined – the friend who shows up late to dinner but brings the best gossip. No surprise then that it gets an entire week to itself. Negroni Week 2025 runs from September 22-28, and Bangkok, never one to pass up a reason for excess, is throwing itself into the ritual. 239 bars across Thailand will lean into the holy trinity of gin, Campari and vermouth, while tossing in their own twists: smoked, clarified, lengthened with fizz, or simply poured over ice the way Count Camillo Negroni allegedly preferred it back in Florence. But this isn’t just about Instagram-friendly glasses balanced against marble countertops. Negroni Week has always been revelry and responsibility. Since its beginnings in 2013, it’s been tied to fundraising, and this year the beneficiary is Slow Food, the movement campaigning for sustainable eating and the safeguarding of culinary traditions. In other words, while you’re sipping, you’re also (technically) saving the world. What’s lovely about the negroni is its refusal to be tamed. Some drinks fade into the background; the negroni never does. The Campari hits with bitterness, the gin keeps it sharp, the vermouth rounds it out. It’s democracy in a glass, equal parts, no hierarchies. So, if you can’t recall how many you had last yea

Bangkok is a lot of things. A fiddle-and-banjo capital? Not really. And yet, for one weekend at the end of November, Phrom Phong is going to sound like it’s been hijacked by Appalachian cowboys and Irish pub regulars. From November 28-30, Public House Bangkok hosts round two of The South Eastern Old Time Gathering – a three day festival of flutes, fiddles and mandolins. The first edition earlier this year packed out with more than two hundred people, so clearly Bangkok has a secret soft spot for acoustic roots music. This time around, they’re flying in talent from four continents to join the usual local legends who never miss a jam – expect a proper showcase of traditional tunes and good vibes all around. Photograph: Bluegrass Underground Bangkok If you’re wondering what ‘old-time’ actually means, don’t stress. It’s folk, it’s Irish, it’s Scottish, it’s of course, bluegrass. It’s traditional music from all over the world, but all with the same roots. With so many styles in the mix, there’s bound to be something that hits the spot. The fun here isn’t only the music on stage. You can jump into an open jam, pick up a new tune (or a new mate), and properly get stuck in the trad music community. Between sets, there’s a market with handmade instruments and crafts, so you might swing by for a pint and end up leaving with a banjo. Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to happen. Photograph: Bluegrass Underground Bangkok And while Bangkok might feel a world away from the roots of bluegra

For once, centenaries are colliding. The Thai Red Cross has reached its 100th year, and so has Lumphini Park, Bangkok’s first official patch of green. The timing feels cinematic: an organisation built on compassion sharing an anniversary with a park that has, for better or worse, witnessed the city’s contradictions for a century. Between joggers dodging monitor lizards at dawn and pensioners playing chess in the shade, Lumphini has aged with enviable poise. It’s here, from December 11-21, that the annual Red Cross Fair sets up camp. What began in 1923 at Sanam Luang has become one of Bangkok’s most enduring traditions, a jumble of generosity and spectacle where food stalls, raffles and performances rub shoulders. This year the theme invites visitors to arrive in traditional dress – sinh skirts, sabai scarves, the whole ensemble – not as some empty nod to heritage but as a chance to see how culture wears itself in the present tense. Photograph: Red Cross Fair The fair is deliberately excessive. Over 100 vendors, charity-run food booths, prize-packed games, craft stalls, exhibitions and enough fried snacks to test the limits of digestion. One moment you might be holding skewered squid, the next you’re elbow-deep in a lucky draw, then somehow watching a performance under the glow of neon fairy lights. There’s a reason families mark the dates in calendars with more certainty than New Year’s Eve plans. Photograph: Red Cross Fair The fair is easily accessible by public transpor

If you’ve ever fallen down a Junji Ito rabbit hole at 2am, you’ll know that his brand of horror isn’t about cheap jump scares. It’s about dread, the slow kind that crawls under your skin and refuses to leave. Words like ‘bizarre’, ‘grotesque’ and ‘peculiar’ don’t quite cut it, but they get close. Ito’s worlds are populated by cursed beauties who regenerate no matter how many times they’re destroyed, balloon-headed predators dangling nooses, and an entire town spiralling – literally – into obsession and madness. Thailand is about to step into that nightmare. From October 10 to January 5, MBK Center will host Junji Ito Collection Horror House, an exhibition reimagining the manga legend’s Museum of Terror as a walk-through haunted house. It’s timed neatly for Halloween, though anyone who’s read Uzumaki knows the unease lingers long after the lights come up. Spread across 1,500 square metres, the space promises to collapse the distance between page and reality, pulling fans into Ito’s most notorious stories. Expect to run into Tomie, the immortal siren who leaves ruin in her wake, and Souichi, the creepy nail-chewing prankster who makes Dennis the Menace look like a church boy. Photograph: Thaiticketmajor   Photograph: Thaiticketmajor   Bangkok isn’t the first to get the treatment. Taiwan hosted the inaugural Horror House in 2023, where more than 100,000 visitors willingly subjected themselves to Ito’s particular brand of torment. The Bangkok edition comes with a budget north

The future of gaming is about to stage its most theatrical entrance in Bangkok. Not in the quiet glow of a basement screen, not in the hush of late-night multiplayer marathons, but in the halls of Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, where two giants of the industry have decided to fuse their worlds. Gamescom Asia, usually pitched as the continent’s sharpest business hub, and Thailand Game Show, the city’s carnival of controllers and cosplay, are colliding for the first time under the banner of Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show, with the audacious concept of a ‘world of gaming’. From October 16-19, the event will occupy over 30,000 square metres, a space that could conceal a small airport, and will attempt to contain both the seriousness of billion-baht deals and the exuberance of neon-lit fandom.  Photograph: gamescom asia The structure is neatly divided, as if gaming itself were split into two personalities. On one side, the business zone (B2B), open October 16-17, where developers, publishers and investors in smart-casual blazers will trade visions of the future. On the other, the entertainment zone (B2C), running October 17-19, where gamers will crowd around screens for their first look at new titles from CAPCOM, Hoyoverse and Ubisoft, while the indie game zone throws a spotlight on over 80 debut projects. Expect the serious faces of executives, the unselfconscious joy of cosplay competitions and the collective hush before an eSports final. Somewhere in the middle

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

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