Kaweewat Siwanartwong

Welcome to September, Bangkok’s wettest month – a proper test of patience involving umbrellas, soaked trainers and downpours timed for the moment you step outside. Make it through without losing a shoe to a flooded soi and you’ve earned a reward. Luckily, the city stays busy when the rain sets in. Art lovers have plenty to explore. Giving Life at Dib Bangkok gathers more than 160 works by 33 Thai and international artists, including kinetic-art pioneer Alexander Calder. For something more hands-on, Beyond the Rainbow explores the bond between people and their pets across three experiential zones – and you can bring yours along in a carrier or stroller. Music leans into nostalgia. Pink Symphonic Concert reworks songs from Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper and Barbie of Swan Lake for an orchestra of nearly 45 musicians, while The Click Five reunites in Bangkok. Art Battle Bangkok adds live painting, timed rounds and audience voting. Elsewhere, centralwOrld fills up with Disney characters and collectibles, Thailand Coffee Fest brings together everyone from farmers to baristas, and ‘Drag Race Thai Fans vs The World 3’ stars Raja Gemini, Morphine Love Dion and Gawdland. If that sounds like too much effort, ‘Do F**ing Nothing’ offers the opposite: pocket your phone, sit quietly and do nothing for an hour.  When in doubt, fall back on our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks, galleries and interviews, or tick off our bucket list of the best things to do in Bangkok.

Need weekend plans? Bangkok answers with live music, late-night parties, community gatherings, silent cinema and a boxing card unlike most – enough to carry you from Thursday night to Sunday. Michael Jackson’'s biggest hits get a soulful makeover at SIWILAI Sound Club, where Electric Soul Ordinary reimagines the King of Pop's catalogue in the Live Room. Prefer a rooftop? Bar.Yard pairs a five-course Peruvian-inspired dinner with Stonefish wines, Afro House and skyline views. Club Sathorn takes over Le Café des Stagiaires for electronic sets by Alex Zaldua, Ashima, Gaspray and Susha, while YUMM brings Latin rhythms, techno and global club music from Anita B Queen and Brazilian duo Cyberkills. Away from the dancefloor, Eat Play Root Fest gathers workshops, a communal meal and conversation circles on Sunday. The Silent Film Festival returns for its10th edition, with British accompanist Stephen Horne scoring classic films live at Sala Cinema Theatre and Nang Loeng Cinema. For something less conventional, Bartender Fight Vol. 2 puts bartenders in the ring for 11 Muay Thai bouts before the after-party. Bangkok keeps busy, as ever. When in doubt, turn to our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks, galleries and interviews, or work through our bucket list of the best things to do in Bangkok.Plan the rest of August with our guide to what’s on, then browse our latest picks of Bangkok’s best things to do.   Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, straight to

News of club closures and sober youngsters might have you thinking that nightlife is dead. We’re here to tell you – with proof! – that you couldn’t be further from the truth.  The way we go out might be different, but people are by no means staying in. Cities are adapting to our changing nightlife habits: as summers get hotter, street parties and rooftop raves are bigger than ever. Rather than heading to one or two big-name venues, locals are flocking to new nightlife districts for an evening of bar-hopping and curbside drinking. And, trust us, the nightclub isn’t going anywhere – in fact, communities and local governments have successfully rallied to save historic nightlife venues (in Berlin’s case, they’ve even managed to grant techno UNESCO-listed status). So, we’re here to celebrate going out in the city. From Bangkok to Berlin, Medellin to Mexico City, Time Out’s Best Cities for Nightlife with Intrepid Travel is the ultimate guide to today’s after-hours capitals. To curate the ranking, we went straight to the people who know their city best – the locals – and asked them to tell us all about the nightlife scene in their hometown right now. We asked them about everything from clubbing to cocktail bars, how affordable it is to go out at night, the overall quality of nightlife in their city, how easy it is to find community, and how safe, exciting, welcoming and diverse their city is. After crunching all that data, a panel of nightlife experts – Time Out’s city editors, cult

The rain is turning up almost every evening, so Bangkok’s wet season is well and truly here. Need an excuse to duck the next downpour? Go gallery hopping. August’s art calendar is packed with reasons to head out, from major openings and long-awaited reunions to hands-on installations and quietly compelling solo shows. Several new creative spaces are opening their doors, too, while standout exhibitions continue their runs. Got an hour between coffee stops or a whole Saturday afternoon to spare? These are the exhibitions to catch across Bangkok this month. Need more ideas? Browse our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks, galleries and interviews, or start ticking off the best things to do in Bangkok. Regular gallery-goer or just art-curious? Follow our guide to live the art life. From alleyway masterpieces and paint-splashed corners hiding in plain sight, seek out Bangkok’s top spots to see street art. Subscribe to our free Time Out Bangkok newsletter and get the best of the city delivered straight to your inbox.

You might never have met Ray MacDonald, but if you grew up in Thailand in the 1990s he was part of your week all the same, on the telly after school, up on the big screen with your mates, or talking you through a train ride halfway across the map. Ray, one of the most recognisable faces of a generation of Thai youth, died on August 19. His career runs close to three decades and takes in film, television and the travel programmes that sent a lot of us reaching for an atlas. Plenty of people first know him from the show Teen Talk; others picture him in O-Negative, Dear Galileo or Phobia 2. And for a whole crowd of viewers he plays a travelling companion they never actually meet, someone whose journeys make the wider world seem that bit closer from the sofa. So his story runs richer than the word 'actor' lets on. Over the years he turns up as a shy young man, a hitman, a monk, a graphic designer and a traveller, each part catching a particular moment in his life and the times around it. Here are 14 of his screen roles, from his first day on set to the work that still brings him to mind.   Fun Bar Karaoke Photograph: Fun Bar Karaoke, 2540Ray Macdonal Ray's first screen appearance comes in Pen-ek Ratanaruang's debut feature, and it wins him Best Actor at the Suphannahong National Film Awards straight out of the gate. He plays Noi, a shy convenience-store worker who turns hitman the moment he falls asleep. The character is odd, cheeky and quietly lonely, and you can already hear

This year hands us more choice than we know what to do with, the parties rolling on til the end of December. A little strategy pays off. The schedule stretches from gentle seaside sets in the cooler months to giant year-end send-offs, so plan ahead.  Do you want a slow day by the water or a midnight thrash in a warehouse? Can you handle a tent, or does the shower queue alone put you off? Loyal to one sound or happy to gamble on whatever lands next, one of these has your name on it. Sandy chill-outs, rooftop hip-hop, jazz under the trees, all-night electronic marathons that run til dawn – Thailand serves the whole spread, often across a single week. From Bangkok venues to island beaches and jungle clearings, the map fills up quick. Yet to book? No stress, because we keep this rundown current with day parties still holding tickets. Get moving before you miss the big names. 808 Festival, DIAGE Festival, Wonderfruit and Tomorrowland Thailand all touch down on Thai soil in the months ahead. Give our guide a scroll, refreshed constantly as new line-ups drop, and pick out whatever grabs you. Still undecided? You can always turn to our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks and galleries, or consult our bucket list of the best things to do in Bangkok. Map out the rest of the month with our guide to what’s on, and keep an eye on our picks of Bangkok’s best things to do.  Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, straight to your inbox. 

Craving ice cream? Course you are. Bangkok has a way of sending even the most grown-up among us in search of something cold and sweet  – and the city’s gelato scene has never offered more ways to cool down, dairy-free included. The only problem is choosing. We’ve rounded up the spots worth seeking out, whether you fancy a cone or cup of the good stuff, soft-serve that actually delivers, a cheeky ice cream sandwich or a sundae big enough to share (or not). The choices border on absurd, in a good way: brioche and tacos, fairy floss clouds, candied bacon, charcoal, sea salt and ube. However you roll, here are 16 of the best gelato and ice cream spots across Bangkok and the greater metro area. Still undecided? You can always turn to our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks and galleries, or consult our bucket list of the best things to do in Bangkok. Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, straight to your inbox.

Vinyl ruled the way we listened long before streaming put millions of songs at our fingertips. Yet the warmth and crackle of a needle hitting the groove still draw collectors and casual listeners back to something a playlist cannot quite replicate. Listening bars are flourishing around the world, and Bangkok is no exception. New spots keep appearing down sois and above shophouses, paying as much attention to turntables, valve amplifiers and acoustics as to what lands in your glass. Everything is tuned for switching off and listening properly.  Whether you collect rare pressings, simply love a good song or fancy a change from the usual after-work haunt, few things beat watching a record turns slowly through the night becomes one of those small, perfect hours. That's the whole appeal. We round up 14 vinyl bars around Bangkok that stand out for their atmosphere, their selections and their pours. Pick the one that catches your eye, and go make a night of it. Still undecided? Turn to our guides to Bangkok’s best bars, restaurants, parks and galleries, or consult our bucket list of the best things to do in Bangkok. Map out the rest of this month with our guide to what’s on, and keep an eye on our picks of Bangkok’s best things to do. Subscribe to our free newsletter for the best of Bangkok, straight to your inbox.

Fried chicken belongs to everyone. From the United States to Korea and Taiwan, almost every country and culture has a version. But ask Bangkok diners where Thailand’s best comes from and one answer rises above the rest – Hat Yai.You know the type: skin that shatters, meat still steaming underneath and fried shallots piled so high they border on showing off, with sticky rice to catch whatever survives. It is Southern Thailand’s great contribution to the fried chicken canon, and the rest of the country has happily claimed it.The strange part is that half of Bangkok advertises Hat Yai fried chicken, yet very little tastes as it should. The marinade lacks depth, the oil goes tired or the shallots come straight from a packet. Anyone raised down south can tell in one bite.We went looking for the real deal. Four proper Hat Yai and Songkhla-style specialists made the cut, joined by one Bangkok fried chicken institution too good to leave out.Order at the counter, wait for the batch that is still spitting and eat with your hands. Obviously.   What is it?Hat Yai fried chicken begins long before the oil gets hot. Garlic, coriander root and white pepper worked are worked into the meat, which is left to marinate for hours before frying to a deep gold: crisp skin outside, juicy flesh within. Unlike fried chicken that depends on the dip, the seasoning runs through the meat – peppery, savoury and faintly herbal. Crisp, sweet fried shallots are scattered over the top by the fistful. Att a road

 What beats a margarita or two after a long day? Not much, honestly. And this month, Bangkok gets a whole run of them. PATRÓN launches Margarita Your Way, a month-long love letter to the world's most famous tequila cocktail, on now until July 31 and turning the city loose on flavour, discovery and a proper bit of self-expression. The heart of it all sits on the M Floor of Siam Paragon, where the Margarita Your Way Pop-Up poses one simple question. Which one are you?  Four personalities set the tone – classic, fruity, spicy and cool – each a different attitude, a different flavour, a different way of drinking. Are you the purist? The fruity show-off? The one who orders a chilli rim and dares the table to keep up? Photograph: PATRÓNMargarita Your Way Come Friday evening, the guest shifts hand space to some of Bangkok's sharpest bartenders, who reimagine the drink their own way. And the fun spills out across town. All July, PATRÓN teams up with a hand-picked cast of bars, restaurants, hotels and lifestyle spots. Sunset rooftops, buzzy nightlife dens, tucked-away cocktail hideaways and plush hotel lounges – each one shaking up its own take on the classic. So, thirsty yet? Here’s where to go.

When it comes to art and exhibitions, Bangkok has a lot. From poky little independent spaces to avant-garde galleries and the big crowd-pleasing museums, the city brims with shows that perplex, challenge, inspire, educate and leave you thoroughly awestruck. The trouble is, there's an absolute mountain to get through. Too much, you might say. So we're here to tell you where to spend your precious time. Whether you're a bona fide art connoisseur or simply the type who likes to stand about looking pensive in front of a canvas (we've all done it), these galleries promise to inspire and entertain in equal measure. So if you're wondering what's genuinely worth a trip across town, start right here. Have a browse through the best museum exhibitions and art in Bangkok at the moment, take your pick and make a day of it. We refresh this list regularly, so do pop back regularly for our latest and greatest picks.Stay one step ahead and map out your plans with our round-up of the best things to do in Bangkok. Whether you're a regular gallery-goer or just art-curious, these are Bangkok’s best spots to live the art life. From alleyway masterpieces to paint-splashed corners you might walk past without noticing, here are our top spots to see street art.

You've probably seen the look before you've heard the name. The head tilts back, the eyes go wide, there's a held beat of silence, and then the camera swings up to a neon skyline or a stretch of white sand. The man doing the looking is Travis Leon Price, and at 35, the Donegal-born creator has spent the last five years in Bangkok, amassing more than 500,000 followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram who tune in for that signature slow, upward gaze of awe before a skyline or a shoreline reveals itself. Photograph: Travis LeonTime Out Bangkok His tagline, 'Bringing you the magic of Asia', sounds like marketing until you realise he means every word of it. He has slept in a 24-hour Chinese spa for the price of a takeaway, crawled the bars of Yaowarat and built a whole second life on an iPhone and a refusal to film anything corny. As busy as you would imagine, we never actually speak on the phone. The whole conversation is over WhatsApp, his replies are in clusters from elsewhere while Bangkok goes grey around me, then the little 'typing…' that flickers and stalls and starts again. He writes the way he talks on camera: warm, fast, unbothered by punctuation, a 'haha' dropped in before he's finished a thought. So, everyone, pour yourself a rooftop something and settle in. What follows is a love letter to a city that refuses to let him leave. Photograph: Travis LeonTime Out Bangkok A long way from a famine village Donegal to Thailand is not exactly a casual commute, and Travi

Anyone whose MP3 player once had ‘Just the Girl’ on heavy rotation may want to clear their diary. Nearly two decades after soundtracking countless teenage crushes, The Click Five return to Bangkok with Kyle Patrick, Joe Guese and Ethan Mentzer back on stage together. The American band helped define glossy 2000s pop-rock with irresistible hooks and singalong choruses. Fresh from their reunion and the 2025 single ‘Throwback’, they arrive with a setlist primed to stir fond memories.  September 3. B2,600 via here. Sphere Hall, Emsphere. 8pm

Barbie gets the orchestral treatment for one day only at Pink Symphonic Concert, a nostalgic programme built around songs from the beloved animated films. Nearly 45 musicians perform new arrangements of favourites from Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, including ‘Free’ and ‘I’m Just Like You’, alongside the grand ballet music from Barbie of Swan Lake. Expect violins, piano and plenty of familiar melodies that may have you quietly singing along. Fans are encouraged to dress up, add a little sparkle and relive those childhood soundtracks with a full orchestra on stage. September 20. B1,600-4,000 via here. SiamPic Hall. 2pm and 7pm

For anyone who has shared a home with a pet, Beyond the Rainbow offers a thoughtful look at the bond formed through everyday routines, from the first hello to the difficult goodbye. Spread across more than 1,000 square metres, the exhibition has three experiential zones: a Memory Wall, playful recreations of familiar pet rituals and a quieter section developed with psychologists to explore grief and self-care. Pets are welcome in strollers or carriers, so your four-legged companion can come too. Tickets are available at the door, with no advance time slot required. September 18-November 22. B150-200 via here. River City Bangkok. 10am-8pm

Art Battle Bangkok returns with live painting, loud cheers, cold drinks and friendly competition. Artists face off in timed rounds, beginning with blank canvases and only a short window to show what they can do. The crowd votes after each round to decide who stays and who takes the title. It’s part art show, part social night, with music playing as the brushes fly. Grab a drink, pick your favourite and watch it unfold – or apply online if you fancy competing yourself. September 12. B100-350 via here; B450 at the door. The Fig Lobby Bangkok. 7pm-10pm

Food takes centre stage at Eat Play Root Fest,  a community gathering built on the idea that sharing a meal brings people closer. Expect workshops, hands-on activities, conversation circles and a communal lunch, with plenty of chances to meet others and exchange ideas about city life. The programme explores community, wellbeing, sustainability and our relationship with food while staying practical rather than overly earnest. It is a strong Sunday option for learning something new, eating together and meeting people beyond your usual circle. Aug 30. Free entry; register here. Na Café, Bangkok 1899

SoloTribe brings Bangkok’s independent founders, creatives and entrepreneurs together for Rhythm & Reflection, a 90-minute evening designed to give busy minds a break. At Marshall Livehouse, sound, scent, tea, journaling and guided reflection come together, with music curated by DJ and multidisciplinary artist BABYSCASH. Peach of SELF Sensory Healing Specialist provides the scent element, while Ash Asia Thailand supports the sound experience. Instead of name tags and small talk, expect a quieter way to meet people, reset and step outside the usual work routine. Aug 30. Free entry; register here. Marshall Livehouse. From 6.30pm

Sacristy Bangkok takes over DUAL at Trinity Complex, a new underground club tucked inside an 800-square-metre basement with two dancefloors. The main room runs on a Funktion-One Evolution Series system, currently the only club installation of its kind in Thailand. Moscow techno DJ and producer Gemüt, a Monasterio resident, headlines with the hard-edged sound of one of Russia’s longest-running techno collectives. Local selectors REIKS, ELILA.B, THE3RD and INREMISSION complete the bill. Expect strobes, heavy bass and a warehouse-style setting – leave the sunglasses at home. Aug 29. B600 at the door. DUAL, Trinity Complex. 9pm-4am

Forget the stiff, textbook version of Thai theatre you might associate with Lakhon Nok. This centuries-old Ayutthaya-era folk form is playful, satirical and fond of poking fun at authority. Chomphoonuch Theatre Troupe brings that spirit to Cinderella, reworking the familiar fairy tale as contemporary Lakhon Nok for the first time. Expect traditional songs, quick comic exchanges and plenty of improvisation as the glass-slipper story gets a distinctly Thai treatment. The production is also the troupe’s first full adaptation of foreign literature, finding familiar themes of disguise, social status and unlikely fortune. Aug 29. B800 via here. GalileOasis Art Space, GalileOasis. 1pm-2pm and 7pm-8pm

YUMM serves Latin sounds, techno, electronic music and global club cuts at this queer club night. Argentine-Korean artist Anita B Queen headlines alongside São Paulo duo Cyberkills, whose sets move through Brazilian funk, tribal, techno and trance. Anita recently collaborated with Skrillex on ‘LA NOCHE’ and has shared stages with Fred again.. and Flume; Cyberkills have worked with Pabllo Vittar and played alongside Charli XCX and Arca. Expect a sweaty, genre-hopping dancefloor as sounds from Argentina and Brazil take over HORN. Aug 29. B800 via here. HORN. From 9pm

Carito’s – Sukhumvit 22’s Latin restaurant with a Thai twist – hosts a two-night kitchen and cocktail takeover by three progressive Phuket Old Town venues. Local Canteen handles the food, while Dibuk House and shhh. pour the drinks. Chef Korn brings Local Canteen’s much-loved small-plate take on Southern Thai food, with à la carte dishes including lamb in Malay Muslim-style ko lae curry, Phuket-style prawn fritters and a twist on khao yam, the South’s much-loved rice salad. The regional approach continues at the bar; Wynn from Dibuk House and Boom from shhh. use local ingredients in highballs made with Songkhla’s Anong gin and tropical cocktails sharpened with funky budu fish sauce. Aug 28-29. Carito’s, 547-549 Sukhumvit Soi 22. 6pm-11pm.

BDLS returns to Bar Temp with Julie Marghilano behind the decks, mixing vinyl, electronic production and live performance. A classically trained violinist from a musical family, she moves between DJ sets, hardware-led shows and experimental work; recent appearances include Berlin’s Panorama Bar, while her credits include Ricardo Villalobos and Matthew Herbert. Support comes from Bar Temp resident Nk Chan and Vietnam-based DJ Yokosun. B400 before midnight, B600 afterwards; B300 for under-25s. Door sales only. Aug 28. Bar Temp. From 9pm

Club Sathorn returns to Le Café des Stagiaires for another night of DJs, dancing and colourful surprises. Thai and international selectors Alex Zaldua, Ashima, Gaspray and Susha take over Le Studio, bringing electronic beats and groove-led sets to payday weekend. Entry is free, so drop by for a drink, stay for a dance or simply catch up with friends. Aug 28. Free entry. Le Café des Stagiaires Bangkok. From 9pm

Bad news, Bangkok Posties. Live Nation Tero confirms that Post Malone Presents THE BIG ASS Stadium World Tour, booked for September 22 at Rajamangala National Stadium, is postponed indefinitely.  The good news, if you can call it that, is that everyone who bought a ticket gets their money back. Paid by debit or credit card? The refund goes in your account automatically. Used another payment method? You put in a request between August 29 and October 31, during normal business hours, either on the website or at any of the 11 main ThaiTicketMajor branches around town. Worth a diary note so the window doesn't slip past you. It's not just Thailand, either. Post Malone postpones dates right across Asia and Oceania, and a few festivals on the same run are off or delayed too. For now, we wait and see whether any of these dates return at all. We'll keep this page updated the moment we hear anything new, so check back before you give up on the gig entirely.

If you got the chance to visit Beyond the Rainbow, the gentle art exhibition made for anyone who's lost a pet, you'll be pleased to know it's coming back. Eyedropper Fill's show returns to River City Bangkok, the arts complex down by the Chao Phraya, running from September 18 to November 22. The angle shifts a little this time. The show centres on an idea its makers call ‘Growing Together’. We tend to assume we're the ones doing the caring, but the exhibition suggests the opposite, that our animals have been looking after us all along. Photograph: River City BangkokBangkok You move through three rooms. The first, First Hello, takes you back to the day you met, where you pin a photo and a few scribbled lines to the Memory Wall before carrying on. Growing Together supersizes the small routines of pet ownership. A litter box the size of a paddling pool. A giant 'Bowl of Love' from Pramy. A quiet corner where you sit and write a proper letter to your dog or cat, the sort of thing you'd never say out loud. Some people manage a sentence, others fill the whole page. Forever in Our Hearts closes things out, and it's the tender one. Designed with psychologists, the room helps you sit with the grief and edge a little closer to acceptance instead of staying stuck. The nicest touch this time? A dedicated space where real pets are welcome to join. Dogs and cats only, mind, and they stay in a stroller or a fully enclosed carrier the whole way round, so they experience the show alongside

All proud Thai fans, this one's for you! Sixteen-year-old Nene Royal takes the Golden Buzzer on America's Got Talent 2026, and she's straight through to the finals without waiting on a single audience vote. The judge who hits the button? None other than Mel B. If you've followed the show from the start, you'll know Nene has been the one to watch since her audition. She walks out with a guitar, plays The Cranberries' 'Zombie' and delivers vocals big enough to win over all four judges on the spot. From there it's the Judges' Callbacks, then the Live Shows, with fans in Thailand and around the world paying close attention. View this post on Instagram A post shared by America's Got Talent - AGT (@agt) Then come the Quarterfinals. Nene picks up her guitar again for Soundgarden's 'Black Hole Sun', and the whole studio goes properly rock – the outfit, the hair, the swagger and a voice that fills the room. Mel B has clearly seen enough. Down goes the buzzer, gold confetti rains from the ceiling and Nene's place in the final is sealed. A quick refresher for anyone new to this. The Golden Buzzer lets a contestant skip straight ahead, no semi-final and no nervous wait for the public to decide. Most acts at this stage sit tight and hope the votes fall their way. Nene doesn't have to. It's a proper milestone for a young Thai artist on a stage this size, and she's earned it round after round. Now she's off to the America's Got Talent 2026 final to go for the title. So k

Wherever you do it, growing up tends to look the same. Awkward friendships, arguments with your parents you were never going to win and the slow work of figuring out who you are. In September, the month of National Youth Day, Bangkok City Library joins Doc Club, the programme 'What? Documentary' and Locals ThaiPBS to put some of that on screen. This edition of 'Doc Day Afternoon' brings together a pair of short films from very different countries under the theme 'Growing Up'. Photograph: CHEMKIDS (Germany, 2022)Doc Day Afternoon First up is CHEMKIDS (Germany, 2022), a 27-minute film from director Julius Gintaras Blum. It follows a group of teenagers in Chemnitz, a former industrial city in East Germany, as they reach adulthood in a world full of options while working out how to talk to parents who grew up under a completely different system. It has already screened at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. Photograph: TRAIN ROBBERS (Norway, 2019)Doc Day Afternoon TRAIN ROBBERS (Norway, 2019), a 21-minute documentary from Martin A. Walther, rewinds to Trondheim in the mid-1990s. It tells the story of a handful of kids aged 11–15 who never quite fit in at school or on their football teams and band together for one small act of rebellion, nicking beer and soft drinks from passing freight trains. It's a portrait of friendship, mischief and the loneliness of an age spent looking for your own place. When the credits roll, stick around for a conversation with Thicha Nanakorn, dire

Here's some good news for your next night out. Bangkok has been officially crowned the world's greatest city for nightlife in 2026.  Time Out’s Best Cities for Nightlife with Intrepid Travel is the ultimate guide to today’s after-hours capitals, drawing on surveys of city-dwellers around the globe, mixed with verdicts from Time Out's worldwide network of writers.  Up from 13th in 2025, Bangkok has stormed to the top to beat a roll call of long-time party cities to the top. Sitting above the likes of Berlin, New York City, Melbourne and São Paulo that round out the top five. Photograph: ÆTHERBangkok If you ask us, it’s well deserved. With the boom in nightlife (of all kinds far beyond the clubs and bars, watch this space) there’s no better moment to head out and see what the city has to offer.  Clubs such as DUAL and Bar Temp fill up most nights, with big-name lineups and a litany of new rooftop bars opening across the city, far and wide.  Take ÆTHER, a cocktail bar on the 44th floor of Dusit Central Park, where the drinks come with 360-degree views. Or Sato San, a Japanese-style bar with an Isan twist on the 32nd floor of Moxy Bangkok Ratchaprasong. And then there’s Sala Saneha, a 70-year-old building on Soi Decho in Silom that squeezes in a wine bar, restaurant, small cinema and bookshop all under one roof, run by a team who simply want to 'make cinema romantic again'. Photograph: Tep BarBangkok For our writers, the real reason Bangkok takes the crown is not because of t

Peaches. Apricots. Long silences across a sun-baked Italian courtyard. If you already know exactly which novel we mean, then 'Call Me by Your Thirst: An Adult Bookclub' might be a lovely way to spend a midweek evening. This September 2, shortshorts.bkk invites you to sit, read and talk about literature in a small, unhurried room. Thai author Pim Wangtechawat leads a close reading of chosen passages from Call Me by Your Name, André Aciman's story of longing, restraint and desire set against a sweltering summer on the Italian Riviera. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Regi T. (@shortshorts.bkk) You don't need to turn up having read the book. Even if reading isn't usually your thing, you'll be right at home. The point isn't landing on the 'right' answer, but giving everyone room to read it however they like, from how language carries desire to the smaller details of the body, the senses, place, shame and freedom. Photograph: Call Me By Your Name Movie version (2017)Bangkok The night ends with a quiet prompt to think about what 'intimacy' actually means to each of us, and why a novel can sometimes say what we'd never manage out loud. You leave with a book to finish and, quite possibly, a few new people to talk it over with. 'Call Me by Your Thirst' runs on September 2, 6.30pm-8pm at 6th Fl Bangkok.  Take the BTS to Phrom Phong, Exit 4, walk through the clatter of Ebisu Shoten Izakaya and catch the rear lift up to a much calmer room. Entry B150 an

เตรียมตัวฉลองให้กับค่ำคืนต่อไปของคุณได้เลย! เพราะล่าสุด Time Out ได้ประกาศรายชื่อเมืองที่มีไนต์ไลฟ์ดีที่สุดในโลก ประจำปี 2026 และข่าวดีคือ กรุงเทพฯ ผงาดขึ้นมาคว้าอันดับ 1 ไปครองอย่างสมศักดิ์ศรี โดยก้าวกระโดดจากอันดับ 13 ในปีที่แล้ว ซึ่งการจัดอันดับครั้งนี้การันตีจากผลสำรวจความคิดเห็นของผู้คนทั่วโลก ผสานกับมุมมองเจาะลึกจากเครือข่ายนักเขียนสายไนต์ไลฟ์ของ Time Out โดยเฉพาะ กรุงเทพฯ เอาชนะบรรดาเมืองปาร์ตีชื่อดังที่ครองตำแหน่งมายาวนาน โดยมีเบอร์ลิน นิวยอร์ก เมลเบิร์น และเซาเปาโล ตามมาเป็น 5 อันดับแรก Photograph: ÆTHERBangkok และถ้าถามเรา ตอนนี้คงไม่มีช่วงเวลาไหนเหมาะไปกับการออกไปเที่ยวกลางคืนในกรุงเทพฯ มากกว่านี้อีกแล้ว คลับอย่าง DUAL และ Bar Temp ยังคงคึกคักแทบทุกคืน พร้อมไลน์อัปที่ชวนออกไปโยกกันให้เต็มที่ ขณะที่บาร์รูฟท็อปใหม่ๆ ก็ทยอยเปิดตัวทั่วเมือง ไม่ว่าจะเป็น ÆTHER ค็อกเทลบาร์บนชั้น 44 ของดุสิต เซ็นทรัล พาร์คที่มาพร้อมวิวเมืองแบบ 360 องศา หรือ Sato San บาร์สไตล์ญี่ปุ่นที่เติมกลิ่นอายอีสาน ตั้งอยู่บนชั้น 32 ของ Moxy Bangkok Ratchaprasong ส่วน ศาลาเสน่หา ในอาคารอายุ 70 ปีบนซอยเดโช ยังคงเป็นอีกหนึ่งจุดหมายที่น่าสนใจ เพราะที่นี่รวมไวน์บาร์ ร้านอาหาร โรงหนังขนาดเล็ก และร้านหนังสือไว้ภายใต้หลังคาเดียวกัน โดยทีมงานเบื้องหลังมีความตั้งใจเพียงอยาก ‘ทำให้โรงหนังกลับมาโรแมนติกอีกครั้ง’ Photograph: Tep BarBangkok แต่เหตุผลสำคัญที่ทำให้กรุงเทพฯ คว้ามงกุฎในครั้งนี้ไม่ได้มีแค่บาร์หรือคลับ เพราะปาร์ตีของกรุงเทพฯ ไม่เคยถูกจำกัดอยู่แค่ภายในร้าน มันไหลออกมาสู่ท้องถนนที่ยังคงคึกคัก และปลอดภัยไปจนดึกดื่น ลองเดินไปยังซอยนานาในเยาวราช ถนนเส้นเล็กๆ ที่ซ่อนบาร์และร้านอาหารในตึกแถวเก่า ทั้ง G.O.D

Clear the calendar and charge your headphones, because Lisa has news. The Blackpink star, Lalisa Manobal, presses play on the next chapter of her career this autumn with a brand new EP, and this one carries a distinctly Thai flavour. Press Play arrives on October 23, the 29-year-old's second studio project after her 2025 debut album Alter Ego. Six tracks in total, billed as her most personal work yet, it looks back at how far she has come from her hometown of Buriram to sold-out arenas around the world. That origin story shows up everywhere, right down to the song titles. View this post on Instagram A post shared by LISA (@lalalalisa_m) First out is lead single ‘SaWaDiKa’, due on September 3, its title a nod to the Thai greeting 'sawatdee ka'. Safe to say her home country plays a starring role this time, not a footnote. For anyone who has followed her since the trainee days in Seoul, that return to her roots is a big deal. The release also lands Lisa smack in the middle of a busy Blackpink solo run. Bandmate Jennie shares Fallen Angel on August 28, while Jisoo readies CLICK for September 4, a day after ‘SaWaDiKa’. Three members, three records and one seriously packed stretch for fans trying to keep up. Cue a flurry of countdown posts and hastily reshuffled playlists over the coming weeks. You can pre-order and pre-save Press Play, plus merchandise, through Lisa's official website right now.

In under a year Dib Bangkok has built a reputation at home and abroad, and picked up a spot on TIME magazine's World's Greatest Places 2026 list along the way. Giving Life is a new exhibition of more than 160 works by 33 Thai and international artists, running from September 26 to May 3, 2027. Alexander Calder is the headline draw. He is the artist who took sculpture off its plinth. Where a traditional statue stands fixed in place, his mobiles hang from the ceiling and turn with the slightest current, moving as people pass through the gallery. He counts among the pioneers of Kinetic Art, and he changed what a sculpture could be. His work sits in the collections of MoMA, the Guggenheim and the Met in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and Tate in London, which says plenty about the company he keeps. Seeing it in Bangkok, without booking a flight to any of them, is the part worth pausing on. This is not simply a matter of importing a famous name, though. Calder shares the space with 32 other artists, his pieces set in the same conversation as Thai and Asian art. 'Giving Life' also traces a formative stretch of the 1970s (B.E. 2513–2523), a turning point for Thailand's own art scene, shown beside them so the connections come through. The aim is a broader reading of what contemporary art holds, and how many directions it runs at once. 'Giving Life' runs from September 26-May 3, 2027 at Dib Bangkok. The museum opens Thursday to Monday, 10am to 7pm, and closes on Tuesdays and W

Roads and expressways may not sound like they have much to do with everyday life, but for anyone who regularly drives out of Bangkok, a change to the network means real savings on time and money down the track. Lately the Ministry of Transport keeps a close watch on 50 road projects nationwide, and a good number of them edge closer to opening. One route worth a spot in the diary is the Bang Pa-In–Nakhon Ratchasima Motorway (M6). Its Bang Pa-In to Pak Chong stretch offers a toll-free trial every Friday to Sunday from August 21, 2026, with the full launch pencilled in for April 2027. It's the kind of upgrade holiday traffic sorely needs, when one accident on Mittraphap Road can stretch a three-hour drive to five. Weekenders finally get a proper alternative, plus a smoother run to the Khao Yai wineries, the hillside cafés and the national park gates. Photograph: Department of HighwaysBangkok Closer to home, Motorway M82 (Bang Khun Thian–Ban Phaeo) opens its whole length for free from August 28, a gift to anyone pointed towards the Samut Sakhon seafood markets. The Rama III–Dao Khanong–Western Ring Road Expressway, for its part, aims for a September 2027 debut. Down south, the Phuket Expressway (Kathu–Patong) now sits past 99 per cent on land acquisition, the section meant to ease the daily jam between Kathu and the beach at Patong. The Chalong Rat Extension (Chatuchot–Lam Luk Ka), meanwhile, has its sights set on 2028. Add it all up and the country's road map looks nothing lik

The flat white you grab on the way to work, the pour-over you fuss over at the weekend, the iced Americano that gets you through a Bangkok afternoon. Every one passes through more hands than you'd guess before it lands in your cup. Good news for the caffeine-obsessed among us, Thailand Coffee Fest is back, and it's the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. This year runs under the theme ‘Made by All of Us’, a nod to a fairly simple truth. No single cup is the work of one person. Farmers, processors, roasters, baristas, café owners and the people who drink the stuff all have a hand in where Thai coffee goes next. Photograph: Thailand Coffee FestBangkok Thailand Coffee Fest 2026 takes over IMPACT Exhibition Center, Halls 5-8, Muang Thong Thani, from September 10-13, filling more than 20,000 square metres. Over 380 exhibitors from home and abroad set up shop, with workshops and talks tracing every step from farm to flat white. Photograph: Thailand Coffee FestBangkok More than a decade on, this is a proper meeting point for the whole trade rather than a weekend out for the obsessed. Here's what to look out for: Coffee Arena – the stage for the Thailand Coffee Championships 2027, where baristas battle to represent the country abroad Coffee Around the World – farms, roasters and champions from different countries swapping methods and stories Coffee People by SCATH – a networking corner for the Thai coffee community Coffee Stage – experts, creatives and entrepreneurs on the tr

Every big city has a sub-culture that only wakes up after the shops shut, and in Bangkok a fair chunk of it runs on four wheels. On September 6, 2026 that whole world lands at Terminal 21 Rama 3 for Bangkok Underground Riverside, the biggest meet the area sees all year. The theme is 'The Fast Tokyo Drift' and the headline act is Beer Baiyoke and the Top Secret Team, rolling in with an RX-7 and a 180SX in Liberty Walk kits, the only pair of their kind in the country. Around them the rows fill with modified street machines and builds you hear well before you see. Photograph: Taklong BigwheelBangkok Got a build you're proud of? Bring it down. The meet is open to anyone who wants to park up and show their own motor, so you're as much a part of the night as the crews on display. Photograph: Taklong BigwheelBangkok Walk the tarmac and you find showcase motors across every style, DJs keeping things loud until 9pm and photo spots at each turn. The Chao Phraya sits right behind, so the whole lot glows under city lights once the sun drops. Bring a phone with room to spare. Best bit? No tickets, you turn up and it costs nothing.  Owners drive in from across the country for evenings like this, so you're in good company. See you on the tarmac, September 6, midday-9pm at Terminal 21 Rama 3.