Culture
Lumpini Park bandstand, Pathum Wan
Thailand’s first public park is home to the country’s finest bandstand, Sala Bhirombhakdi in Lumpini Park. City Hall organises an extensive outdoor music programme during December to March and Bangkok’s main public park tends to stage the best performances, including free Sunday evening shows by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Take something cold to drink and secure a spot on the palm-tree fringed lawn.
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Chatuchak
Launched in 2011 by telecommunications billionaire Boonchai Bencharongkul, MOCA Bangkok is home to a comprehensive modern-art collection that mixes Thai masters, rising stars and a number of Ramayana face masks. Run by Bencharongkul’s son, Kit, a second, riverside outpost inside the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok has now opened.
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), Pathum Wan
BACC’s curvy, whitewashed building brings to mind the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York. Main exhibitions take place on the top floors and the galleries regularly host the Bangkok Art Biennale. This state-funded art centre can be easily weaved into a day of shopping at nearby Siam Paragon – Bangkok’s premier shopping mall.
Bangkok Kunsthalle, Pom Prap Sattru Phai
Thai philanthropist Marisa Chearavanont opened this private art gallery at the beginning of 2024 to act as a sister institution to her other art project, a sculpture park in the Khao Yai mountains. The former commercial building in Bangkok’s Chinatown used to be the headquarters of an academic publishing house before a fire forced it to move elsewhere. Chearavanont’s team are slowly restoring the building while staging exhibitions from her collection among new commissions and loaned artworks from overseas.
The Friese-Greene Club, Khlong Toei
This small screening room hidden behind the Emsphere shopping mall is a beacon for film aficionados. Nightly screenings start with a cocktail ordered from the bar and often end with a cinematic conversation. If the seats are full, head across Sukhumvit Road to Cinema Oasis – another indie gem showing Thai films.
