22 events you don't want to miss in Bangkok this June
Hotel Art Fair, Road to Ultra, Silent Film Festival and many more hot dates for your diary this month.
Throughout the month, the cult movie screenings welcome a collection of movies under the theme "New York Urban Legend" to its Lynchian upstairs cinema, filled with movies that explore the danger of the thrill of the Big Apple. And it's all for free. The first edition screens the 1990 documentary following the daily lives of drag queens in New York and their "house" culture. Expect a host of other bizarre and brilliant movies every Wednesday for the rest of the month, including Liquid Sky, Desperately Seeking Susan, Factory Girl and Party Monster.
This January saw some of Europe and Asia's best street artists take over the walls of Bangkok as part of the Bukruk Urban Arts Festival. You may have seen some of the awesome artworks that still adorn the walls around Bangrak. But if you just can't get enough, the works of nine street artists from the festival is exhibited at the luxury mall throughout the month. The artists include: Florence Lucas (France), Le dernier Cri (France), Lolay (Thailand), Kult (Thailand), Daan Botlek (Netherlands), Motomichi Nakamura (Japan), Saddo (Romania), Daen Sudsakon (Thailand), Daehyun Kim (Korea), Fikos (Greece) and Aitch (Romania).
Through Jun 30. G/F, Gaysorn Shopping Centre, 999 Phloen Chit Rd., 02-656-1149. BTS Chit Lom
The popular Irish singer/songwriter known for his soulful voice and stripped-down, emotional perforances takes the Bangkok stage to perform songs from his latest album, My Favorite Faded Fantasy. Aside from brand new hits, “I Don’t Want to Change You” and “The Greatest Bastard”, expect fan favorites from previous albums including “Cannonball” and “The Blower’s Daughter”.
Jun 2. Bangkok Convention Hall, Central Lad Phrao
The official pre-party to one of the city's biggest EDM festivals, taking place the following week, welcomes the British house and electronic duo, Third Party, to take over the stage with their best tracks.
Jun 4. Onyx, RCA, Rama 9 Rd.
The gay party team celebrates its second birthday with a huge party featuring an underwear charity fashion show, entertainment from the fabulous drag queen Pangina Heals, and plenty of throwback 90s dance music from DJs Yui Truluv and Steven G Knight. The dress code is silver, black and gold. Entrace is B500 (including two drinks)
Jun 4. Vertigo Too, 60/F, Banyan Tree, 100 Sathorn Rd.
Jun 5-26. The Reading Room, 2 Silom Soi 19
Jun 9-15. RMA Instutite, Sukhumvit Soi 22
One of the city’s biggest EDM festivals returns, this year welcoming headliners Avicii, known for his massive hits "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother," and Martin Garrix, the DJ behind "Turn Up the Speakers" and "Forbidden Voices". The two will be joined by other big EDM names including Jauz, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Ninegod and Skinny Mark & Zuper L, plus Ansolo—the DJ-slash-actor known for his roles in The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent series.
Jun 11. BITEC Convention Center, 88 Bang Na-Trat Rd., BTS Bang Na
QueerMango, the community that connects the LGBTQ+ women of the city to promote diversity and inclusiveness, hosts an open-mic night inviting creative performers of all sexualities for a night of slam poetry, comedy and dance, plus plenty of food and drinks.
Jun 11. Jam, 41 Charoen Rat Soi 1. BTS Surasak
The film festival dedicated to screening LGBTQ+ films returns for its second edition this month at one of the city’s most luxurious cinemas. Under the theme “Love Wins”, 12 films from around the world will be screened across ten days, including Handl Klaus’ 2016 Tomcat, Lee Dong Ha’s 2015 Weekends, Andrew Ahn’s 2016 Spa Night, Ara Chawdhury’s 2015 Miss Bulalacao, in a promotion of sexual equality and gender rights.
Jun 16-19. Quartier Cineart, Emquartier, Sukhumvit Rd. BTS Phrom Phong
The festival screening some of the best silent films returns to one of the city's oldest cinemas. Organized by the Thai Film Archive, this year's films include the 1925 Go West, 1925 Variete, 1924 The Last Laugh, 1928 Two Timid Souls and 1921 Hamlet and more.
Jun 16-22. Lido and Scala Cinema, Siam Square, Rama 1 Rd. BTS Siam
In celebration of World Music Day, join local bands like My Life as Ali Thomas (indie-folk), DCNXTR (electro-pop), Jelly Rocket (dream pop) and Monomania (alt-rock) for a night of live performances. On top of the music, there also promises to be a screening of the music documentary Eden as well as an indoor and outdoor flea market with stalls selling food, drinks, albums and more.
Jun 18. Alliance Francaise Bangkok, Wittayu Rd. MRT Lumphini
Humble Projects, one of Bangkok’s newest art spaces and in collaboration with H Project Space, hosts a lecture and performance by Prumsodun Ok and Natyarasa, Cambodia’s newest dance company. The performance is a contemporary interpretation of Khmer classical dance that explores the theme of a fearless love.
Jun 18. Humble Projects, 41/40 Sunthon Phimon, Banthat Thong Rd.
Two Buddhist scholars, Vichai Panich and Sulak Sivaraksa, lead a discussion panel that aims to answer the questions surrounding the role of Buddhism in modern Thai society and how the future looks for this issue, based on the events from the past two decades that has left Buddhism as an increasingly polarized and politicized topic.
Jun 22. Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, 518/5 Phloen Chit Rd.
Director Thanaphon Accawatanyu, who won the Best Script award last year at the Bangkok Theater Festival, along with the Splashing Theatre troupe presents a dramatic mystery following a family after their son suddenly disappears. Tickets are B450.
Jun 23-25. Democrazy Theatre Studio, Soi Saphan Khoo, Rama 4 Rd.
Culture Collective Studio and director Loni Berry presents an adaptation of Ira Levin's 1978 play that holds the record as the longest running comedy-triller on Broadway. The play is a highly self-referiential story about a Broadway playwright struggling to overcome a creative dryspell until he receives a thriller screenplay from one of his students. Tickets are B800-1,000.
Jun 23-Jul 3. Culture Collective Studio, Charoenkrung Soi 70
Artists Evan Dawson and Paige Phillips, along with a team of performers, present an art installation using fabric to create a pop-up space where the audience will be enclosed with the performers as they perform a surrealistic piece using kaleidescopes, sculptures and light to create a new world.
Jun 24-25. Cho Why, Soi Nana 17, Chinatown
An exhibition which takes the best artworks from the city's top galleries and independent artists, including Serindia Gallery, H Gallery, Atta Gallery and Gallery Ver, and brings them to display inside designer hotel rooms as part of a mobile art exhibition. This year's highlight includes a live drawing performance by Douglas Diaz and celebrity guest curators, Sutima Sucharitakul and Jitsing Somboon, who will also be showing their private art collections.
Jun 25-26. Ad Lib Bangkok Hotel, 230/5 Sukhumvit Soi 1
The second edition of the run that invites participants to be guide runners for the visually impaired. Offering distances of 5km and 10km. Entrace is B350-450, register at bit.ly/205DR0g.
Jun 26. Suan Rod Fai (Vachirabenjatas Park), Kamphaeng Phet Soi 3
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