What to do in Bangkok this weekend, Nov. 17-18, plus one cheeky art opening tonight

Though there are always endless options for things to do in Bangkok, here are our top picks for this weekend.

Art: Chris Coles’ Bangkok Neon

The new permanent home of expat bar Check Inn 99 (on Sukhumvit Soi 33) hosts an art opening tonight, Nov. 16, at 8pm by one of Bangkok’s most recognizable expat artists, Chris Coles.

Impressionist painter Coles paints all kinds of nightlife scenes but this show, Bangkok Neon, focuses on Bangkok’s fast-disappearing neon signs. Step into the bar to see over 50 vibrant and racy black-light paintings of the old neon signage and streetscapes of Sukhumvit’s dark zone. QBar, Thermae, Soi Cowboy, Renoir, and many of the now-defunct bars of Soi 33.

The exhibition will hang through mid-December.

Drinks: Wishbeer Garden

Wishbeer has launched one of the first of Bangkok’s end-of-year beer garden pop-ups of the season. Featuring 14 craft beers on tap, food trucks, and live music on weekends through January, they have set up shop outside the Vue hotel by the riverside.

Stop in to get that festive end-of-year buzz.

Film: Bangkok Underground Cinema Shorts at Noise Market 7

The 7th installation of Noise Market, the free music festival and market experience at Museum Siam, will also be host to a free, open-air short film festival.

Happening on Saturday and Sunday from 7:30pm – 9pm, 13 curated shorts, half from Thailand, as well as Cuba, UK, Australia, Singapore and Israel, will be shown. The curators looked to present a weird and wonderful mix including student work, experimental work, social commentary and some left field gems.

Highlights include: Sorayos Prapapan’s “Please Choose The Best Answer,” a bitingly real look at Thai values and contradictions; Fiat Frost’s kitsch sci-fi, “Steam Horse – Episode IX,” an indulgent outsider fantasy overloaded with CGI special effects that reminds us not to take anything too seriously; and “Closet Witch – Funeral Regrets,” a collaboration between American mathcore/grindcore band Closet Witch and East London-based experimental filmmaker Autojektor. Using found Super 8 film of families, the filmmaker first buried the film with rotten meat to achieve an ‘interesting’ hue, then dug it up and violently defaced the film, possibly as a comment on the dissension of constructed social fabric.

The screenings are organized by the Bangkok Underground Film Festival, a new, progressive grassroots platform founded in 2015 for film and new media.

Food: The Flavours of Flowers

Bangkok cooking school The Market Experience, located in Old Town’s Flower Market, is hosting a one-time pop-up dinner on Saturday from 7pm – 10pm that features dishes containing flowers.

The dinner will feature butterfly pea flower, lily stems, banana flower, and roses. Each course will subtly incorporate a different flower. This 5 course meal will incorporate a range of different flowers for a truly unique experience.

This dinner is limited to 16 people and costs THB1,500 per person.

Unusual: Cooking with Bugs: A Workshop for the Adventurous

Worldwide headline-making insect cuisine restaurant Insects in the Backyard is hosting a bug cooking class this Saturday from 2pm – 5pm at their restaurant in Chang Chui.

If you’ve tried munching the little critters and now want to take your exploration one step further, this cooking class is for you.  

IITB’s Chef Mai will guide participants through three recipes involving edible insects. Through the course of the training, they will learn about the various types of insects being used, their preparation, properties and characteristics. Participants will learn about the nutritional and environmental benefits of using insects as an alternative protein.

The class is capped at 8 participants and costs THB2,300 per person.

 



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