Bangkok’s weekend does not need to revolve around whatever happens to be opening on Friday. One of the city’s most interactive history museums makes a good excuse to revisit old Rattanakosin, while an AR exhibition at One Bangkok turns nature spirits into something visitors can actually hunt down around the complex.
Once evening arrives, Lumphini Park lights up for a new night festival, BACC enters the final weekend of its comics celebration, and Don Mueang has one of Bangkok’s more overlooked museums for anyone who would rather spend the afternoon around historic aircraft. Here are five things to do in Bangkok from October 16 to 18.
On this page:
| Event | Date | Location | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall | October 16 to 18 | Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, Phra Nakhon | Explore Bangkok’s history through interactive exhibits, multimedia displays and guided tours. |
| Fortune Teller by Julie Stephen Chheng | October 2 to November 15 | The Storeys, One Bangkok | Discover hidden nature spirits through interactive projections and augmented reality. |
| The Night by Amazing Thailand Season 2 – Harmony of Healing | October 16 to 27 | Lumphini Park | Free live music, light installations, wellness activities and evening workshops. |
| BKK Comics Art Festival #5 | October 17 to 18 | Bangkok Art and Culture Centre | Meet comic artists and enjoy manga workshops, drawing sessions and exhibitions. |
| National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force | October 16 to 18 | Don Mueang, Bangkok | See historic fighter aircraft and explore Thailand’s military aviation history for free. |
Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall
Date & Time: October 16 to 18, 9am to 5pm
Location: Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, 100 Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, Phra Nakhon
Price: Thai adults 70 baht; foreign adults 100 baht
Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall covers Bangkok’s history from the establishment of the capital in 1782, but it is much more interactive than a traditional history museum. Multimedia rooms, projections, recreated environments and guided sections move through the development of Rattanakosin, everyday life, Thai arts and the changing city.
Visits run in timed sessions every 30 minutes from 9.30am. One route takes about two hours, while seeing both routes can take around four, so arriving earlier is worthwhile if you want the full experience. The last entry for a single route is at 3pm, while visitors doing both need to begin by 1pm.
There is also a free youth performance programme from noon to 1.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Children, students, people aged 60 and over, monks and visitors with disabilities can enter the exhibition free under the venue’s eligibility rules.
Fortune Teller by Julie Stephen Chheng
Date & Time: October 2 to November 15, 10am to 8pm
Location: The Storeys, 2nd Floor, One Bangkok
Price: Free
French artist and illustrator Julie Stephen Chheng turns One Bangkok into a playground of interactive projections and augmented reality in Fortune Teller. The exhibition introduces eight fictional nature spirits connected to water, fire, sky, earth, thunder, shadow, light and green leaves.
Visitors can download the free Fortune Teller AR app and search around One Bangkok for hidden characters, bringing them to life on a phone screen and uncovering their personalities and messages along the way. The main exhibition also uses projections that respond to visitors rather than asking them to simply stand back and look.
Paper crafts, ceramic painting and DIY keychains are also part of the wider programme, although individual workshop schedules vary. The main exhibition itself is free to enter and runs daily until 8pm.
The Night by Amazing Thailand Season 2 – Harmony of Healing
Date & Time: October 16 to 27, 4pm to 9.30pm
Location: Lumphini Park
Price: Free
Lumphini Park takes on a different mood after dark from Friday as The Night by Amazing Thailand returns for its second season. Over 12 days, 46 artists are scheduled across styles ranging from jazz and orchestral music to Thai classics, pop, reggae and contemporary sounds.
The event goes beyond the stage. Interactive lighting installations are spread through the park alongside sound therapy, handpan sessions, yoga, grounding activities and talks focused on relaxation and wellbeing. DIY workshops and food stalls round out the evening programme.
Admission is free, making this an easy one to drop into without planning the whole night around it. Some individual activities may have limited places, but the main park programme is open to the public throughout the evening.
BKK Comics Art Festival #5
Date & Time: October 17 to 18, convention programmes from 10am
Location: Curved Wall and Meeting Room 501, 5th Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
Price: Free entry; selected workshops and masterclasses cost extra
BKK Comics Art Festival reaches its final weekend with two days devoted to the people who actually make comics. The wider exhibition has been running since October 6, but October 17 and 18 bring creators and readers together for workshops, talks, portfolio reviews, drawing sessions and the festival’s closing programme.
Japanese manga artist Akeji Fujimura, known for As the Gods Will, leads Inside Manga Illustration masterclasses on both Saturday and Sunday. Elsewhere, visitors can join free drawing activities, hear from the Monsoon Awards finalists or watch the Sunday charity auction supporting the Children of the Forest Foundation.
The exhibition and several convention activities are free, while specialist sessions have separate fees. Fujimura’s masterclass, for example, costs 300 baht with pre-registration or 400 baht at the door.
National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force
Date & Time: Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 3.30pm
Location: National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force, Don Mueang, Bangkok
Price: Free
The National Aviation Museum of the Royal Thai Air Force is one of Bangkok’s easier museums to overlook, particularly if the only reason you normally head towards Don Mueang is to catch a flight. Its collection traces Thai military aviation through aircraft, uniforms, weapons, communication equipment and other material collected by the Royal Thai Air Force.
The aircraft are the obvious draw. The museum highlights its Hawk III and Corsair as the last surviving examples of their type, while more modern displays include F-16 and Gripen aircraft. Visitors can walk in without booking or paying an admission fee.
It is open throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 3.30pm, although it closes on Mondays and public holidays. Group tours need advance arrangements, but individual visitors can simply turn up.
This weekend covers a surprisingly wide stretch of Bangkok: old royal history, AR nature spirits, music after dark, manga artists and military aircraft. The harder decision may be whether to start with 200 years of Bangkok history or a hangar full of planes.
The story 5 things to do in Bangkok this weekend (October 16 to 18) as seen on Thaiger News.