Phuket Flavours Hit Sukhumvit, a Luxury Hotel Breaks Ground on the Riverside, and More: Bangkok This Week
A Southern Thai pop-up, a THB2.9bn riverside hotel announcement, DIY cocktails, and late-night gaming headline Bangkok's week in food and nightlife.
This Week in Bangkok: Pop-Ups, Big Hotel Money, and a Reason to Stay Out Late
It was a week that moved in several directions at once. A Phuket pop-up landed in Sukhumvit, a multi-billion-baht riverside development was confirmed, and a late-night gaming venue in Ekkamai gave night owls somewhere new to burn the hours after the bars close. Layered on top of that, a cocktail workshop and a food festival rounded out a weekend that had something for most tastes.
Carito's Opens Its Doors to Phuket Old Town for Two Nights
Carito's on Sukhumvit 22 handed its kitchen and bar over to a trio of Phuket names - Local Canteen, Dibuk House, and shhh - for a short two-night run, with Head Chef Korn bringing Southern Thai cooking north. This kind of venue-to-venue collaboration is still relatively rare in Bangkok, and it matters because it gives city regulars a genuine taste of Phuket's Old Town food scene without the flight. If you missed it, keep an eye on Carito's social channels; this format tends to repeat when the first run sells well.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
A THB2.9 Billion Plaza Athenee Is Coming to the Riverside
Asset World Corp has confirmed it is investing approximately THB2.9 billion to transform its existing River Garden property on the Chao Phraya into an 18-storey Plaza Athenee hotel with 146 guest rooms and more than 20,000 sqm of gross floor area. The Riverside has been building momentum as a hospitality district for a while now, and an ultra-luxury flag like Plaza Athenee landing there will push that further along. It is the kind of anchor project that tends to pull new bars, restaurants, and rooftop concepts into the surrounding blocks over the following years, so worth watching even if you are not booking a room.
Source: TTR Weekly Thailand
Bamboo E-Sport Center in Ekkamai Is the After-Bar Option You Did Not Know You Needed
When the cocktail bars close and you are not ready to go home, Bamboo E-Sport Center in Ekkamai stays open until 2am and packs in enough screens and setups to keep a group occupied. It sits in a neighbourhood that already has a strong late-night identity, which makes it a practical extension of an Ekkamai evening rather than a detour. This is not a replacement for a proper night out, but it is a genuinely useful stop for the "one more thing" crowd.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
DIY Cocktails with Marina Kishida at Maha Niyom
Maha Niyom revived its DIY Cocktails session this week, bringing in Marina Kishida to lead an afternoon of hands-on shaking and stirring. Workshops like this are a cut above the standard tasting event because you leave with an actual skill rather than just a pleasant buzz. If you have been curious about the craft side of cocktail bars in Bangkok, a session led by a working bartender is one of the better ways to get a real introduction.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Silent Films Get a Live Score Across Two Bangkok Cinemas
Celebrated accompanist Stephen Horne plays live scores to silent-era classics at Sala Cinema Theatre on August 29 and 30, then moves to Nang Loeng Cinema for September 5 and 6. This is the kind of event that rarely comes to Bangkok and pairs well with a pre-show drink somewhere nearby. Nang Loeng sits close to older parts of the city that are worth exploring on foot, so consider building the evening around the neighbourhood rather than just the screening.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Japan Heritage Festival at Siam Paragon Runs Through August
Siam Paragon's Wondrous Japan Heritage 2026 is celebrating Thailand's long-standing ties with Japan this month, with samurai swordsmanship demonstrations, origami sessions, and a 500-year-old bonsai on display. It is a genuinely unusual thing to walk past in a shopping mall and substantial enough to be worth a dedicated trip, particularly if you are in Siam for other reasons. Pair it with dinner in the area and you have a full evening without much planning.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
A Journey of Taste and Culture Brings Michelin Picks and Local Finds Together
Presented by Thairath Group and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, A Journey of Taste and Culture puts Michelin-recognised restaurants alongside local favourites in a single browsable format. Food events that mix prestige names with neighbourhood spots tend to be more useful than those that go all-in on either end, because they give you a wider map of where to eat. Worth walking through if you are building a restaurant list for the weeks ahead.
Source: Time Out Bangkok
Also on the Radar This Week
Time Out Bangkok's weekend roundup (August 20-23) flagged rooftop BBQs and after-dark parties as highlights alongside the cultural events above. If you are planning a night that moves between dinner, drinks, and a club, our rooftops directory and nightclubs listings are kept current and sorted by area, so they are a practical starting point before you commit to a plan.
Planning your week from here? The Sukhumvit area page covers the corridor from Nana to On Nut, the Ekkamai page lists what is worth knowing about that neighbourhood specifically, and the Riverside page will be one to bookmark as the Plaza Athenee project develops. If you want a broader sweep, the bars and cocktail bars directories filter by area and give you a quick way to build a crawl around wherever you are staying.
Contributor at Bangkok Venues covering the city's nightlife, bars, and hospitality scene.