Sunday 26 April 2026

Good morning Bangkok. Happy Sunday.

🌡️ Weather: 33-35°C (91-95°F). The high-pressure system is easing and temperatures are beginning to drop slightly from yesterday. Southerly winds moving in from today bring a higher chance of isolated afternoon showers through the week. A good weekend to be outside in the morning before it builds.

🌫️ AQI: 89-138 (Moderate to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Still elevated, a mask is recommended if you are spending extended time outdoors, particularly for children, elderly residents and anyone with respiratory conditions. Morning hours tend to be cleaner than the afternoon.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Prime Minister's Office opened the centennial celebration yesterday evening at 6PM, with Their Majesties the King and Queen presiding over the opening ceremony. The program running from today through April 30 is genuinely varied and worth going out for: a multimedia light and sound show projected onto the newly restored clock tower after dark, performances from the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Thailand and the Bangkok Metropolitan Orchestra, retro ballroom dancing at the Lumpini Sathan area for anyone who wants to participate or simply watch, Khon masked dance workshops, tai chi, yoga and aerobics open to the public, and food stalls from all 50 Bangkok districts spread across the grounds, meaning today is one of the rare occasions where you can eat your way through Kanchanaburi, Chiang Rai and Tak without leaving the park. The centenary marks both 100 years since the park was established under King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), who originally envisioned the land as a world's fair exhibition site to showcase Siamese craftsmanship before his passing in November 1925, and 100 years since the king's death. The park officially opened to the public in 1929, starting as a mix of performances, amusement rides and open-air entertainment before evolving into the green lung it is today. The Saneh Art installations, CRYBABY, Mamuang and POORBOY, are also still up in the park through April 30, meaning the whole space is running simultaneously as art gallery, concert venue, food festival and community living room.

Bottom Line: If you live anywhere near MRT Lumphini or Silom and you do not have plans this morning, this is a Sunday worth using. The 50-district food stalls alone are worth the trip. Go before noon while it is still manageable, stay for the musical fountain show between Gates 2 and 3 on the Rama IV Road side, and come back after dark if you want the light show on the clock tower. Free entry. All week.

The Senate's budget committee meeting on April 20 turned briefly memorable when a senator pushed back against the recently confirmed cancellation of complimentary meals for Parliament members, stating publicly that the removal of the benefit was an affront to the dignity of the Senate. The cancellation had come a month earlier: on March 15, MPs voted to end the free meal practice themselves, following a sustained period of public outrage over the use of taxpayer funds to subsidies parliamentary catering. The vote was framed as a gesture of fiscal responsibility and public accountability. The senator's remarks on April 20 landed on Thai social media at roughly the same moment as news that the Senate's own Economic, Financial and Fiscal Affairs Committee was advancing a tax reform package that includes raising VAT from 7% to 10%, introducing a new tax on gold transactions, removing small business VAT exemptions, and hiking the retirement age to 65. The image of one chamber of the legislature lamenting its lost lunch while another arm of the same institution prepared to increase the cost of living for the general public did not go unnoticed.

Bottom Line: This is a small story with a sharp edge. The free meal itself is not the point, it is what it signals about the gap between how Parliament understands austerity and how most people in Bangkok experience it. For anyone following the VAT reform package moving toward Cabinet in May, the senator's lunch complaint is a useful piece of context about the institution doing the reforming.

Laze is exactly what its name suggests: a cafe built for slowing down. Tucked on Sutthisan Winitchai Road near the Ari-Saphan Khwai corridor, it describes itself as a Bangkok urban hideout for coffee, pastry and vinyl, and all three are taken seriously. The turntables are a fixture rather than a prop, spinning classic records through the day in a space that manages to feel warm and unhurried without trying too hard to manufacture the atmosphere. The coffee is good, the drip is the thing to order, and the food menu is short enough that everything on it has clearly been thought about: a key lime pie that regulars cite unprompted, a Basque burnt cheesecake, a chocolate cronban, croissants that come out properly. Prices sit at ฿200-300 per person, which for the neighborhood and the level of care involved is honest. It draws a mix of locals, people working quietly on laptops and anyone who wants a Sunday morning that does not involve a queue, a waiting list or a TikTok strategy. The 4.9-star Google rating and 1,2000 reviews say what the low-key branding does not.

TIP: Sunday mornings before 10AM are the move, you get the best seats, the quietest hour and the best chance of getting of their fresh bakery desserts selling out.

Confirm times directly before heading out.

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