Sunday, April 5, 2026

Good morning Bangkok. It's Sunday and we're looking at 27-36°C (80-97°F) under partly cloudy skies with haze. AQI moderate around 75-80. Chiang Mai's burning season haze persists. Markets closed for the weekend. Gold volatile, check the Gold Traders Association first thing Monday. USD around ฿32.72. Diesel at ฿47.74 after Friday's hike. Gasohol 95 at ฿43.95. 8 days until Songkran. Let's get into it.

It started with a few expats hitting plastic balls in a school parking lot. Now pickleball is everywhere. CentralWorld just launched a free pickleball court in front of the mall as part of its Summer Fest 2026 campaign, open daily 10 AM to 10 PM with professional match sessions from 4-7 PM, bookable through the Central X app. Benjakitti Forest Park expanded from five to ten covered indoor courts and they're packed from morning to late afternoon with a mix of Thai families, retirees, and expats who discovered the sport during lockdown and never stopped. Asoke Sports Club on the 11th floor of the Foodland building on Sukhumvit 16 has four indoor and two outdoor courts with air conditioning, paddle rentals for ฿100-150, and drop-in sessions for ฿100-200 per hour. Even The Peninsula Bangkok launched a dedicated pickleball program in February 2026, with court rental at ฿1,200/hour and coaching at ฿3,000/hour. ThaiCourts.com now lists more than 60 pickleball courts across the country, and Bangkok alone has at least a dozen serious venues. The Bangkok Pickleball League runs seasonal competitions with skill-based divisions, and the Thailand Open in Hua Hin attracts players from across Southeast Asia every January. The OG of Bangkok pickleball is still Santisuk English School near Ladprao 111, where a group has been playing on the school parking lot every Saturday (8 AM-12:30 PM) and Sunday (3-7 PM) since 2016. First visit is free, ฿200 after that, and 12-20 players show up rain or shine.

Bottom line: If you've been curious about pickleball but haven't tried it, Bangkok is probably the easiest city in Asia to start. The sport is low-impact, social, and genuinely fun, think tennis energy without the knee destruction. Benjakitti is the best free option and the most beginner-friendly. CentralWorld is the most Instagram-friendly (and also free). Asoke Sports Club is the best for serious play with AC. Go on a Sunday afternoon, bring water, and prepare to become mildly addicted. The expat community around these courts is genuinely welcoming. You'll leave with sore legs and three new WhatsApp groups.

The global average jet fuel price stood at US$195.19 per barrel last week according to the International Air Transport Association, more than double the levels from late February before the Middle East conflict escalated. In the US, the Argus Jet Fuel Index hit US$4.60 per gallon, up from around US$2.50 before the war. The cause is straightforward: the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly one-fifth of the world's seaborne crude, has been severely disrupted by the US-Israel-Iran conflict, choking supply chains for refined aviation fuel worldwide. Airlines are responding across the board. Thai Airways has signaled fare increases of 10-15%. AirAsia implemented a 15% surcharge across most of its network. Qantas added a US$120 surcharge on long-haul international flights. SAS cancelled 1,000 flights in April. Air France-KLM is raising long-haul fares by €50 per round trip. Air New Zealand cut capacity by 5% and cancelled over 1,100 services. Cathay Pacific raised prices on all routes. Korean Air entered "emergency management mode." Fuel typically represents 25-35% of airline operating costs, and CAAT confirmed that jet fuel costs have surged more than 100% compared to February 2026. Thailand has around three months of crude oil reserves including Jet A-1, so domestic supply isn't the issue. The issue is price. Thai Airways' advance bookings have already dropped 10% year-on-year, and Bangkok hospitality operators are reporting early April reservation cancellations climbing 6-9% week-over-week.

Bottom line: If you're planning any flights for the rest of 2026, book now. That's not marketing hype, it's math. Every week jet fuel stays above US$190/barrel, airlines adjust fares upward and lock in fuel surcharges that won't come back down quickly even if prices ease. Domestic flights within Thailand are partially shielded because the government coordinated 15-30% Songkran fare cuts with six carriers, but those promotional seats are almost gone. For international travel, particularly long-haul to Europe or North America, expect economy fares to be 30-50% higher than this time last year. The European Commission is actually urging Europeans to fly less to conserve fuel. That's the world we're in. If you have flexible dates, midweek and late-night departures tend to be cheaper. And if you're transiting through the Middle East, check your routing carefully, several Gulf carriers have limited or rerouted services, pushing passengers to direct flights that are priced accordingly.

Two floors below ÆTHER, which we featured last week, sits The Norm, and the contrast is deliberate. Where ÆTHER goes futuristic and minimal, The Norm goes warm, textured, and decidedly lounge-first. This is a 1,200-square-meter social club and rooftop bar on the 42nd floor of the Dusit Central Park office tower in Silom, designed by EKAR Architects around a philosophy that the furniture should come before the architecture. And what furniture: the space is filled with more than 100 iconic Fritz Hansen pieces, including Arne Jacobsen's egg chairs lining the curved bar in the Living Room zone, giving the whole place a design-museum-meets-cocktail-bar energy that feels expensive without being pretentious. The layout splits into four zones. The Main Hall has warm timber and tall windows framing the city. The Living Room wraps around that curved bar. The Terrace opens toward Lumphini Park and comes alive at sunset when the resident DJ starts up. And the Whispering Room is tucked away for private, low-key evenings. Wallpaper* Magazine did a feature calling it a rooftop where "the chair comes first, and the architecture follows." TimeOut Bangkok named it one of the city's best new bars of 2026.

TIP: Book ahead for Friday and Saturday evenings. The Terrace is the spot at sunset. Dress code is smart casual. Budget ฿1,200-2,000 for two people for an evening of cocktails. Arrive by 5:30 PM for golden hour.

5 April 1994: Kurt Cobain died at his home in Seattle. He was 27 years old, the lead singer of Nirvana, and the reluctant voice of a generation that didn't want a voice. He once said, "I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." 31 years later, that sentiment resonates differently in a city where everyone is reinventing themselves. Bangkok is full of people who left somewhere else to become someone else. Some of them found what they were looking for. Some are still looking. Either way, the city doesn't judge. It just opens another rooftop bar and hands you a cocktail. It's Sunday. Be kind to yourself. Go hit a pickleball.

See you tomorrow morning.

— Devon