There are plenty of great ways to watch the sunset in Bangkok, but we challenge you to name a better way to spend an evening than watching as the sun slips behind the skyscrapers whilst sitting in one of the capital’s beautiful parks listening to an orchestra play live in front of you!

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As the name suggests ‘Music In The Park’ is just that. Setting up across many of Bangkok’s green spaces, on every Saturday and Sunday evening in January, musicians, dancers and orchestras take over the parks of Bangkok to deliver an evening of free music and dance. We absolutely adore live music, so as soon as we saw this was happening, we knew we had to go and check it out!

Crowds gather on the lawns in front of a bandstand in the middle of Lumphini Park in Bangkok.

For such a massive, sprawling city, Bangkok has a surprising amount of great parks. Tthe parks in Bangkok are always so varied and full of flowers, swaying trees, fountains and lawns. In Bangkok the parks are so different, yet so full of character from the famous monitor lizards of Lumphini Park to the modern forest walk of Benjakitti, we absolutely love to wander through the city's parks, especially at sunset when the air is a little cooler!

On the day we decided to watch ‘Music In The Park, we had two choices. One to see the Bangkok Metropolitan Orchestra in Benjakitti Park or two, see the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra in Lumphini. As there really wasn’t much in it as we’re sure both orchestras would be phenomenal to see, we decided to go to Lumphini, our favourite park in Bangkok.

Armed with a picnic of Thai street food and a blanket we headed to Lumphini. The orchestra performs on the band stand in the middle of the park (found here) on the green lawn opposite the statue of the giant monitor lizard. We arrived just after 5.30PM and the orchestra was already in full swing. Violin bows sliced through the air in unison, the conductor swung and slashed to each individual beat and the percussion section hammered down their drumsticks with exact precision, as the sounds of William Tell’s Overture spread and reverberated throughout the park.

The Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra in Lumphini sit on grey chairs wearing white shirts. In front of the orchestra a conductor points his baton in the air.

We found a spot on the lawn and spread out our picnic blanket underneath a towering palm tree. Tucking into moo ping sticks, slices of mango and sweet and salty kanom beung (to read all about what street food to eat in Bangkok, make sure you check out our Old Siam street food article here), we watched and listened as the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra plucked and blew their instruments. Over the course of the evening we watched as the orchestra played a mixture of classical pieces alongside versions of modern songs such as Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’ and a version of Disney’s Frozen ‘Let It Go’ which was very popular with the children in the crowd!

As the classics continued, the sun streamed down, slowly descending between the towering, glass fronted offices and hotels of Silom Road. It’s fading light created a perfect orange outline, silhouetting the skyscrapers.

The sun dips between a street full of skyscrapers. In the foreground a crowd of people sit in Lumphini Park to watch the free 'Music in the Park' event in Bangkok.

It was a beautiful night, with a stunning sunset, incredible music and a chilled out vibe. If you’re after a fun, yet super budget friendly evening in the Thai capital, make sure you check out ‘Music In The Park’. Our only advice is to make sure you pack a delicious picnic and get to the parks early to secure a front row spot!

Music In The Park Essential Information

🗓️ Dates: Every Saturday and Sunday from 1st to 31st Jaunary

🎟️ Entry: Free

📍 Locations: Benjakitti Park, Lumphini, Park Rama VIII Park, Santichaiprakarn Park, Thonburirom Park and Wachirabenchathat Park (Rot Fai Park). Check the full schedule online or Google ‘Music In The Park Bangkok’.

🚻Toilets: There are plenty of toilets dotted all over the parks, and in Lumphini there were ‘toilet buses’ set up next to the stage

🧋Food and drink: Outside all the parks you’ll find street food vendors selling everything from BBQ meat to slices of fruit. Inside there’s almost always a soft drink / water vendor and somewhere to buy coffee and ice-cream. At the ‘Music In The Park’ event in Lumphini there was a Singha stall selling bottles of water for 10 baht, Singha soft drinks for 20 baht and a selection of crisps and seaweed.

We absolutely adored our evening of live music. There really is something magical about listening to classical music played live whilst watching the sun set over the rooftops of our favourite city.

Thanks for reading,

John & Ellie x

#adventuresofjellie