Bangkok Design Week 2026 opens as Southeast Asia’s largest creative platform
“DESIGN S/O/S” theme adopted as a blueprint to champion Thai design as a driving force for a sustainable urban future
The Creative Economy Agency (CEA) and partners officially opened Bangkok Design Week 2026 (BKKDW2026), Southeast Asia’s largest design festival.
Now in its ninth edition, this year’s event is held under the theme “DESIGN S/O/S,” signalling that design serves as a solution to multidimensional challenges amid widespread crises across economic, environmental, social, and quality-of-life issues, while also elevating the city to new heights.
The festival welcomes ideas from all disciplines to spark change, foster cross-generational business networks, and expand international collaboration. It is part of the broader effort to elevate the quality of life and urban development in Bangkok, designated a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
This year’s festival runs from January 29 to February 8, 2026, spanning four main districts: Charoenkrung (Talat Noi), Phra Nakhon, Pak Khlong Talat, and Bang Lamphu (Khao San), plus over 140 venues throughout Bangkok.
As revealed by Chaiyong Ratana-Angkura, Chairman of the CEA, the event is expected to attract no fewer than 400,000 visitors from Thailand and abroad, generating an economic impact of at least 1 billion baht during the 11-day festival.
“This year, Bangkok Design Week has been elevated as a landmark that reflects Bangkok’s creative and design capabilities. CEA’s mission is to drive the country’s creative economy by developing people, businesses, and cities to grow together.
“One policy tool we’ve employed is the concept of ‘Festivalisation,’ using festivals as a mechanism to generate economic momentum by creating experimental spaces and connecting creative networks within the city. Bangkok Design Week is a platform that brings design into ‘real action’ within urban and economic contexts.
“Under the DESIGN S/O/S theme, the festival reflects the current global and urban landscape facing challenges in economic volatility, geopolitical complexity, climate change, and rapid shifts in global trade. In this context, the central question becomes: How can design help cities, businesses, and people survive and move forward?
“The festival tackles this through three pillars: Secure Domestic, building strength from within; Outreach Opportunities, opening new possibilities and connecting to the global stage; and Sustainable Future, designing sustainable pathways for tomorrow.”
Similarly, Sanon Wangsrangboon, Deputy Governor of Bangkok, remarked on Bangkok’s important role as the host.
“Bangkok Design Week 2026 is a platform connecting designers, creators, communities, businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies. It drives Bangkok forward as a UNESCO Creative City of Design, using design as a tool to develop the city, economy, and quality of life.
“This year’s theme reflects design’s role in addressing urban challenges across quality of life, economy, and environment throughout the capital’s various districts. The festival also provides a testing ground for designers and creators to experiment with new concepts that can be adapted for real urban development. Bangkok sees this as a ‘city laboratory’ that opens new perspectives and translates into concrete policy initiatives.”
“A standout collaboration this year is Bangkok Book District Fest 2026, a collaboration among CEA, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and OKMD in Phra Nakhon. It invites book lovers to explore the roots of Bangkok’s book and printing industries, driving industry growth through three dimensions: Business, Creators, and Space. This reinforces how design, when linking people, creators, and the city, can generate new value across economic, cultural, and quality of life dimensions.”
The festival’s core content delivers “pathways to survival” through three key dimensions:
- Creative Talent: Showcasing potential and advancing ideas from both emerging and experienced creators
- Design Business: Connecting design work with business opportunities and international collaborations
- The District: Using design as a force to revitalise neighbourhoods and drive local economies
This reflects the festival’s role as a platform systematically connecting people, businesses, and the city, featuring over 350 programmes from collaborations with Thai and international designers from 16 countries.
Activities range from exhibitions and installations, talks, workshops, events, music and performances, district tours, design markets supporting local businesses and emerging designers, to urban atmosphere-building activities and promotions from shops and restaurants across Bangkok’s creative districts.
These initiatives provide opportunities for everyone to learn, discover, and be inspired by design, while fostering learning, exchange, and business development. Thus reinforcing the festival’s role in supporting Bangkok as a member of the UCCN as a City of Design, confirming that design is a vital tool for tangibly developing cities, economies, and people’s quality of life.
Join the search for inspiration and creative ideas that will help us “Design/To/Survive” across every dimension of city, economy, and people.
The festival runs from January 29 to February 8, 2026, across four districts throughout Bangkok in Charoenkrung (Talat Noi), Phra Nakhon, Pak Khlong Talat, and Bang Lamphu (Khao San). Don’t miss it!
More information:
- Website: www.bangkokdesignweek.com
- Facebook/Instagram: @bangkokdesignweek
- X: @BKKDesignWeek
- Line: @bangkokdesignweek
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