One Programme, Many Ways Into Bangkok at TIME 2026
Sub-Title:
HQ explores Bangkok’s hotels, meeting venues, wellness, culture and event experiences during TIME 2026, with practical ideas for future programmes.
Magazine:
30th Sep, 2026
Category:
Image:
Body:
Thailand’s MICE offering ranges from the dense urban environment of Bangkok to the resort-led coast of Khao Lak in Phang Nga Province, providing a variety of options to suit different interests, preferences and event requirements. Many fam trips try to fit in as much as possible in a short amount of time, often moving everyone through one set itinerary. In contrast, the Thailand Innovative Meetings Exchange (TIME 2026), organised by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and BIC Event, gave more than 110 international hosted buyers, media representatives and, for the first time, content creators several ways to explore both destinations. We shared the core business and social programme while regularly splitting into smaller groups according to interests and participant profiles. This first article follows Bangkok and the places, venues and experiences that stood out for meeting planners. Khao Lak is explored separately here.
Author: Jesús Guerrero Chacón
Under the theme Siam Moment, TIME 2026 framed the two destinations around different rhythms. Bangkok became the Moment of Pulse, reflecting the pace, density and variety of the capital, while Khao Lak represented the Moment of Calm, shaped by its coastline, resort environment and closer connection to nature.
The programme also brought MaxiMICE Thailand, TCEB’s campaign built around convenience, experience and impact, into the trip itself. In Bangkok, we encountered practical examples of all three through coordinated logistics and connected venues, a wide choice of cultural, culinary and wellness experiences, and local suppliers introducing more sustainable ways of delivering events.
Bangkok and the Moment of Pulse
Arrival in Bangkok began at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where TCEB’s MICE fast-track immigration lane assisted with immigration, baggage and the onward transfer into the city. For an international group arriving on different long-haul flights, those services brought the first stages of the journey into one coordinated arrival process.
Hotels and meeting venues
Andaz One Bangkok
Opened in December 2025, Andaz One Bangkok was the second Andaz hotel to open in Thailand and the first in Bangkok. It has 244 rooms and suites inside One Bangkok, a mixed-use district which opened to the public in October 2024. For TIME 2026, media and content creators were hosted at the hotel for two nights, which gave us time to experience both the property and its immediate surroundings. One Bangkok comprises restaurants, retail outlets, offices, public spaces and other hotels, all of which have direct access to Lumphini station on Bangkok’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network.
.JPG)
The 380 sqm Andaz Ballroom can accommodate up to 300 guests for meetings and events, and can be divided into two. It features a five-metre ceiling, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a 52 sqm built-in LED screen. Two smaller Atelier rooms provide daylight spaces for board meetings and breakout sessions.
The surrounding area offers additional options for event programmes. Lumphini Park is located next to One Bangkok, and Benjakitti Park is also nearby. TIME used both parks for early-morning walks, demonstrating how easily outdoor activities can be incorporated into a stay in central Bangkok. The Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC) is only a short journey away on the same MRT line, providing organisers with an additional accommodation and meeting option for congresses held at the convention centre.
The Peninsula Bangkok
The first stop in Bangkok took us across the Chao Phraya River to The Peninsula Bangkok, after we had inspected its meeting and event spaces. The 367-room hotel boasts a 520 sqm Sakuntala Ballroom, smaller function rooms and a 398 sqm outdoor lawn, providing planners with a variety of options for conferences, gala dinners and riverside events of different sizes.
Complimentary shuttle boats connect the hotel with Saphan Taksin, a key station on Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain network, and ICONSIAM, a major riverside complex offering retail, dining and entertainment. These connections also provide planners with an easy way to extend a programme along the river, reducing reliance on road transfers.
Our inaugural dinner was held in the Paribatra Aviation Lounge on the 37th floor. At 84 sqm, with capacity for around 30 guests at banquet tables, the room certainly felt intimate after seeing the hotel’s larger facilities. The space is filled with aviation memorabilia and connects directly to the private rooftop helipad. From that height, the views opened across the Chao Phraya and Bangkok’s cityscape. A fantastic way to grasp just how large the city is on our first evening in the capital.
.JPG)
The St. Regis Bangkok
The St. Regis Bangkok hosted TIME’s Knowledge Exchange, which brought together more than 250 participants across 20 sessions and four concurrent tracks. That format made practical use of a meeting product centred on the approximately 515 sqm Astor Ballroom, divisible into three sections, alongside smaller Rajadamri rooms for parallel sessions and breakouts.
The 228-room hotel sits on Ratchadamri Road opposite the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and connects directly by skybridge to Ratchadamri BTS station. Its scale is particularly suited to executive meetings, premium incentives and mid-sized conferences where plenary, breakout and hospitality spaces need to remain close together. The ballroom accommodates around 360 theatre-style and up to 500 for receptions, while the Rajadamri rooms cover smaller meetings and board-style formats.
Coming in HQ127: Our November 2026 edition takes a deeper look at the ideas discussed during the TIME 2026 Knowledge Exchange, from TCEB’s vision for Thailand’s business events economy to Governor Dr Chadchart Sittipunt’s plans for a Bangkok that works better for events, businesses and residents alike.
.JPG)
Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok
At the Business Exchange event held at the Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort in Bangkok, hosted buyers were able to attend pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings with Thai hotels, DMCs, venues, and other partners. With 68 exhibitors, the session provided buyers with an efficient way to discover products and potential partners for future meetings and incentives in Thailand.
Media and content creators could use the exchange more freely. At the Air Astana stand, representatives explained to HQ that TIME 2026 had welcomed a 10-buyer delegation from Kazakhstan through a new collaboration linked to the carrier’s direct services from Almaty and Astana to Bangkok and Phuket. Another conversation introduced CoCo MICE, which works with a coconut growers’ social enterprise and can customise coconuts for events, and then collect and compost used shells and husks after events. The model links local sourcing with waste reduction, giving planners a simple example of how sustainability can be built into F&B choices. The Business Exchange also helped broaden the picture of Thailand’s MICE network, which expanded from 10 to 16 certified MICE Cities in September 2026 with the addition of Chiang Rai, Ubon Ratchathani, Rayong, Hua Hin–Cha-am, Krabi and Nakhon Si Thammarat. Other destinations outside the certified network, including Khao Lak, add further options for planners depending on the event format.
The 211-room Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok is located in a lush area of Wireless Road. It offers extensive meeting facilities alongside the Be Well Spa, gardens, a saltwater pool, fitness facilities, and direct access to the BDMS Wellness Clinic. This makes it particularly well-suited to leadership retreats, health and life sciences meetings, and corporate programmes that wish to combine business sessions with wellness and preventive health elements in central Bangkok.
Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel
Following a US$50 million (approx. €43.5 million) transformation completed in 2026, Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel has refreshed both its accommodation and its meetings offer while retaining the Thai artwork and hand-painted ceiling murals that give the property much of its character. Its 16 upgraded event venues are anchored by an 814 sqm Grand Ballroom for up to 800 guests, supported by flexible meeting rooms for breakouts and smaller gatherings.
Some of the new spaces that we saw during the hotel tour offer formats that go beyond conventional meeting rooms, ballrooms and boardrooms. A screening, podcast and studio room can support private screenings, interviews, recorded content, smaller presentations and media activities alongside a conference. For meeting planners who are increasingly producing content around their events, these facilities can enable them to keep more of that work in-house instead of requiring an external studio.
The cultural and dining offer can also be folded directly into an event programme. At Napa Creative Workshop Studio, one of Anantara’s meeting rooms, participants can learn to make Phuang Malai, traditional Thai flower garlands associated with welcome, respect and good wishes, creating a hands-on cultural activity between meetings or as part of an incentive programme. The recently revamped Spice Market restaurant then provides an on-property option for a Thai dinner, allowing groups to move from meetings to a cultural activity and evening dining without an additional transfer. Together, the upgraded MICE spaces, content-production facilities and Thai experiences give planners considerably more to work with than the hotel’s ballroom capacity alone.
Experiencing Bangkok
BHAWÁ Spa and Prai Raya
A few minutes’ walk from Nana station on Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain, BHAWÁ Spa on the Eight brings a resort-like garden setting into central Sukhumvit. During TIME 2026, participants could choose between a 90-minute aroma-oil massage, a 90-minute wellness massage with hot stones or a foot massage, with different oils selected according to personal preference. The format works particularly well for smaller incentive or executive groups, or for staggered wellness sessions within a larger programme, giving delegates some choice without requiring a full-day spa itinerary.
Prai Raya, directly across the street, makes the pairing particularly easy. The restaurant specialises in Southern Thai cuisine, served through shared dishes that introduce regional flavours in a more social dining format. Moving from individual treatments to a communal lunch created a natural change of pace, while the proximity of both venues allows planners to combine wellness and gastronomy into a compact half-day experience in Sukhumvit with very little additional logistics.
.JPG)
Four Different routes through Bangkok
Bangkok’s four alternative routes revealed different aspects of the city to the participants, from heritage and belief systems to food and contemporary hospitality. The Hidden Gems of Siam travelled to Thonburi to visit Wat Nang Nong, a historic Buddhist temple renowned for its royal patronage, mural paintings, and fusion of Thai and Chinese artistic styles. Listed as a national historic monument since 1977, the temple can also be incorporated into a broader Thonburi or waterway programme. Next, a craft workshop using traditional materials and techniques was on the itinerary.
The Essence of Thai Beliefs explored the Erawan Shrine and shrines dedicated to Lakshmi and Ganesha around Ratchaprasong, Bangkok’s central shopping, hotel and commercial district, followed by a bracelet-making workshop at Gaysorn. The same area also hosted TIME’s Siam in Bloom welcome dinner at Raynue, Gaysorn Amarin, a contemporary Thai-led restaurant and social space with lounge, bar and terrace areas suited to private dining, networking and evening events. Thai Taste gave participants a hands-on introduction to Thai cuisine at Sompong Thai Cooking School, showcasing a culinary tradition that is already a major part of Thailand’s delegate experience. Meanwhile, Beyond the City focused on the capital’s latest hospitality offerings, with visits to Andaz One Bangkok, Chang Canvas and The Ritz-Carlton Bangkok, followed by a tea ceremony.
The four routes offer valuable guidance for event organisers looking to split attendees into smaller groups based on their interests during part of the programme, then bring everyone back together for shared business and social activities.During the TIME 2026 Knowledge Exchange, Dr Chadchart Sittipunt, Governor of Bangkok, discussed how the development of the capital as a business-events destination will improve transport links, public spaces, economic opportunities and the quality of life for residents. This broader vision of Bangkok as a city shaped for the people who live and work there, not just a place to host delegates, is explored in more depth in HQ127, our November 2026 edition.
Explore more from TIME 2026
- Continue to Khao Lak: Discover HQ’s hotel, venue, wellness and experience picks from TIME 2026’s Moment of Calm.
- Read our interview with Dr Jaruwan Suwannasat: Thailand's meetings economy, source markets, personalisation and the thinking behind MaxiMICE Thailand.
- Coming in HQ127, November 2026: Our print edition goes deeper into the TIME 2026 Knowledge and Business Exchanges, including TCEB’s vision for Thailand’s business events economy and Governor Dr Chadchart Sittipunt’s perspective on how Bangkok can develop for MICE and residents.
Powered by Meeting Media Company, publisher of Headquarters Magazine (HQ) – a leading international publication based in Brussels, serving the global MICE industry and association community.
