Designers and architects traveled from around the word for this year’s annual Leaders of Design Conference hosted in Bangkok, Thailand. The group spent four days immersing themselves in the arts and culture scene, exploring local spots, and attending talks from the brightest minds in design. Francis Nicdao, Principal and Chief Creative Officer of Pembrooke & Ives, is sharing his packed itinerary to craft the perfect tour of Thailand’s capital.

 Places to Visit

JIM THOMPSON HOUSE MUSEUM

The Jim Thompson House Museum preserves the Bangkok home of Jim Thompson, the American entrepreneur who revitalized the Thai silk industry after World War II. The property is a complex of six traditional Thai teakwood houses, most brought from Ayutthaya and reassembled on a canal in the Pathumwan district in 1959. Thompson filled the rooms with Southeast Asian art and antiques, and the collection remains largely as he left it.

Buddhist Temples

Bangkok’s temples are among the most significant in Southeast Asia. Wat Pho houses the Reclining Buddha, a 46-meter gilded figure that fills the entirety of its hall. The Grand Palace complex includes the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, one of Thailand’s most sacred sites. Wat Suthat, though less visited by tourists, is among the oldest temples in the city.

Dib Bangkok

Dib Bangkok opened in December of 2025, as Thailand’s first international contemporary art museum. Located in a renovated 1980s warehouse in the Khlong Toei district, the building was redesigned by architect Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture, who organized the three-floor space around a progression from raw and industrial at ground level to light-filled galleries above, a reference to Buddhist enlightenment. The permanent collection holds over 1,000 works by more than 200 artists. At its center is “Straight Up,” a James Turrell installation and the first of his permanent works in Thailand.

Chinatown

Bangkok’s Chinatown, known as Yaowarat, is one of the oldest and most vibrant neighborhoods in the city. The main avenue is lined with gold shops, temples, and street vendors, while the side streets lead into markets selling dried goods, herbs, and fresh produce. The culinary scene is dense and serious, with several Michelin-recognized restaurants established within a few blocks of each other. The designers explored the area on three-wheeler taxis called tuk-tuks.

Nobu Bangkok

Nobu Bangkok occupies the 57th, 58th, and 60th floors of the Empire Tower in Sathorn, Bangkok’s business district. The restaurant’s unique design unfolds across the floors, with each level drawing inspiration from a distinct Thai landscape: urban, jungle, and river. The group gathered on the rooftop for drinks, taking in the city skyline and the Chao Phraya River below.

Warehouse 30

Warehouse 30 is a privately developed cultural district in Bangkok’s Charoen Krung neighborhood, housed in a cluster of former WWII warehouses. The complex brings together galleries, furniture and antique dealers, vintage clothing, food vendors, and a live music scene within a single walkable block. It’s one of the city’s most active creative hubs and a place where design, commerce, and community come together.

Blue Jasmine Train

The Blue Jasmine is a restored 1960s Japanese sleeper train reimagined as a boutique hotel on wheels, operating a nine-day route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai since its launch in November 2025. The train passes through five provinces and includes stops at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ayutthaya and Sukhothai. The designers were invited aboard for cocktails and a brief journey to a private dinner—a rare early look at one of the newest and most singular offerings in Thai luxury travel.

DESIGN-LED ACCOMMODATIONS

The Capella

The designers took up accommodations at the Capella Hotel Bangkok in the Chao Phraya Estate development of the city’s Creative District. The 5-star hotel was designed by LDC member Gerry Jue, Principal at BAMO design studio, giving the group a unique opportunity to experience a colleague’s vision at full scale. The Capella has been awarded globally for its elegant, contemporary interiors and world-class hospitality.

The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons Bangkok opened in 2020, and the property sits on the Chao Phraya River. The resort’s cascading buildings organized around interconnected courtyards that reference traditional Thai architectural forms. The interiors are contemporary and material-rich, with a rotating art program run in partnership with MOCA Bangkok.

The Siam Hotel

Conceived by creative director Krissada Sukosol Clapp and designer Bill Bensley, The Siam is part hotel, part museum, part resort. Three-century-old Thai teakwood houses were relocated and restored to form the heart of the property, placing genuine historical structures at the center of the guest experience. The result embodies the tension the LDC trip was designed around: old and new not as opposites, but as collaborators. It was one of the most resonant stops of the four days.

Aman Nai Lert

Aman Nai Lert Bangkok opened in April 2025, set within the seven-acre Nai Lert Park, a privately held green oasis in the center of the city with roots going back to 1915. Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston designed the interiors, drawing on the heritage of the Nai Lert estate and traditional Thai craft. The 52 suites are among the largest in the city, each arranged around views of the park canopy and skyline. A 12-meter tree sculpture of 6,000 hand-crafted gold leaves rises through the ninth-floor atrium, commissioned from Bangkok-based art director Martin Gerlier.

NOTABLE MERCHANTS

JIM THOMPSON

Jim Thompson is one of Thailand’s most recognized silk and textile merchants. Founded in 1948 by the American entrepreneur of the same name, the company played a central role in bringing Thai silk to global markets. Thompson’s story is woven into Bangkok itself, from the Bangkrua weavers who still work with the brand to the network of showrooms that carry his legacy forward. The group visited the flagship, exploring a collection that spans classic silk patterns and contemporary applications for interiors and fashion.

P. TENDERCOOL

Founded by Belgian designers Pieter Compernol and Stephanie Grusenmeyer, P. Tendercool is a Bangkok-based furniture atelier with a singular approach to materiality. Each piece is built by a team of carefully selected craftsmen in a dedicated bronze foundry and workshop located down the street from the main showroom. The work draws on antique exotic hardwoods, giving the furniture a density and character that is rare in contemporary production.

URNA

Founded in 2018, Urna operates across Bangkok, Singapore, and Dubai, offering bespoke furniture, brand representation, and sourcing services for luxury hospitality and residential projects. The studio is currently recreating pieces by Ed Tuttle, the designer best known for defining the aesthetic of Aman resorts worldwide. Their work is anchored in precision and an unwavering commitment to quality.

THE CULLINARY SCENE

Baan Tepa

Chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam became the first Thai female chef to earn two Michelin stars, and Baan Tepa is the restaurant behind that distinction. Set in a historic home surrounded by working gardens in Bangkok, the restaurant uses ingredients grown on-site and reflects Tam’s commitment to the full lifecycle of her food. The setting carries the same old-new tension the LDC trip was conceived around: a centuries-old house that frames entirely contemporary thinking about Thai cuisine and the chef’s role within it.

Aoywaan Riverside Thai Cuisine

Aoywaan Riverside Thai Cuisine opened in 2014 as both a restaurant and a cooking school, designed to give visitors a genuine and unpretentious introduction to Thai food. Aoy Marungrueng, the chef, won the Iron Chef Thailand competition in 2023, and the restaurant has been recognized by numerous programs for its approach to traditional cuisine. Cooking classes here are interactive and hands-on, making it a fun way to experience authentic food.

Design with a Cause

“Wild” Bill Bensley and Jim Thompson

Artist and designer Bill Bensley collaborated with Jim Thompson Fabrics on a collection that transforms his original paintings into textile prints. The partnership is both creative and philanthropic: a portion of proceeds from every sale goes directly to the Shinta Mani Foundation, which works to preserve the rainforests of Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains and protect the ecosystem and wildlife within them.

Chiangmai Life Architects

Chiangmai Life Architects designs and builds structures from bamboo, working with communities in northern Thailand and beyond on projects that prioritize sustainable materials from the ground up. Their work ranges from community buildings to full-scale public spaces, all developed using bamboo as a primary structural element. The practice has shown that bamboo construction can meet the demands of ambitious architecture without compromising on environmental principles.