The ritziest way to spend Earth Hour in Bangkok

Just because you’re dining in a five-star hotel, that doesn’t mean you can’t take part in the global Earth Hour, held to create awareness of climate change. Saturday night, from 8:30pm-9:30pm, Bangkok’s Shangri-La Hotel will be switching off the lights in its Angelini, NEXT2 and Salathip restaurants by the Chao Phraya River and offering candlelit dinners.

Chefs will create dishes using local products, including seasonal fruits and vegetables from the Royal Project to support the local farmers and help reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint and fuel consumption. For instance, Italian chef Marco Riva will create a special menu with a 'slow food' concept at Angelini, and NEXT2 has a buffet using sustainable products while Salathip will prepare classical-style Thai dishes using the Royal Project Foundation’s products.

Earth Hour is a global event organised by the WWF. It is held on the last Saturday of March, and asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness of the need to take action on climate change. At 8.30pm, guests at the Shangri-la will be invited to watch as the city and the hotel fade out at the appointed time.