Four years ago, MESTO opened in a small space, where we began building a community and hosting our first events. Then, in 2023, we moved into a three-story building that had been abandoned since the pandemic and required a tremendous investment of effort, time, and money. Most importantly, we needed a strong team capable of bringing a bold idea to life: transforming a three-story derelict building into one of the island’s most prominent independent cultural spaces.

And here’s how it happened:
As a team of artist-organizers, we already had experience creating large-scale art installations for Burning Man and other art festivals. And at Pangana, we built an art residency for the most extraordinary people from all over the world. We brought together art, science, the underground scene, the LGBTQ+ community, knowledge-sharing, creative freedom, and experimentation.

The number of events we’ve hosted over the years has surpassed 1,500: there have been swap meets and recycling events, musical jams, popular science lectures, stand-up comedy shows, creative workshops, and costume parties with elaborate interactive sets.

We’ve put together a delicious menu at MESTO: this is evidenced by our high restaurant ratings and guests who call our burgers the best on the island.

For music events, we sourced instruments, set up a stage, and purchased a high-quality sound system. Well-known artists, local musicians, and bands — many of which formed right here at MESTO after jams and workshops — have performed here.

The spacious MESTO gallery is a free platform for self-expression. We have hosted exhibitions by artists with big names and large social media followings, as well as artists whose names are unknown outside the island but whose work holds immense social significance for the residents of Pangana.

A lush tropical garden has sprung up around MESTO. In it, we built a rope park—woven by hand with the help of our guests—and hung some unique swings. MESTO may seem frivolous, but it’s a real playground for free-spirited adults.

What we haven’t mentioned yet:
We painted the bare walls. We renovated the guest rooms, tidied up the garden, built the rope park, and got the kitchen up and running. We invest every baht we earn into improving this space. We don’t have any investors to fall back on if things go wrong. From the outside, MESTO may look like it’s thriving, but that’s only because we never stop pouring our energy and hard-earned money into it.

Right now, tax payments, necessary repairs, and the off-season—which has caused revenue to drop sharply—have all hit us at once, but salaries and other fixed expenses haven’t gone anywhere.
Each of these circumstances can be handled individually. But when they all come together, a storm ensues, and MESTO manages to stay afloat only thanks to the character and tenacity of the team. Some of the organizers have to take on extra work to pay staff salaries on time and keep the restaurant open every day.

We need your help.
To get through this difficult period without having to give up our free, publicly accessible events and art installations. To keep MESTO alive.

• Come by and order a burger (a really great way to help)
• Tag us on social media
• Stop by our free events and leave a donation
• Support MESTO with a donation — details here — or through crowdfunding — [link coming soon]
• Share this post with your friends
• Share your professional experience or offer business and financial advice; you can find our contact information here

We’ve put everything we had into this space: time, money, energy, and faith.
Now we need a little bit of yours.