Rare wooden movie theater demolished in southern Laos.

If it's any indication that Laos' overall economy is growing, another of the country's historic cinemas has been knocked down to make way for a new structure. This marks the 4th Lao theater to fall since the SEA Movie Theater Project got underway in 2008.

The Ta Luang Cinema stood in the heart of a residential neighborhood in central Pakse, the 2nd largest city in southern Laos. Probably the most notable aspect of the Ta Luang (Royal Port) Cinema was that it was built almost entirely from wood.

In the early days of cinema in Southeast Asia, wooden theaters were the norm, as were most buildings built before World War II. Concrete became the standard building material after the war, leading to a gradual replacement of most of the region's wooden theaters.

Burma still has many theaters that have wooden auditoriums, but their facades are made of concrete. As for theaters made completely of wood, facade and all, only three have ever encountered here; one in Bangkok, one in Chiang Kong and the Ta Luang, which exists no more.

Isn't it good, Laotian wood?

Save for the foundation, the Ta Luang was all wood.

A peak inside the Ta Luang Theater reveals a screen still. 

Pakse sits astride one of several Greater Mekong Sub-region transit corridors, designed to increase overland trade from Vietnam's coast to the ports of Burma. As a result, the city has seen a rapid rise in economic activity, from light industry to tourism.

   

Rumor has it that a guesthouse will replace the demolished Ta Laung Cinema. 

The Pakse Hotel AKA The Pakse Theater - Pakse, Laos

I was initially hesitant to post anything about the Pakse Theater because it's been completely converted into a hotel and lacks evidence of its former cinematic glory days, but I've since had a change of heart. These old cinemas, you see, regardless of their current use, are testament to bygone eras. They are good starting points for queries about the larger forces that shape societies, like economics, technological innovation and the social mores of the day. What's more, within these buildings opinions were shaped, emotions stoked and daily routines given alternate perspectives -- not to mention all the things that people do when the lights go down. Movie theaters reside in the memories of the spectators who visited them, which is why they themselves should be a sustained part of the collective memory. Also, I just dig some of the buildings.


The Pakse Theater was apparently the first large-scale, modern building in the city of Pakse, built by the last king of southern Laos. It wasn't originally a theater, but in 1962 was converted into one. It also contained a casino. I'm not sure how long its movie-showing days lasted, but in 2003 it was completely renovated and turned into it's current incarnation as the Pakse Hotel.

The Rock Port North Theater: Pakse, Laos

The upper part of the Rock Port North Theater's exterior is made of corrugated tin

The west side of Pakse had its own theater. Almost equally as unassuming as the Ta Luang, the Hong Hoop Ngao Ta Hin Neua, or in English, the Rock Port North Theater, was smack in the middle of a commercial shopping street in an otherwise residential neighborhood. This area is memorable for me because of its old wooden houses which look like they're gonna give out any day. The theater has been abandoned for more than 30 years, though the food vendors that have opened shop beneath the front overhang use it to store bottled beverages. There are also building supplies stored in the now seat-less auditorium. A rehab job, perhaps?

Front door

Noodle vendor catches a nap beneath an old poster case

Boarded up ticket window

I asked one of the vendors if he would let me inside, which he obliged graciously, going so far as to give me a personal guided tour. "The owner," he said, "took the money and ran to Thailand soon after the communist Pathet Lao took control of the country. His daughter has since married an American and moved to the States."

Apparently the owner, still based in Thailand, has few prospects for the building, so he rents it to the vendors.

View from balcony

NOTICE: Children under 15 not permitted.

The Royal Port Theater -- Pakse, Laos

Lots of old timers in Laos call movie theaters "hong hoop ngao," roughly translated to "shadow picture houses." I guess that means that movies are known as "shadow pictures." Anyway, I spent a few days in the little city of Pakse, Champasak province, in southern Laos. The locals led me to three old theaters, one of them being the Hong Hoop Ngao Ta Luang, or Royal Port Theater.

I didn't get much info on this one, only that the owner still lives in town - a fact which contrasts to the other theaters I've come across in Laos, whose owners all bolted from the country as soon as the communists took power in 1975. It closed down in the mid-80's

This geezer's all wood. I bet it's one of the oldest theaters in SEA.

As I crept around the perimeter, trying to find a crack to get a peak inside, some kids rode by on bikes. One of them said to me "Yo dude, don't you know that joints haunted?" To which I replied, "I ain't scared of no ghost."

For those of you who think I'm trying to pass an old barn off as an old theater, check out the screen; barely visible through the crack in the door.