The Sri Nakorn Paphayon - Hang Chat district, Lampang province, Thailand

In northern Thailand, precious little of a stand-alone cinema culture remains intact. Of all the 16 provinces classified as the north, there are a meager two stand-alone theaters still operating, both of which are owned by Thana Cineplex, a subsidiary of Pra Nakorn Films. That's a paltry number considering that over the years there have probably been around 100 movie theaters in Thailand's north.

With no business to host, demolition has been the norm among this dead facet of popular culture. As a rule of thumb, the older the theater, the less likely it is to be standing today. This formula has ensured that in all my northerly expeditions I have only encountered one theater built prior to the 1960's. They're simply hard to come by. 

This past November, a second granddaddy was added to the list. Following a tip, I motored over to Hang Chat district, Lampang in search of the Sri Nakorn Paphayon. 

The Sri Nakorn Paphayon

The Sri Nakorn Paphayon faces onto Hang Chat's main thoroughfare, diverging architecturally from the  avenue's other structures by little more than the free-standing signage perched at its summit. Main street's visual uniformity has a soothing aspect to it, retaining the aesthetic conservatism of mid-20th century provincial Thailand. The inventory of buildings is composed of a discernibly older stock than most small towns in the Thai north, a fact that was all but confirmed by the Sri Nakorn's welcoming owners. 

  

Thongsuk (right) and Rampeung Weehayanwut, owners of the abandoned Sri Nakorn Paphayon, standing in front of the theater's side entrance.

Thongsuk Weehayanwut and his wife Rampeung have looked after the Sri Nakorn Paphayon since they inherited it from Thongsuk's father. In reality, however, the "looking after" they do these days is not very involved. In the eyes of Thongsuk, his inheritance is a bit of a white elephant. 

The Weehayanwut's property in Hang Chat is expansive. Entering through a driveway beside the old theater leads to their industrial/residential compound, comprised of a furniture factory reminiscent of an air plane hanger, an equally large warehouse for lumber, a modest single-story office house and the family's idyllic sino-colonial style abode, appearing feudal among the towering stands of teak.  

Occupying the most commercially viable plot of land on the property is the abandoned theater, which the Weehayanwut's generously gave me a tour of.

In the theater's active years, this ticket window area was an open-air veranda, but the owner sealed it up once the theater closed.

Ticket windows and perforated masonry.

"It was an economic failure from the beginning," conceded Thongsuk, as we stumbled across the theater's debris-strewn auditorium. "My father envisioned this as being Hang Chat's most popular destination, but it didn't work out that way." 

Thongsuk's father opened the Sri Nakorn Paphayon as Hang Chat's first ever movie theater in 1957. Powering the theater by diesel generator in a time when residential electricity was reserved for wealthy urbanites, the senior Weehayanwut expected brisk ticket sales from a townsfolk lacking in entertainment options. He miscalculated.

For all intents and purposes, Hang Chat is a suburb of the much larger and economically dynamic provincial capital, Lampang. Travel between the two has been simple and unobstructed ever since the railroad connected them in the early 1920's. As a result, Thongsuk explained, "we were never able to attract large crowds, because by the time a film made its way up here, all the townsfolk and people from the surrounding villages had already gone to see it at one of the bigger theaters in Lampang."

Ticket window ironwork.

The auditorium of the Sri Nakorn Paphayon. The ceiling rafters are made of timber, as are all doors and windows. The walls of the structure are made of poured concrete.

Projection room given over to storage.

The Weehayanwut's closed down the perennial money pit about 40 years ago without ever attempting to repurpose it. Today, it sits on the side of the road in the heart of old Hang Chat, serving as a barrier to the rest of their property and not much else.

"Frankly, if I had an opportunity to  replace it with a 7-11 or Tesco-Lotus, I'd tear it down," admitted Thongsuk. "But I haven't been able to find a good tenant for the land."

Signage

Just a thought, but 7-11 or Tesco-Lotus might be able to ever so slightly improve their corporate image if one of them moved in, rehabbed the front portion and used it for retail. 

Better yet, being that coffee shops are all the rage across northern Thailand these days, the street side portion of the building, consisting of the veranda and the space above, would make a most salubrious place to sip a brew. 

Noting that a) it matches architecturally with most of the other old building on the street, b) its structural integrity is sound, c) its identifying details like the original free-standing signage is intact and d) (in certain regards) it's a local landmark, there's no reason to tear it town. 

The Fa Lanna Cinema - Lampang, Thailand

The substandard quality of these photos has kept them suppressed in an unseen state, hidden away in a remote corner of a remote file in a digital cabinet, collecting digidust for months on end. But with a dwindling supply of my own material to post, I had to settle. Here it is, the Fa Lanna Cinema.

The Fa Lanna Cinema decays in the middle of Asawin Market in downtown Lampang. Its abandonment only dates back 6 or 7 years, prior to which it was one of Lampang's premiere first-run movie theaters. Asawin Market continues to thrive, as many open-air fresh markets do, but in the absence of cinema it lacks the kind of stimulating appeal that it had in years past. It must have been nice to snack on some freshly grilled sai uwa (northern Thai sausage) before ducking into the Fa Lanna.

Classic signage

Vandalism

An old storage room falling to pieces

Roof aperture and screen decay

Fa Lanna translates to "Lanna Sky," Lanna being the traditional name for the provinces of Thailand's upper north. It means "one million rice fields." Chiang Mai had long been the de facto capital of the Lanna region, though political unity among the various city-states was likely more tenuous than is often cited in history books. At the end of 19th century the Lanna provinces were annexed by Bangkok to become part of greater Siam, though maintaining a cultural identity independent of Bangkok has been a local priority ever since. In a titular way, the Fa Lanna Cinema was one manifestation of northern pride; a passive assertion of identity in the face of Bangkok's economic and cultural domination. But in Lampang today, the lone operating movie theater is a Thana Cineplex, subsidiary of the Bangkok-based Phranakorn Films. So much for local ownership in the movie theater business.

The Pratuchai Theater - Lampang, Thailand

Psst! Do you want to know a secret? Lampang is a really great off-the-radar city in Thailand's upper north. In terms of urban infrastructure, it is far more sophisticated than both its larger neighbors of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Walking its bustling streets, with its well maintained shop-houses and quaint markets is like a time warp to Thailand of the 1960's. But despite the retro feel, a youthful liveliness pervades Lampang's night hours. There's even a bit of indigenous hipsterism visible if you look in the right places.

I've never spent more than a day at a time in Lampang, but it's always a good escape from the doldrums of Chiang Mai. Shamefully, there are no longer any downtown escapes from reality in movie theater form there. All of them have been relegated to the annals of nostalgia - like the Pratuchai Theater, depicted below.

In its prime, the Pratuchai was one of Lampang's premiere entertainment spots for the city's youth. Aside from a movie theater, it also had a dance floor and roller skating rink circa the 1980's. Must have been the place to take your date if you lived there.

In the wake of showmanship - and make no mistake, theater ownership is nothing less than showmanship - the owner of the Pratuchai is now the Lampang distributor of Castrol Motor Oil. With his theater passed its cinematic days, he uses the auditorium to store cases of the flammable lubricant. Sounds like an insurance claim just waiting to be collected.

Faded lettering serves as a reminder

Enter if you dare!

The Pratuchai Theater was one of a handful of neighborhood movie theaters which once added life to downtown Lampang. Although the town center is now devoid of cinema options, a Thana Cineplex operates inside the Big C Super Center just off the 4 lane highway on the edge of town. As charmless as charmless can get.

The Pratuchai has been shuttered for 10 years now, but the free standing letters spelling out PRATUCHAI linger on as a reminder of the building's brighter past.