The Takli Rama AKA The Raja Theater - Takli, Nakon Sawan, Thailand

The final installment from the town of Takli is the Takli Rama Theater. This phantom film venue has been shuttered for close to 10 years now, though beyond that I wasn't able to gather much information the place. It's safe to assume, I think, that it was built in the late 1960's, when Takli was playing host to US Air Force personnel at the base outside of town.

During an on-line search I came across two separate photo collections from two American vets who were stationed at Takli in the late 60's and early 70's. You can see a 1969 picture of the Takli Rama here, the second photo down in Steve Wilson's Takli Gallery II series. The caption reads "Monkhood Entry Procession," but the Takli Rama, back then called the Raja Theater, is visible in the background. The marquee is advertising a film called "Three Swinging Girls" which was a Shaw Brothers production from 1968.

The second photo is from a compilation called Takli Memory Joggers - more photos from American airmen stationed at Takli during the Vietnam War. It was submitted by Mike Koeler and can be seen by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Much to the detriment of movie theater photography, a row of shop houses has since been erected in front of the theater, boxing it in. I found it a little difficult to get a nice photo angle due to this later addition. But as Mike Koeler's picture attests to, the Takli Rama truly was a handsome theater in its hey-day.

A filthy pigeon soars past the roof-top sign of the old Takli Rama

In other news, there's a short article in the Film Journal International about a group of native English speakers living in Hua Hin, Thailand who've petitioned the local Major Cineplex, the country's largest purveyor of films, to show more movies with their original English language soundtracks, as opposed to being dubbed in Thai with English subtitles. The results of this petition, which consisted of 392 signatures when submitted on September 30th, are unknown.

It might be worth mentioning, however, that in the past many stand-alone theater owners were savvy to this critical audile issue. As a means of satisfying their majority-Thai audiences without alienating those who wanted or needed the original language soundtracks, most of the theaters built in the 1960's and 70's came equipped with "soundtrack rooms." These rooms were usually located next to the projection room, behind a glass wall, where for a premium one could watch the same movie that everybody else was watching but with the original soundtrack. It was a relatively simple way of keeping everybody happy.

The photo below of the Takli Rama's now-vacant lobby depicts what appears to be an old poster display board, beneath which is a sign in English that says: "Way Up To Sound Track Room"

The Rung Napha Cinema - Takli, Nakon Sawan, Thailand

-->“This rusty old marquee is a part of our heritage here in Takli,” explained Nid, my local factotum for all of 20 minutes. “It’s kind of like a welcoming arch in the center of the city. There’s not really any good reason to take it down, it’s still in good shape and everybody in town enjoys its presence.” Salubrious words from a man with an appreciation of hometown history.

The words on the marquee translate to "Rung Napha Cinema, Duang Nimit Market"

The marquee from behind

-->Regrettably, Takli’s recent history is best noted for its gradual economic decline, beginning with the 1975 pull-out of the US Air Force from the town’s Royal Thai Air Force Base. Although the base is still used by the Thai Air Force, the number of units stationed there now is much lower than when the Americans were engaged in war across the border. Otherwise, Takli faces the same issues that most small to medium sized Thai towns face: a severe human resource drain in a country where the economy centers on a few nodal hot-spots. Anybody with a bit of ambition heads off to somewhere that has more opportunity.

This man's name is Monte. He's a life-long resident of Takli and runs a vending cart in the shade of the old Rung Napha Cinema's street-side marquee.

Duang Nimit Market with a side view of the Rung Napha Cinema in the background

-->A bit of scrounging around in history books and the internet yielded some more background data on Takli. Apparently it has long been home to a military base. Before the Americans dug in during the Vietnam War, the Japanese military had an occupational presence there during World War Two. But it was during the US years from 1961-1975 that the town really grew. I haven’t been able to pin-point exactly how many USAF personnel were stationed there, but I did learn that the Takli squadrons flew bombing missions over Laos and North Vietnam, specifically targeting enemy surface to air missile facilities.

Facade of the Rung Napha visible at the end of a street.

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-->Aside from movie theaters, of which Takli had four, American soldiers were entertained by Bob Hope and Raquel Welch, who made personal appearances at the base in 1967 as part of a morale-boost tour (Click here to see Bob and Raquel photos from a Takli vet).

Wrought iron mythical being welded to the upper facade of the theater.

Lobby shot. The theater is now a parking lot.

-->The Rung Napha Cinema is just one legacy of the American military presence in Takli. Hotels, restaurants and other types of establishments likewise opened up to accommodate this relatively high-spending market, which fell from the sky onto sleepy Takli in 1961. Another legacy of Uncle Sam’s erstwhile airmen which I found interesting was that people older than 50 referred to me, formally, as “sir” – an moniker I scarcely encounter, let alone deserve, elsewhere in Thailand.

Nid (above) lives with his aunt on the street in the background, just in front of the Rung Napha Cinema. He recalls watching Indian, Thai and Western movies there as a little boy. It's been closed down for over 10 years now

(Click here to see a photo of the Rung Napah Cinema in the late 1960's)

The Wathana Theater - Takli, Nakon Sawan, Thailand

The town of Takli is less than an hour away from Nakon Sawan City, yet it has none of the latter’s repute or notoriety. At over fifty-thousand inhabitants in the town proper, however, Takli is (likely) one of the larger Thai cities which is not a provincial capital. All this was news to me, too, and when I found out that it used to contain four stand-alone movie theaters you can bet that I was digging around for some answers.

A sign advertising a noodle shop stands in front of the old Wathana Theater

It's pretty hard to make out, but the name Wathana is molded onto the side of the old theater just above the window.

-->There are two reasons why Takli grew large enough to warrant having four movie theaters. First, it’s situated along the Bangkok-Chiang Mai train line, complete with its own station and all. When the railroad was built in the early 20^th century it instantly opened up a huge swath of land to cultivation. On land along the train tracks, the jungle was felled and planted with paddy rice and other crops destined for the ports of Bangkok. The train, along with canal construction, helped open up Thailand’s agricultural frontier. Much like the American west in the 19^th century the Thai frontier was characterized by a high degree of self-sufficiency, an egalitarian social ethic and resistance to government intervention among settlers, many of whom were ex-slaves of the nobility. In the years to come, the central plains of Thailand would be transformed into the rice basket of the world.

The exterior walls of the old Wathana Theater are made of metal, slowly rusting away.

A fading election flier pasted to the metal wall of the theater

--> -->The second and more contemporary reason why Takli grew large enough to have four theaters was due to the US Air Force presence at the base outside of town. The US Air Force, you see, began building and using military facilities in Thailand as early as 1961, mostly as a precaution against the “falling dominoes” theory; a theory which purported that if Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were to become communist states, Thailand would be next and the US would lose another client. By 1965 America was fully engaged in the Vietnam War, while seven Thai airports were hosting American military aircraft and personel. The base at Takli played host to a number of fighting squadrons which flew missions over Laos and Vietnam. As a result of this American military presence, Takli was awash with dollars. In 1961, the Wathana Theater opened, the first of four movie theaters to dot the landscape of the little city.

A couple of guys loading a truck with boxes of food stuff from the side of the old Wathana Theater, now a warehouse for non-perishables.

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The Wathana is an early cinematic outcome of Thailand’s modern development era. It was built with private capital in 1961, the first year of Thailand’s inaugural 5-year National Economic Development Plan. From my conversations with a few life-long Takli residents I learned that the Wathana ceased operating as a movie theater some 40 years ago, shortly after the owner commissioned the building of a nicer, more hi-tech theater in town. So though it was the first of four theaters in the city, it wasn’t operating contemporaneously with the others. In fact, its life as a movie theater was short lived.

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Inside the main auditorium. The wooden frame in the background used to support the screen.

-->For years now the old Wathana Theater has been serving as a warehouse for non-perishables. The interior, stripped of its seats and devoid of a screen, houses thousands upon thousands of boxes of canned food and condiments. I was lucky to go there while some workers were loading a truck for distribution. The manager, a young woman named Bia, very trustingly granted my camera and I temporary asylum on the inside. Despite decades of cinematic dormancy and mountains of boxes piled half way to the ceiling, the place still feels eerily like an old movie theater.

The Nakon Sawan Rama - Nakon Sawan, Thailand

Streetscape perspective of the Nakon Sawan Rama Theater, the building to the left of the photo with the three arches.

The city of Nakon Sawan made its bones when the waterways reigned supreme in Thailand. Before the Bangkok-Chiang Mai train line was running and well before the national highway system spread its asphalt tentacles throughout the land, Nakon Sawan was the most important city in the interior of the country for domestic commerce. For centuries its riparian dominance stood unchallenged due to its prime location at the junction point of the Nan, Yom, Wang and Ping rivers, where they form the Chao Phraya River - Thailand's main artery. Any product shipped from the upper north that was destined for Bangkok or beyond had to pass Nakon Sawan en route. Likewise, anything going northwards up the Chao Phraya to Chiang Mai, Lampang or Phisanulok landed at Nakon Sawan before hand. As a result the city grew rich.

A section of the marquee remains on the far right of the building. It used to stretch across the entire facade.

A man selling ears of corn pushes his cart past the old Nakhon Sawan Rama Theater

The wealth that accrued over the years in Nakon Sawan eventually begot a number of movie theaters. Among them was the relatively late-arriving Nakorn Sawan Rama. This grand addition to the town's cinemascape was built in the mid to early 1970's, serving as its largest theater until it closed down in the early 1990's.

Pigeons perched pestilently on the sleek, cut-out letters of the Nakon Sawan Rama

The theater is accessible through an enormous arched entrance way, giving movie-goers the sensation that they were being swallowed alive.

Steps leading to the ticket booth and lobby. The signs on either side advertise Rama Snooker Hall, which has opened beneath the theater. Movie posters used to hang there.

Retail space on the street side of the building is leased to some restaurants and shops. In this photo a restaurant employee catches a break.

"It was really a treat to watch movies at the Nakon Sawan Rama," said life-long city resident Ae, pictured above. Ae's family now leases retail space in the front portion of the old theater. He recalled the excitement he felt as a little boy when he walked through the theater's giant archway, past an explosion of colors from hand-painted movie posters and the glow of neon lights emanating from the sign above. A sentimental fervor came over him as he described the theater's plush interior and the extra large screen that he laid his eyes upon so many times as a kid. As its name laid claim to, this was the theater of Nakon Sawan.

But beneath Ae's sentimentality an acute sense of logic prevailed. He was the first person I've met since I started this project who accurately identified the fact that the death of this once great theater had more to do with a newly motorized population than anything else. "When I was a kid in the 70's and 80's everybody walked to the theater," he explained. "If not, then we rode bicycles, or at most motorbikes. Sometimes we went by tuk-tuk or sam lor. But now when a family goes to the movies they drive their car there and park in the garage."

He went on. "There was no parking lot at the [Nakon Sawan] Rama, so when Fairy Land Department Store opened around the corner in the late 80's with its built-in garage and Fairy Theater, Rama's ticket sales plummeted. You know how the story goes from there."

In homage to its days as a movie theater, the snooker hall operating in the old Nakon Sawan Rama is called 'Rama Snooker.' Although it stands to reason that having a snooker hall of any name is better than letting the place crumble, or such cultural crucifixion as knocking it down, it's still a far cry from its days as a luxurious movie theater. But to put things in a slightly broader perspective, the Fairy Theater mentioned above, which used to be at Fairy Land Department Store is closed now, as well. The only operating movie theater in town is Major Cineplex, Thailand's leading chain movie theater-conglomerate, with over 300 screens nationwide, operating in the Big C Superstore off the highway on the edge of town. Try walking to that one!

It goes without saying that the river trade which for many years made Nakon Sawan such an important city in Thailand, is all but gone these days. Trucking is the primary form of domestic trade and distribution transportation now, as it is in much of the world.