Nakorn Non Rama no more. Double-feature theaters part of Thailand's past.

In 1971, director Peter Bodganovich made the film "The Last Picture Show" - a coming of age story in which the closing of a small town movie theater is used to represent broader social changes to come. The allusion in the film is that insular, small towns, where everybody knows everybody else, would soon become divorced from their simplistic ways. Outside pressures in the form of war, deindustrialization, and other uprooting forces would relegate old communitarian bonds to history. The death of the movie theater was embodiment of that theme.

Today in Thailand, something very similar has happened: The last double-feature there closed its doors for good.

Until today, the Nakorn Non Rama was the lone holdout of a business model and structural type once nationwide in scope. The two-for-one ticket price and stay-all-day policy of double-feature theaters drew steady crowds for years on end. For the change in your pocket you could duck the rigors of life with consecutive movies on the silver screen. And if the movie didn't hold your attention then an air-conditioned nap - once a luxury for Bangkok's working poor - was the next best thing.

The Nakorn Non Rama was the last operating theater owned by Mr. Surachat Pisitwuthinan - better known by the nickname "Sia Hui." Through his movie distribution company, Nakorn Luang Productions, Sia Hui once operated a chain of double-feature theaters throughout Bangkok and its suburbs. Ones already documented by the SEAMTP include the Ngamwongwan Theater and the Sri Siam Theater, though Sia Hui allegedly owned up to 10 theaters in total.

In recent years, sluggish attendance combined with rising land values has led to a string of double-feature theater closures. Now, with the Nakorn Non Rama out of the picture, this facet of Thai cultural life is officially a thing of the past.  

But lets not allow this to be a complete loss. It may very well be that the memory of the past will lead to interesting developments in the future. Perhaps some visionary will lead the way in salvaging one of the few remaining stand-alone cinemas in Bangkok, renovate it, apply a new business model to it, and create a new era for movie-going in Thailand. In this weird world we live in, stranger things have happened.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on what the world is losing with the demise of the Nakorn Non Rama.

The Nakorn Non Rama - Nonthaburi, Thailand

In a city once teeming with them, Bangkok's collection of double-feature stand-alone movie theaters has been whittled down to a handful over the years. Almost gone are the days when Bangkokians could walk a few minutes to the neighborhood movie house and wile away a miserably hot afternoon with two movies for the price of one. Almost gone, that is, but not completely.

By all reasonable accounts there are no more than seven such double-feature stand-alones still in operation, and one of those is a "cruising theater" (don't go in unless your looking for an encounter with Good-times Somchai). The remaining six are spread throughout Bangkok's peripheral neighborhoods, with one as far north as Pathumthani.

Of those which have managed to weather the multiplex storm, four have yet to be featured on this archive. Make that three as of last weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, the Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project proudly presents, for the first time on the small screen, in technicolor and Cinemascope, from the rough and tumble streets of Nonthaburi, Thailand: the Nakorn Non Rama.

The Nakorn Non Rama: one of the last active stand-alones in Bangkok.

The Nakorn Non Rama is a massive physical entity. Big enough to warrant a guided tour. What you see in the above two photos is indeed the facade, however, its main purpose is less structural as it is aesthetic. The theater structure itself is recessed from the street-side building line. This facade, then, unique in its masking rather than practical function, brings a smoothness of continuity to the the streetscape which would otherwise have a gap where the Nakorn Non Rama stands.

Where the two banners hang in the above photo was designed to be a support frame for hand painted movie billboards. Sadly, this once-standard craft went extinct in Bangkok in the late 1990's, much to the detriment of peoples' eyes and imaginations. To the best of my knowledge, movie billboard painters are still employed in parts of southern Thailand as well as few towns in the eastern-central provinces. Other than that they're hard to come by. I wish I knew what the Chinese characters on the left hand side said.

An atrium with a plexiglass roof separates the structure's facade from the theater.

Step back behind the facade and into a spacious atrium area used to park motorbikes. Tuk-tuks and a few food vendors have likewise taken up residence in this area. In the background is the theater structure itself.

On the ground level of the theater is an open foyer consisting of a movie poster case and some fancy ceiling decorations.

In the photo below, the man posing in a boxing stance claims he was once the muay Thai Bantam Weight champion of the world. He now runs a boxing gym on the top level of the Nakorn Non Rama. A boxing gym on the premises of a movie theater, I can guarantee you, is a novel amalgamation.

Former Bantam weight champ turned gym owner at the Nakorn Non Rama

Along both wings of the foyer lies an elegantly curving staircase. Its ascent will lead you to the Nakorn Non Rama's plush lobby and auditorium beyond.

Sequenced neon lights around the inner marquee. "N" is for Nakorn Non.

Up on the second level, a quintet of open arches allows natural light to illuminate the lobby. Down below, beyond the atrium, the age of the combustion engine is reduced to a distant hum. Feel free to plop down on a bench and light up a smoke while you wait for the film reel to role.

Resident cat naps beside the poster case. In the background the cinema beckons.

This gentleman has been tearing tickets at the Nakorn Non Rama for over 20 years.

Lobby lounging

Ticket booth

The banner above the ticket booth reads: "This theater has surveillance equipment for catching people taking illegal video and other infractions. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The Nakorn Non Rama: after 29 years in business, still a destination for dates.

Sign at the ticket window reads: "Please count your change." Would Major or SF ever be so considerate?

Side wing along the auditorium

These mugs are banned from entering

Despite my best efforts, auditorium photographs were strictly forbidden - a shame considering the sheer size and decorative aspects of the place. Nobody knew for certain, but a few staff members estimated the theater at 800 to 1000 seats. I'd have liked to take a nice, long exposure shot using a tripod, but the manager wouldn't budge. Anyway, this should be more impetus for you to go check it out on your own.

Two young patrons chatting over snacks in the lobby.

Signage and symbolism

Cut-out letters and film reels mounted on the theater's cornice.

The era of the stand-alone movie theater in Thailand tapered off in mid to late 1980's. By the 1990's, department stores old and new were being outfitted with their own theaters, as going to the movies somehow got confused with going shopping. By the turn of the century the bulk of Thai movie-goers had capitulated to the multiplex. Stand-alone theaters, be they double-feature, first-run or otherwise began to close en mass. Today the movie exhibition market is on the verge of being cornered by two huge conglomerates and their branded multiplex chains. Glorified mediocrity at its most virulent. But in the face of such adversity, the Nakorn Non Rama stands firm. Reasonable ticket prices, a stay-all-day policy and a down home spirit are enough endowments to keep the old theater comfortably in the black. Hopefully it can continue to do so well into the future.

If you live in the Bangkok area, do yourself a favor and go spend an afternoon at the Nakorn Non Rama. Hang out in the open-air lobby for a while. Take a breather there between films. You'll be seeing much more than a movie, I guarantee you that. The theater is a 10 minute walk straight up the road from the Nonthaburi port. If you want to know what's showing there before hand, check out this web-site.

The Nakorn Non Rama was built in 1982, a later addition to Thailand's stand-alone theater circuit.

The Nonthaburi Rama - Nonthaburi, Thailand

For the past 6 months, the cinema halls of Myanmar have hogged the spotlight here on the SEA Movie Theater Project. Rightfully so, considering just how great they are! But Thai movie theaters - lest we forget - are also great, even if most of the stand-alone beauties have been consigned to history. This past weekend I rekindled my love for this work in Thailand, venturing out into the field for the first time in nearly a year.

This latest expedition took me from the heart of Bangkok, up the Chao Phraya River, to the express boat's northern terminus at the Nonthaburi port. Although Nonthaburi, for all practical purposes, has been completely absorbed by greater Bangkok, it still maintains a few cultural distinctions of its own. Chief among them is a centuries old Mon community of whom many members continue to speak the mother tongue. Seeing this ethno-linguistic tradition surviving through the generations, against all odds and the pressures of assimilation was a pleasant surprise, indeed. Survival, regrettably, was not in the cards for Nonthaburi's original high-standard movie theater - the Nonthaburi Rama.

The Nonthaburi Rama: Nonthaburi's cinematic relic.

No exact year of construction can be pinned to this one, but it roughly dates from the early to mid 1970's. This design was not unique to the Nonthaburi Rama, however. Check a few of these older posts to see similar designs, possibly erected by the same builder and/or architect. Otherwise perhaps it was just the trend of the day among theater builders.

In its current condition, the Nonthaburi Rama may look a bit uninviting, but there are good reasons for that. First and foremost, nobody wants to make cosmetic investments to a parking lot - the building's current function. But more to the point, a few key architectural details are missing. For instance, the free-standing letters once mounted above the facade, prominently displaying the theater's good name across the neighborhood, have been removed. As has other lettering which appears to have been bolted to the cornice. Most importantly, back in the theater's heyday, the massive metal grill comprising the bulk of the facade would have displayed enormous hand painted movie hoardings, adding an explosion of color to this busy streetscape. But left unadorned, the place takes on the appearance of a hulking ruin.

Ruins, however, are important, too.

A few local merchants gave me the low down on ye old departed. All seemed to agree that it was the first theater in the area equipped with the modern technologies of surround sound, climate control and reclining seats. Capacity crowds would drift in from the streets all day and night, they recalled. Some came to be air-conditioned, others to be entertained, or simply rest under the glow of the screen. A place for one and all.

By the end of it's days, it had developed into a "cruising theater;" that is, an all male hook-up spot.

A more in-depth history of the theater was hard to get. None of yesteryear's big-three movie theater circuits (Co Brothers, Apex or Hollywood) seem to have owned it, though it could have belonged to one of Bangkok's smaller movie theater magnates.

If you look closely in the above photo you will see a bit of River Plaza Center along the right edge of the photo. That's where Major Cineplex, Thailand's leader in overpriced film exhibition, has its Nonthaburi branch.

Drive-in movie theater, of sorts.

The remains of the Nonthaburi Rama can be found on Phibulsongram Road in the heart of the town its named after.

(Many thanks to DJP for an extra dose of photographic inspiration among other critical bits)