The Painters

One of the more lamentable casualties of Thailand's movie theater industry is the movie billboard painter. At one time indispensable to the marketing of films, over the years this craft has been whittled down to a skeleton crew of active artists. 

But in the good old days of grand movie palaces, before the rise of the antiseptic theater chains, some of the nation's most talented painters made a living by creating cinematic visions to entice the crowds. Theater facades, commercial streets and prominent intersections in any sizable town were once decked out in original works of king-sized art that rotated on weekly basis.  

Billboard painter works on an ad for the Terrence Hill-Bud Spencer spaghetti western "Even Angels Eat Beans" in Khorat c. 1973 (photo credit to Craig Campen) 

Ads for Thai romantic comedy starring Sombat Methani and "Even Angels Eat Beans" 

The Chalerm Sin Theater, Ubon Ratchathani, advertising some Terrence Hill-Bud Spencer spaghetti western c. 1971 (photo credit to Jim Faiano)  

The Chalerm Thai Theater, Khorat branch. The billboard and cutout is of an unknown film, while the marquee advertises 1969's "Sabata."

The Pattani Rama with hand painted ad for Congo. c. 1996 (photo credit Wantaofek Baka)

This trade flourished until the mid-1990's, when the introduction of large format printers to Thailand caused an unfortunate and quite sudden shift. Theaters owners, already feeling the squeeze of declining ticket sales, were no longer reliant on the painters to create advertisements for their film fair. One by one theaters made the switch, laying waste to an entire guild once held in high regard. A classic case of machine making obsolescence of man.  

Today in the larger Thai cities, LED screens have become the new norm for roadside movie ads, bar-none the most effective way of drawing the eye of the passerby. But as luck would have it, there is one theater chain in southern Thailand that eschews the blinding commercialism of LED in favor of the soft stroke of the billboard painter. Colosseum Cineplex keeps at least two studios in southern Thailand in business. One in Phuket and the another in Yala.

Another theater in Sisaket - MVP Cineplex - apparently also employs a painter to do its movie ads.

Hand painted ads for "Terminator Genesis" (left) and Jurassic World (right) cloak the front of an abandoned building in Yala. 

The video below is a quick glimpse into the working life of Yala's movie billboard painters. Enjoy.

Photo sale for Burma theater survey

For those who don't know, The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project is mostly a solo effort. All the documentation, research and advocacy for the preservation of select stand-alone theaters in SE Asia, save for a few video collaborations and some sporadic yet critical translation services, is the output of a lone operator.

But while the work itself is mostly the act of one, the financial means to do it has come from elsewhere. About 75% of the research costs for this project over the years were provided by two Thai foundations; The  James H. W. Thompson Foundation and The Thai Film Archive. Without their generous support this work would have fizzled out long ago.

Funding is essential to the continuation of this work. Field trips to document as many theaters as possible are time consuming and costly, and cannot be done feasibly while working a full time job. The race against time is also a factor. Invaluable images and data would have been missed if I had to wait it out for elusive grant money to come through. Stand-alone movie theaters, remember, are not being preserved in Southeast Asia. Quite the opposite.

While I search for that ever elusive institutional sponsorship to extend this project throughout ASEAN, I'm making an attempt to raise funds on my own for a final expedition to Myanmar. To that end, I am holding a very unique and extremely limited photo and ticket sale.

Over the years I have amassed a number of vintage tickets from some of the theaters I've visited. These tickets, like the theaters themselves, are extremely rare. To the collector or enthusiast, these are genuine pieces of history. 

Offered up in this sale are my only two original tickets from the Mansruang Theater (since demolished) in Phrae, Thailand, along with a signed and numbered photograph of the theater. $135 each.

Only 2 tickets from the Mansruang Theater

In addition to the Mansruang 2, is 6 tickets from the New Chalerm Uthai Theater in Uthai Thani, Thailand. This theater is exceptional for both its Art Deco styling and for its historical clout. The New Chalerm Uthai was built by the fascist government of Field Marshal Plaek Phiboonsongkram in 1943. 

6 tickets with corresponding signed and numbered photo for $110 each.

6 tickets from the New Chalerm Uthai Theater

Help support the documentation of Burma's dwindling movie halls by purchasing one of these limited edition photos and ticket.

All sales include international shipping and handling costs. 

The Aurora Theater - Betong District, Yala, Thailand

The story is well told by now. Hackneyed even. On the verge of becoming a bore.

Its backdrop varies in just about every case, but the actors and circumstances remain the same. If you've read these scripts enough you can predict the plot: The movie theater is built; it serves an important social purpose for its time. It's charming and much beloved. Over the course of time things start to change. Technology changes, society changes. The theater loses its relevance, just like any earthly thing that cannot adapt to change. Then, after a gradual decline or a rapid development in technology, the theater goes out of business and is soon forgotten. The end result is either a vacant mess with a colorful past, or a repurposed curiosity. Otherwise it's torn down. End of story.

The differences are in the details, of course. The Aurora, for instance - which, for the record, falls into the "repurposed" category - seems to be of a similar age and style of a few other theaters that were encountered in Thailand's deep south. One of them, the Luna Theater in Yala City, has a similar cubist facade with grid-like windows ventilating what would have been an upper lobby and office areas. Textbook mid-century International Style, tropical iteration.

Locals in Yala pegged the Luna's development to a Singaporean builder/owner. In the case of the Aurora, with its consonant look and English moniker consistent with celestial bodies (Luna, Aurora), it could very well have been the same owner - a Straights Settlement entrepreneur easing in on the Thai movie market. Without having done any deep research, my guess is that it was part of a Singapore-based chain with its own distribution arm looking to expand its reach. But speculation is just that. Hopefully somebody will tie it all together someday, confirm conjecture or dispel myths.

The very International Style Aurora Theater - Betong, Yala

Original tile work in the lobby, which has been turned into a cheap department story.

Stairs once leading to balcony seating.

The story of stand-alone movie theaters in Thailand never lends itself to the Hollywood ending. Save for one pending case, the protagonist never finds redemption, salvation or revenge at the story's end. 

The Aurora Theater is no exception. Like hundreds of other Thai movie halls, the Aurora is now just another anonymous building with a slightly grander gauge, occupying a prime plot of the town's geography. More specifically, the building's lower level been changed into a cheap department store called Betong Plaza, while the upper level is now a go-go bar. So while the Hollywood ending is predictably absent for the erstwhile theater, a "happy ending," so to speak, does indeed figure in. 

Two day portfolio sale

For two days and two days only I am listing two of my remaining five Movie Theaters of Thailand photo portfolio at the reduced price of $200 dollars (including shipping). That's 33% off the regular price.

That means for $200 you'll be mailed a hand crafted photo portfolio consisting of 20 original photographs of stand-alone movie theaters in Thailand, printed on handmade mulberry paper.

All sales will go directly towards future research to document the rapidly disappearing stand-alone movie theaters of Southeast Asia.

Only TWO sets will be offered at this special price, so act fast. Sale ends September 16th, 2016.

Dust to dust on Thanksgiving

From the city of Philadelphia, USA, on this Thanksgiving Day, I give thanks that I had the chance to watch a movie at the Thai Rama Theater in Uthumpon Phisai, Sisaket Province in Thailand's great Northeast. My visit to the theater four years ago was inspirational on a number of levels, but most notably because of the unbridled community spirit with which the theater operated. The ticket price of 20 baht, the lowest in the country at the time, was testament of the owner's devotion to the residents of her native town.

The Thai Rama piqued my affection so much that I pitched an article about it to The Nation which was subsequently published on January 15th, 2012

Sadly, the dismal economics of the business got the better of it. Earlier this year it closed down and was soon after demolished. As of right now there are exactly 4 operating stand-alone movie theaters in Thailand outside of Bangkok.

Images the Thai Rama's condition after the fact were kindly sent by a follower of this blog who resides near the theater.

In life

Dismantled

Gone

Nearly identical shots from the Thai Rama's projection room, before and after dismantling

The Siam Theater - Yala, Thailand

Geographically speaking, the Siam Theater feels like the center of Yala. Not just the center of the old commercial section of town - which it is the center of - but the entire province. It's almost as if the old Mandala system of Buddhist monarchical rule, in Yala, fanned outwards from its cosmological core at the Siam Theater. If only in name, that's not such a stretch, as the theater's original moniker was The King's Theater. 

With its terminated vista setting anchoring the middle of old downtown, the Siam is a spectacle even in post-life. One can only image its affect on the town's image when festooned with colorful movie billboards and twinkling lights.  

The Siam Theater at the terminus of a cozy urban vista 

Dating to the early 1960's, the Siam was once the premiere movie theater of Yala. International Style architecture, then the vanguard of modern building design, was deftly employed to help the Siam achieve its top tier status. 

Hand painted signage in Thai and Chinese

Sadly, in conjunction with the usual socio-technological factors that cause stand-alone movie theaters to fail, Yala and the rest of the deep south have had an on-going insurgency to further dampen the movie going spirit. That constant fear of violence has kept locals indoors for all but the most necessary activities. Leisurely pursuits like movie going lost their appeal, leading to theater closure after theater closure. Today, a mall-based Coliseum Cineplex is the only option in Yala for watching a movie on the silver screen.

As for the Siam, for the past 5 years it's been a swiftlet nesting house.

"The Westerner with the Thai Heart: Another breath for the stand-alone movie theater"

Below is the link to an hour long special on stand-alone movie theaters in Thailand. The program aired on the show "LINE Kanok," hosted by Kanok Ratwongsakul on The Nation TV, Sunday, November 1st at 7PM.

Most of the show is dedicated to the Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project and its mission of preserving select theaters in the region.

The title of the show translates to "The Westerner with the Thai Heart: Another breath for the stand-alone movie theater."

Please pardon my second rate Thai