The Charoenpon Rama Cinema
This is what remains of the single-screen Charoenpon Rama Theater in Pathum Thani, central Thailand, about an hour north of Bangkok. It’s been closed for over 10 years, but still has some character and a number of remaining features of one of Thailand’s long lost standalone cinemas.
The majority of the information that I have on this location comes from the superior work of Mr. Phil Jablon, founder of the Southeast Asia Theater Project, with a blog and social media pages that everyone interested in the history of standalone cinemas in the region should check out. I bought his excellent book a few years back which is also awesomely informative.
Here is Phil’s story on the Choroenpon Rama: https://seatheater.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-charoenpon-rama-pathumthani-thailand.html
I was told about this location by my amazing friend Kang, who shared with me contact details of the caretaker, who I made arrangements with to gain entry.
The Charoenpon Rama closed in mid-2012, after being opened since sometime in the 1970’s, as the architecture indicates. A key feature of the exterior, as Phil outlines, is the phenomenal signage, which has a very distinctive font. It really sticks out in contrast to the mid-day-Thai-bright-blue-sky. Since its closure & through the past decade the theater appears to have been used as a roller skating rink and a school, with piled up skates, desks and remnants of primary school decor strewn around in different places. The highlight for me, aside from the signage, was the well-lit staircase with circular windows that reminded me the of WWII-era heavy bombers. These stairs had some lovely natural light shining in from those windows which helped to light some shooting that I did for my ‘Ghosts of Abandonia’ side project. Also, although the projectors are long gone, the projectionist and sound operator quarters are still in tact, with a number of old film canisters and other containers laying about. The screen is still there, as well as a number of seats, while a majority of the theater itself is filled with various stored items, including a random wheelchair. As one would expect, the theater itself is very dark, with some natural light coming in from exits and worn-away walls. Overall, the building is in good condition, with no evident water leaking or the usual bad smells that accompany derelict buildings left to the monsoon rains and tropical sunshine.
This is the 6th or 7th abandoned cinema that I’ve explored, and one of the few that has retained many of the original features. I really enjoyed walking through the old cinema, imagining what it was like when the seats were full and the popcorn was fresh, watching some of the great films of the 70’s and 80’s. I was glad to find, once again, that there is some palpable beauty remaining in a place that hasn’t screened a film or rolled any credits in over a decade.
Read MoreThe majority of the information that I have on this location comes from the superior work of Mr. Phil Jablon, founder of the Southeast Asia Theater Project, with a blog and social media pages that everyone interested in the history of standalone cinemas in the region should check out. I bought his excellent book a few years back which is also awesomely informative.
Here is Phil’s story on the Choroenpon Rama: https://seatheater.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-charoenpon-rama-pathumthani-thailand.html
I was told about this location by my amazing friend Kang, who shared with me contact details of the caretaker, who I made arrangements with to gain entry.
The Charoenpon Rama closed in mid-2012, after being opened since sometime in the 1970’s, as the architecture indicates. A key feature of the exterior, as Phil outlines, is the phenomenal signage, which has a very distinctive font. It really sticks out in contrast to the mid-day-Thai-bright-blue-sky. Since its closure & through the past decade the theater appears to have been used as a roller skating rink and a school, with piled up skates, desks and remnants of primary school decor strewn around in different places. The highlight for me, aside from the signage, was the well-lit staircase with circular windows that reminded me the of WWII-era heavy bombers. These stairs had some lovely natural light shining in from those windows which helped to light some shooting that I did for my ‘Ghosts of Abandonia’ side project. Also, although the projectors are long gone, the projectionist and sound operator quarters are still in tact, with a number of old film canisters and other containers laying about. The screen is still there, as well as a number of seats, while a majority of the theater itself is filled with various stored items, including a random wheelchair. As one would expect, the theater itself is very dark, with some natural light coming in from exits and worn-away walls. Overall, the building is in good condition, with no evident water leaking or the usual bad smells that accompany derelict buildings left to the monsoon rains and tropical sunshine.
This is the 6th or 7th abandoned cinema that I’ve explored, and one of the few that has retained many of the original features. I really enjoyed walking through the old cinema, imagining what it was like when the seats were full and the popcorn was fresh, watching some of the great films of the 70’s and 80’s. I was glad to find, once again, that there is some palpable beauty remaining in a place that hasn’t screened a film or rolled any credits in over a decade.
