Sunny Day in Bangkok: Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theater

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This is Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theater.  The theater is one of the earliest movie theaters in Bangkok since 1933.  It is located on the corner of the intersection between Treepet Road and Charoenkrung Road, the first modern road in Thailand.  That area can be compared to “Siam Square”, the business and hang out area of Bangkok people at that time.

Date back to about 30's when there was going to have a ceremony of 150th anniversary of Old Bangkok, King Prajadhipok suggested to build a memorial bridge and a movie theater to be a landmark of Bangkok.  He donated nine million baths from his properties to the construction.  It was also opened as a royal project to introduce cinema and western theater into the Kingdom.  At that time, Sala Chalermkrung was considered to be the most modern building in Asia.  Some new technologies were introduced to Bangkok’s cinema such as sound, light, and automatic curtain system.  This theater is the first theater in Thailand that installed the air-conditioners.  At the time that Thai films was very flourish, the nearby area became the center of movie business.  You could find producers, superstars, stuntmen, film narrators, or even poster painters around there.

This is the last place that my friends and I visited after walking through the old town of Bangkok in a hot afternoon.  We expected to pause inside the air-conditioned hall but once we stepped into the building, it was even hotter because they didn’t turn the air-conditioner on.  There were some tourists that were also disappointed which I could see from their faces.  Everything inside looks classic and old, including people.  The security guard was very solemn as well as the ticket seller.  She looks unfriendly and conservative.  Taking photo inside is not allowed except you ask for permission in writing.

At that day in the evening, there was going to have a Thai traditional mask dance show called Khon.  Many events were held there as the theater tries to introduce more Thai culture show in recent two decades.  Sala Chalermkrung used to film Hollywood movies in the past but not anymore nowadays.