Nakhon Non Rama looks like any typical stand-alone cinema, with its enormous fluorescent sign featuring Tom Yum Goong 2 out front. But with a grand dual staircase leading to a chandeliered hall on the second floor, this can't be any place except the famed movie house in Nonthaburi.
The classic grand cinema is the last independent second-class movie theatre _ where tickets are hand-written slips and the staff casually dress in polo shirts and slippers _ in Bangkok and its periphery (Scala, the much-loved movie palace in Siam Square, is a first-class theatre.) Sadly, the movie house _ just 1km from Nonthaburi's pier, market and residential area _ is doomed to close next Friday; it will be bulldozed to pave way for a new condominium before the end of the year.
"This has been the trend for many years," said Philip Jablon, an independent researcher from the United States. It's disappointing for him to watch yet another stand-alone cinema go, after he started extensive research on Southeast Asian stand-alone cinemas in 2009.
Jablon, a Sustainable Development post-grad at Chiang Mai University who speaks fluent Thai, gets his information from books, websites and blogs as well as consulting with local professionals.
The chandeliered hall on the second floor of Nakhon Non Rama.
The 34-year-old Philadelphian was fortunate enough to visit the cinema, built in the 1980s, for a second time and record the disappearing memories of the place before demolition.
Compiling a photographic record of independent cinemas across Southeast Asia before they all disappear, he hopes to inspire conservation of at least one of them in each community.
His current list includes over 200 across Thailand, 20 of which are in Bangkok and its peripheral areas, more than 20 in Myanmar, 10 in Laos, and one in Vietnam. His research project was funded by the Jim Thompson Foundation, and is currently partnered with the Luang Prabang Film Festival.
He said that the unfortunate trend of closures is occurring around the world, including in his hometown of Philadelphia, which at least managed to conserve one cinema as an historical icon.
Jablon also found that four of the six independent cinemas near Sule Pagoda in Yangon were razed in the past two years. That excludes dozens that were demolished before he started his research.
Jablon didn't become passionate about these cinemas only when they began to disappear from the cityscapes. He has longed appreciated the unique character of each structure.
The grand dual staircase in Nakhon Non Rama, in Nonthaburi.
During his years of researching independent cinemas in Southeast Asia, Jablon noted that the Thai example are characterised by simple architecture, while their Myanmar counterparts boast a more tropical art deco style. But Thai movie theatres compensate for their low-key architecture with elaborate fluorescent signs featuring the cinema's name on the roof.
''That's typical and definitely brings life [to the simple architecture],'' said Jablon, adding that the 1960s and 80s were boom periods for construction of these buildings in many provinces around the country.
He said that cinemas have always been the primary entertainment for him and his family, a meeting place, a venue where people take their dates or learn about other cultures.
''For those who can't afford education, this is exposure to the outside world,'' he pointed out.
Going to the cinema isn't just about seeing a movie _ people also go for the atmosphere. Jablon prefers stand-alone movie houses because he finds cineplexes are loud and unappealing. Moreover, the wide but shallow rectangular theatres typical of cineplexes force movie-goers to buy expensive seats at the back to avoid neck pain from sitting too close and looking up at the screen.
''The cineplex is all about consumption, not entertainment,'' said Jablon.
To Jablon, stand-alone cinemas also represent the community.
Philip Jablon photographs Nakhon Non Rama before its demolition.
''They have their own personality,'' he said, each boasting a unique architecture and layout.
It was usual for a cinema to be built in the middle of a community, often close to the market. The market and movie theatre were often owned by the same landlord, said Jablon. A good example is Nonthaburi Rama cinema.
Dubbed by locals ''Non Lamok'' (Non for Nonthaburi; lamok, meaning smutty, is a pun on Rama), the movie theatre was famed for screening X-rated films before being turned into a car park about 10 years ago. It stands right in the middle of a community in which the whole plot is owned by one landlord. Cinemas used to be one of the main sources of entertainment for Thais and were usually needed in communities at a time when most families could not afford television sets. But lifestyles have changed. During the past couple of decades, independent cinemas began to lose out to television, CDs and DVDs, before cineplexes sounded their death knell.
Many have gone bankrupt, while others turned into venues where men sought prostitutes _ with or without the consent of theatre owners.
Another important factor that has brought dozens of independent cinemas to their knees during the past few years is the transition from film projection to the digital system. Jablon has found that most cinema owners are passionate about the business but can't afford the high price of digital projection. Only the Apex Group, comprising the Scala and Lido theatres, could afford the expensive digital upgrade and maintain old ticket prices. Turning a huge plot of land into a more lucrative business like a condominium is definitely more promising.
Independent cinemas could maintain their low ticket prices because of their old analogue projection system. The few that have survived the onslaught of cineplexes, such as Nakhon Non Rama, have become second-class movie theatres because the cheap tickets attract a blue-collar audience, making them unattractive to the middle-class and teenagers.
The Scala in Siam Square is the only one that has bucked the trend.
''It would be a mistake to lose it,'' said Jablon. ''If the Scala goes, it will never come back.''
Jablon hopes that the Poolvoraraks and Thongrompo families, who run the country's largest cinema chain, will help conserve the last movie palace.
''It's cultural heritage. It sells,'' said Jablon. ''Tourists come here not for the skyscrapers, but for the uniqueness.''
