Movie Theatres in Bangkok. Movie Times and Schedules. Film Listings.

There are a couple of movie theatre chains in Thailand. The largest cinema group is the Major Cineplex Group, a merger of EGV and Major Cineplex. Another group is SF Cinema City Organization, which operates SF Cinema City complexes in Bangkok (including SFX Cinema at Emporium Shopping Center). SF Cinema City also operates under the name SF Multiplex. SF Central World Cinemas (at Central World Plaza) also belongs to this group.
[the websites of the cinema groups mentioned seem to be only in Thai language]

So there are many theatres scattered around Bangkok. Unfortunately, the lower Sukhumvit area, where lots of long-term residents live, and where many hotels are located, seems to have been forgotten. So if you want to go and see a movie, you have to take some public transport to get to a theatre.

Movie theatres in Bangkok offer quite comfortable seating, very good quality of sound and picture, all at an attractive price. Standard fare seems to be between 120 and 180 baht per ticket (prices are low, but have gone up quite a bit the last few years). Most multiplex theatres offer also movie viewing in smaller theatres, with reclining seats, a free drink, some more privacy at rates of 300-600 baht. But take if from me, the regular seats are more than comfortable enough.

What is on offer? Mostly all the recent Hollywood blockbusters. They are mostly shown in Bangkok at the same time as in U.S., probably to avoid loss of revenue due to prolific piracy. Typically a recent movie will be shown in ALL locations, and often in many theatres at the same multiplex. You will have difficulty finding lesser known movie pictures in Bangkok. If you want to see a particular movie, you also must hurry.

Annoying is that most movies are preceded by really prolonged advertising. Advertising can go on for more than half an hour. The advantage is that you do not really have to be on time, to get to see the main feature. A few minutes before the main feature, the Royal Anthem is played, and you stand up to pay your respect.

Movies are usually not shown for prolonged periods, but disappear after a week or two. Weekends and first showings can be very busy, but during the daytime on a regular weekday, you will find a lot of empty seats.

Almost always the English soundtrack is used with Thai translation. However, if a movie contains another language than English, often the other language used in only translated in Thai, not in English. The Da Vinci Code movie (a while ago), for example, was a little difficult to understand in Thailand, because the Latin and French language dialogue was not translated.

It is easy to know which movies are currently shown, but knowing the schedule is another matter. Newspapers usually provide this service, but not in Bangkok. The advertisements in the English-language publications such as the Bangkok Post and the Nation leave much to be desired. To get the schedules we suggest you use www.movieseer.com . When looking for screening times, you should attempt to notice the different times for screenings in the regular theatres (100-180 baht range) and in the smaller luxury theatres (300-600 baht range).
Traditionally, there are no late night movies shown, but this may be changing, since we noticed that Paragon Cineplex has showings at midnight.

Which movie theatres in Bangkok to recommend? The quality of the theatres is basically good everywhere, so the location of particular theatres becomes most important. We suggest you go to movie theatres located close to the skytrain stations.
Siam Paragon Cineplex is located on the 5th floor of the Siam Paragon Shopping Center (located at Siam Square main skytrain station). Try to find an elevator to get there, otherwise you will need to negotiate quite a few moving escalators. There are 9 regular theatres at Siam Paragon and 5 IMAX theatres. Among the 'regular theatres' there are a few smaller luxury theatres that are called Nokia Ultra Screens. Tickets are 500 baht, which will give you separate seating arrangements (in small cubicles for two people), a complementary non-alcoholic drink, and a blanket to protect you from the prevalent 'cold conditions' in most movie theatres. Buying more expensive tickets will not save you from prolonged advertising before the main event. We suggest you stay outsite the theatre in the separate plush lobby, and enter approximately 20 minutes after announced screening times.
A minor problem is that even during quiet afternoons, viewers have to queue for their tickets. Getting a ticket is a slow process, with a lot of casual talking going on between customers and ticket providers. On wednesday there are cheap tickets for most movies, at 100 baht. This is not really marketed, and in the late afternoons at least (when we usually go to a movie), there are always lots of empty seats to choose from.
We also suggest you use the bathrooms before entering any theatre at Siam Paragon. Bathrooms are located quite poorly, a few hundred meters away, with poor signage provided.
Krungsri IMAX Theatre shows a different type of movies, and mostly caters to nature lovers, but also some 'regular' movies in IMAX format. There are different seating arrangements and prices are between 200 and 350 baht a ticket.

There are a lot of movie theatres at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. Since this is a huge shopping center, it takes a while to get to the upper floor where the theatres are located. You can do some serious grocery shopping after viewing a movie, since Central Food Market is just one floor below SF World Cinema. Last time we visited we paid 180 baht for a regular ticket. It takes a little walk (about 600-800 meters, we reckon) to reach CentralWorld from the Chitlom BTS station. Tickets are discounted to 100 baht on wednesdays, good to know if you are on a very tight budget.

SFX Cinema at Emporium (Phrompong skytrain station) is also easy to reach. However, there is a minor problem when exiting the theatre after closing time (of the shopping center), when you will be directed to the car park basement, and then will have to try to find your way back to Sukhumvit Road.
The Major Cineplex Sukhumvit is relatively close to Ekamai Skytrain station (about 500 meters walk, but you have to cross a rather 'nasty' street to get there).

The cheapest movie viewing is available in the original (before the arrival of the multiplexes) movie theatres on the south side of Siam Square. Along the skytrain station you will find three separate smaller theaters, named Siam, Lido and Scala. The former competitors are now grouped together as the Apex group of cinemas. Tickets are 100 baht. The seating arrangements are adequate and clean, but not fancy. When visiting these theaters, you are visiting Siam Square proper, a conglomerate of smaller shops. In the daytime, it is interesting to walk around there a bit, and look at all the trinket shops, fashion wear, tattoo shops etc.

Besides the pricing, much less advertising is shown, and the time of screening as indicated on Movieseer.com, corresponds approximately to the start of the featured movie. This is not the case for other theaters. For example, the movie start time for the theaters at Siam Paragon, actually indicates the start of the commercials (about half an hour of them).
These small theaters also sometimes get it right, when scheduling films. They often screen movies that are not available for view at the major multiplex theatres. Personally, we always check first if the movie we are interested in viewing, is shown at one of the Apex theaters. They are easy to find, cheaper, and with less advertising before the main feature. As you see on the map, choose your direction wisely when you take one of the three skytrain exits. Siam and Lido are located right on the main street, Scala is in a side street (towards MBK Shopping Center) but clearly visible from the main road.

For the more discerning viewer, we also recommend the RCA House theatres at RCA (Royal City Avenue). Royal City Avenue is located off New Petchaburi Road, and is most reknown for its 'clubbing' scene. RCA House is a bit more difficult to locate than most theatres. If you use public transport, the best way is probably to get by MRT subway to the Petchaburi station. From there, take a taxi down New Petchaburi road, RCA is located about 3-4 km down the road in the eastern direction.
RCA House screens foreign language movies (with Thai and English subtitles) and movies that are not 'big' enough to be screened at popular theatres. For example, we viewed the quite interesting movie Baader Meinhoff Complex there in March 2009.
During the daytime, there are hardly any visitors, but traffic to get there may be a problem. So maybe the best time to visit is on saturdays and sundays (less traffic congestion). The first time you go there, give yourself ample time. The theatres are not exactly hidden, but you may need to ask directions from the 'locals'. On the same floor as RCA House (up an escalator), there is a nice coffee shop, and a shop selling DVDs, where you can get some vintage movies. We noticed some Humphrey Bogart flims and old westerns with Jackie Steward, for example. Priced at 350 baht.