Seeing a Movie in Thailand

Nik and I went to see Wall-E, the new Pixar/Disney movie, this afternoon at the Chiang Mai Vista Movie Theater.  The movie was fantastic!  I’m not a movie critic, so I won’t review the movie, but I’ll just say that you should see it!!

I do want to tell you about the experience though.  Going to see a movie in Thailand isn’t much different than everywhere else, but there are a few things that are unique.

1. Ticket Price – In America, you pay $8-15 to see newly released movie, depending on whether you watch before or after 4pm.  In Thailand, you pay 90Baht ($2.70) for the movie no matter when you go.  This price challenges our $10/month Netflix accounts and the iTunes movie rental.

2. Assigned Seats – In Thailand you choose your seats when you buy the tickets.  This is similar to most European theaters, but not so in America.  I can’t decide if I like assigned seats or not because I haven’t been to a movie that was anywhere near capacity.

3. Concessions – In America, “No outside food or beverage” signs are seen at all theaters.  In Thailand, there are no such signs.  It seems that you can bring any food or drink you wish.  They do have a concession stand selling soda, popcorn and candy right next to the theaters, but they seem to be independent and therefore their prices are fair.  Today we spent 55Baht ($1.60) for soda and popcorn, where the same thing would have been $8 in America.  AND they have sweet Popcorn!!!  They have salty too, but for low-grade movie popcorn that sits around all day, the sweet is much better!!

So far, we have only been to two movies, Batman The Dark Knight and Wall-E.  Next I want to see a Thai film, and I also want to try one of the VIP theaters.  They supposedly have sofas and give you a foot massage during as you watch…wouldn’t that be nice?