The Scala’s Old Cinema Glamour

If you’re one of those hopeless romantics who love old things because they’re more real and less plasticly, you must love this place:

Bangkok’s one and only Scala theater, the venerable cinema that holds its own in a business dominated by high-tech cineplexes.

The Scala, one of Bangkok’s few remaining 60s-era movie palaces that hasn’t been torn down or turned into a transvestite cabaret, sits on a narrow alley leading off the hyper-congested Rama I Road at Siam Square.

Nothing is new at the Scala, with the dingy foyer and the staff wearing uniforms of an old epoch. When you enter the theater from busy Siam Square, two lonely old ticket booths with no computers welcome you.

It’s all manual labor at the Scala – in the old tradition of grand old cinema, when going to the movies was a major event and you felt like being welcomed by the film director in person.

Walking up the wide stairs of the Scala is kind of being part in a Fellini movie. You enter an unique combination of memory, dreams, fantasy, the weird – and quiet desires.

Beside a handful of older buildings left standing in Bangkok the 40-year-old Scala is one of the last witnesses of a past era. The classic reception hall welcomes with a marble floor. As the floor, almost all of the fittings were imported from Italy – the country which gave Bangkok a lot of great architecture and magnificent landmarks – such as Hua Lampong Railway Station, Neilson Hays Library or Government House. Bangkok is literally littered with palaces designed and built by classic Italian architects.

At Scala – meaning ladder in Italian – you get a taste of those classic old times. Moviegoers pass through red heavy curtains – considered out of date in this era where minimalistic interiors are the call of the day.

The 900 seat theater’s lobby still features those hand-painted movie advertisements, which were commonplace in Thailand until the 1990s, when large-scale screen printing became available.

The Tansacha family, owner of the Scala, likes to keep going on with the family’s tradition from generation to generation. Not an easy task with Major Cineplex, EGV Entertainment and SF Cinema City investing if not billions into the latest screening technology.

Hence do not underestimate old Scala. The theater’s state-of-the-art screening technology rivals the better-known chains. While charm and film content keep selling the Scala, and not the spending of big money that would tear down the ageing building and replace it with another neon palace.

Since years the Scala’s owners dream of turning their theater into a venue for rare movie screenings to create a niche market. But consumer behavior of even the most hardcore old-style cinema buffs only allows so much.

Now and then the Scala at least hosts a gala at Bangkok’s International Film Festivals – and the old splendor revives Cinderella-style. As seen above where the famous actress signs that wall of memorabilia.

Scala shows blockbusters and not-so-blockbusters – sticking to its simple tradition of showing good movies, and not just the heavily promoted flick that sometimes is shown in all the cinemas in Bangkok at the same time.

It’s as simple as that for the Bangkokian cinephile enthusiast: You can hardly go wrong with a movie at Scala.

And enjoy that stroll back down memory lane.

The Scala’s movies & showtimes
For booking call 02 251 28 61