Amporn Cinema Demolition

That's a prime piece of real estate......wonder what'll go up in its place.

A landmark! Spent many happy, air-conditioned, hours at the Amphorn Theater in the early 70's. It was very classy for an "up country" theater those days. It always used to amaze me that we (my wife and I) would buy our tickets, and before going inside to our seats, I would pay for a large Singha and some charcoal-grilled "monkey balls" or cuttlefish on a stick and the little boy would find me inside in the dark and deliver it, ah!,,,,, frosty beer and delicious snacks, good times..... I didn't care if the dialogue was in Thai,,,,,, we had great times,,,,

Hi Udon Thani folk,
My web-site's tracking meter just linked me to this post. I'm the guy who runs the Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project. It's a real shame to hear that the Amporn has been reduced to rubble. Lots of memories lost to wrecking ball. Indeed, it was a stately looking theater; one of the first really jaw-dropping movie houses I came across in Isan.

If you don't mind, I'm going to cite your site in an upcoming post about its demise.

parrot wrote:That's a prime piece of real estate......wonder what'll go up in its place.

OT was thinking the same thing. Ideal place for a falang type condo.

OT..................

Went past there yesterday and the main structure appears to be intact, only the interior appears to be gutted. So could be a refurbishment. Didn't have time to stop and ask, will do next time I'm that way .

Trubrit, did you only see it from the main road and driving real fast, surrounderd by motorcyclists zooming by on all sides with some lunatic pick up passing everyone doing 90 kms/hour.....?

If you see this theatre from Maeya Restaurant to the rear and on the side road, the place is almost entirely gone. An updated photo would be worthy, if not saddening to some.

Value of land, well, across the road facing the post office, a recently bought and renovated double shophouse selling various soups at 30 baht per bowl, said they paid 12 million baht for their premises which are probably 4 + 4 = 8 meters wide.

rct wrote:Trubrit, did you only see it from the main road and driving real fast, surrounderd by motorcyclists zooming by on all sides with some lunatic pick up passing everyone doing 90 kms/hour.....?

If you see this theatre from Maeya Restaurant to the rear and on the side road, the place is almost entirely gone. An updated photo would be worthy, if not saddening to some.

Value of land, well, across the road facing the post office, a recently bought and renovated double shophouse selling various soups at 30 baht per bowl, said they paid 12 million baht for their premises which are probably 4 + 4 = 8 meters wide.

Yes must admit I didn't stop or go round the back but the frontage is still intact, might be something to do with planning permission .Otherwise its an unusual demolition job . There is a huge plot being worked right alongside it that may be part of the development though .Have to pop in and ask .

What's unusual about the demolition is that it appears to be a 'come one, come all' sort of thing. There's a sign at the front of the theater that says something to the effect of, "take what you want, take it for free" (yes, I viewed that sign while avoiding kamikaze motorcycle drivers, songtaews, and traffic coming the wrong way, so my translation may be way off).
I passed by today, and there was a big chunk removed from the left rear corner, as you're looking at the front of the building from Sriksuk Rd.
Several weeks ago, I noticed people removing roofing tiles and dropping them down to men on an awaiting truck. All the typical safety gear you'd expect at a demolition sight.....as in, none. Along with the requisite child playing among the rubble for good measure. t.i.t.

Something tells me I don't want to be parking my truck anywhere near what's left of the building.

A very unusual demolition if indeed it is a site clearance .