Cinemas in Thailand

Cinemas in Thailand are popular venues for entertainment. Especially in Bangkok, the movie theaters tend to be multiplex facilities offering many other forms of entertainment besides movies, such as bowling or karaoke, along with restaurants and small shops.

The films playing in Thai cinemas are usually first-run Hollywood features, which tend to dominate the box-office scene. There is a burgeoning Thai film industry that is making dozens of films each year that are increasingly popular with local audiences, and routinely outpace the Hollywood films at the box office. Films from other Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, are popular as well.

The movie-theater business in Thailand is led by the Major Cineplex Group, which owns the Major Cineplex chain as well as the EGV chain and operates the Paragon Cineplex at Siam Paragon as well as Thailand's IMAX theaters. Behind the combined Major Cineplex-EGV, which has a 50 percent market share, the SF Group is the No. 2 operator, with a 35 percent share. Smaller chains include Apex in Bangkok's Siam Square, Thana Cineplex, Major Hollywood and UMG. In Chiang Mai, there is the Vista cinema. In Southern Thailand, there is the Coliseum chain.

As of 2007, there were 570 screens in Thailand, with 300 in the Bangkok metropolitan area. Nationwide, the person-to-screen ratio is 170 people per screen, with a 30:1 ratio in Bangkok.