Prince’s Cinema is one that many tourists walk right passed without realizing, and that is exactly what we also did on countless occasions. It’s only around 20 meters from Charoenkrung Road, which many tourists will be familiar with, as there are some major hotels located nearby.
To gain access to the cinema you need to walk through Jok Prince, which is a porridge shop situated in a small trok (lane). For great hotels in Bangkok, check out Agoda Bangkok.
Visiting Prince’s Cinema in Thailand
The sign for the cinema, shown above can be seen from Si Wiang, which is a road leading off Charoen Krung Road. You won’t see any English signs from the Chaorenkrung side.
The shop with the tables outside is Jok Prince, one of the most well-known restaurants in the area. Jok is Thai for porridge, and is a very popular dish for for both Thais and Chinese, many of whom still live in this area. What many people don’t realize is that this restaurant isn’t a shop at all, but just a small lane. Walk inside and look ahead and this is what you’ll see.
Above you can see the main entrance of the cinema, with a food stall set up in front of it.
The cinema closed around six years ago, but the sign at the entrance still shows that there are two movies a day. One is in English and the other in Chinese. These were shown back to back and you could watch both with one ticket.
If you walk around the cinema you’ll see that it’s surrounded with very old wooden houses that have probably been there for over a hundred years. Charoenkrung Road, which is 8.5 km long, was completed in 1864, so I guess there must have been houses nearby at that time.
Many of the people living around the cinema have lived here all their lives. We talked to a few of them and they were pretty friendly, but they only spoke Thai.
We were lucky enough to bump into the cinema’s projectionist who worked in the cinema for many years until it was closed. We asked if we could get inside to take some photos but he said that the cinema was now owned by the local authority and locked up, so no-one was allowed in. He told us how the cinema used to be called Bangrak Cinema and that this is still what many of the older people in the area call it.
We were very pleased to have found this old cinema, as these hidden treasures in Bangkok are slowly but surely disappearing. It would be great if the cinema and surrounding houses could be renovated, but it doesn’t look like that’s likely to happen.
It was by talking with the former projectionist that we also learnt about another historic place a few meters away. On the corner of Charoenkrung Road and Si Wiang is a very popular noodle shop that once used to be a pawn shop.
If you look at the sign above the shop you’ll see that it still says… Pawn Shop.
It was an interesting day finding out a little bit about the history of the area.
Hotels In Bangkok
If you’re looking for a hotel that’s close to Prince’s Cinema, there is quite a good choice within a few minutes walk. lebua at State Tower is just across the road (access from Si Wiang), Shangri-La Hotel is 2-3 minutes’ walk away, as is Centre Point Silom Hotel. For other hotels in Bangkok, check out Agoda Bangkok.
