Author Phil Jablon on the Disappearing Legacy of Thai Cinemas [Season 4, Episode 28]

Greg interviews Phil Jablon, a true connoisseur of
Southeast Asia's old movie theaters and author of the fantastic
book Thailand's Movie Theaters: Relics, Ruins, and
the Romance of Escape. As noted on the show, you can
order from the Amazon link above, but if you would like a free
vintage movie theater ticket as well, reach out to Phil on
his Facebook page and order his book
there.


Phil grew up a movie lover but developed an interest in
older, stand-alone movie theaters as they began to fade away in
the States. In 2008, he started a blog
where he documented old movie theaters he found on his
travels in Thailand, and eventually, all of Southeast
Asia.


Phil discusses his research methodology, which basically
consists of showing up in small towns across the country and
asking people about the history of theaters there. Phil notes
that something as specific as the history of movie theaters in a
small town actually reveals quite a lot about how Thailand has
changed over the years, both economically and culturally. Greg
draws a parallel between the role temples play in local Thai
communities, and Phil concurs that theaters, at least in the
past, were meeting places for all kinds of events in small Thai
towns. 


Greg and Phil also discuss their mutual appreciation for
Thai movie posters, which were often hand-drawn by local Thai
artists because foreign productions rarely produced marketing
materials for the Thai market. And naturally, Phil's book
includes plenty of photos of Thai posters for classic Western
films. 


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