Good News! 8 Cinema Complex Has Just Opened.

[tropo]

Of course they can't be expected to speak every language of whever visits Pattaya. However the vast majority of visitors speak some level of English. If you go to Big C or RGP all the staff speak some English. I would say that there is a greater need for English skills at this location as it is more central.

I always go to Big C and RGP. I hardly ever come across cinema staff who speak much English and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I just mention the movie (which of course they always know despite their English language skills) and point to my seat choice on their computer display. What else is there to talk about?

[wcr]

Of course they can't be expected to speak every language of whever visits Pattaya. However the vast majority of visitors speak some level of English. If you go to Big C or RGP all the staff speak some English. I would say that there is a greater need for English skills at this location as it is more central.

I always go to Big C and RGP. I hardly ever come across cinema staff who speak much English and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I just mention the movie (which of course they always know despite their English language skills) and point to my seat choice on their computer display. What else is there to talk about?

Oh dear! I'm not speaking about holding a detailed conversation with them. The cashiers were no problem anyway here. The problem came when I went and order a drink. I asked for diet coke or pepsi max, which they had run out of. They could tell me in English they didn't have any. They could only speak in Thai. Then they gave my partner a draft coke drink in a large size cup, but we wanted a smalled one and asked for this. Again they didn't understand and had to say in Thai they only had one size. Big! This is very basic stuff really and the retail staff should be able to say in English these things.

I have never had this problem at the other 2 cinemas

Edited August 15, 2007 by wcr

[tropo]

Oh dear! I'm not speaking about holding a detailed conversation with them. The cashiers were no problem anyway here. The problem came when I went and order a drink. I asked for diet coke or pepsi max, which they had run out of. They could tell me in English they didn't have any. They could only speak in Thai. Then they gave my partner a draft coke drink in a large size cup, but we wanted a smalled one and asked for this. Again they didn't understand and had to say in Thai they only had one size. Big! This is very basic stuff really and the retail staff should be able to say in English these things.

I have never had this problem at the other 2 cinemas

Lack of English skills used to bug me sometimes when I first arrived in Pattaya, but now I don't expect English anywhere. Give them some time to practice.

[madog]

i went was reasonably impressed with everything until the film had finished and everyone wanted the toilet only the 2nd day open and the toilets were ram packed with 8 - 10 urinals/booths god help them when its a busy sat night !!!!

[sattahip]

After incidents some years ago here with another theatre complex, the question I'd like answered is "Are the fire doors locked?."

[tropo]

After incidents some years ago here with another theatre complex, the question I'd like answered is "Are the fire doors locked?."

Live dangerously. What are the chances of you getting caught in a fire at the local cinema? ...and they're hardly ever crowded either. I'm sure it's less than the chance of a plain crash on your way to Thailand.

[The Mask]

over at the royal garden mall, you can see a first run movie for 70 or 80 baht. 120 is bangkok prices.

No, 120 is the Pattaya price. Why should movies be cheaper in Pattaya than Bangkok? It's 120 at Festival Big C except Monday to Wednesday when it's 100.

You can catch an 80 baht session at the Royal Garden, sure, but there's only 2 screens so your choice is limited.

It astounds me that anyone would consider not seeing a movie because it's 120 baht ($3.50). It's cheap at twice the price. You could always leave your GF/partner at home to save.

Can you imagine the type of person who worries about saving 40 baht?. Honestly Pattaya is home to the biggest cheapskates in the world.

[JSixpack]

They could [not?] tell me in English they didn't have any. They could only speak in Thai. Then they gave my partner a draft coke drink in a large size cup, but we wanted a smalled one and asked for this. Again they didn't understand and had to say in Thai they only had one size. Big! This is very basic stuff really and the retail staff should be able to say in English these things.

Not sure if I believe this. Almost all Thais can say "no hab." It's one of the most common Thaiglish phrases that we hear daily in Thailand. And really, can't you understand "mai mee?"

It might be your own English that was the problem. Many farangs speak too rapidly, as if they are speaking to native speakers. Also most farangs in Thailand seemed never to have learned any standard English pronunciation and so use some some sort of regional dialect like Geordie or Brummie or otherwise thickly foreign-accented English. Indeed I often have a difficult time understanding the various flavors of "English" spoken even by supposedly native speakers esp. around Pattaya.

I often feel sorry for Thais trying to make sense out of some of that rapid-fire gibberish spoken in a pre-emptory if not condescending tone. They may be forgiven for becoming shell-shocked, even hostile, after a while. It's surprising they do as well as they do.

Better that if you intend on visiting a foreign country where English is not widely spoken, you should learn the basic phrases of the local language and carry a phrase book that you expect to produce on occasion.

It helps to realize--and accept--that most Thais have little if any interest in foreign countries or foreign cultures, though they are of course aware of the business advantages of English fluency. And I have the feeling (just a feeling) that they are beginning to regard Thailand as such an important and distinguished country (being so taught of course) that foreigners should start having some Thai language skills too. Can you learn to say "ow yai" and "ow lek?"

[tropo]

Can you imagine the type of person who worries about saving 40 baht?. Honestly Pattaya is home to the biggest cheapskates in the world.

It never ceases to amaze me. This guy actually chooses which days to go to the movies at Big C to save 20 baht - it's 20 baht cheaper mon-wed...and he probably goes alone too and sneaks in his own nibbles. Perhaps he takes a packed lunch.

Edited August 18, 2007 by tropo

[theseveredhead]

hey mask for me b120 (almost us5!) to blow on a dumb-axx movie is more than i spend on food all day. i think rg can be about b70 still now. the cinema is fine there. THATS the point and the point we all SHOULD be in thailand for - same darn thing, 25% of the price. if you guys dont mind tossing about all this money why did you ever come here???

tropo .. way back when not only cinema but the airport (inside the gates) prices were not much more than your local night market or the 7-11. they now have american model and gouge - i thnk i saw the popcorn/soda gig at this new cinema for like b250 - so go ahead, have youre heart attack and pay some silly price for it too. thats like us7.00.

hey phil - an interesting point. car park has for years been the best business concept out there. not even open and already full.

Edited August 18, 2007 by theseveredhead

[tropo]

hey mask for me b120 (almost us5!) to blow on a dumb-axx movie is more than i spend on food all day. i think rg can be about b70 still now. the cinema is fine there. THATS the point and the point we all SHOULD be in thailand for - same darn thing, 25% of the price. if you guys dont mind tossing about all this money why did you ever come here???

Well there you go, you spend 120 baht a day on food so I can understand why you have to budget your movie sessions.

I spend 400 - 500 baht per restaurant meal (for 2) on average, and that's only 1 meal, but still very good value compared to dining out in my home country and probably about 25% of the price.

RG is 80 baht minimum now, so you'll to cope with a 10 baht increase there. Oh my, what is happening to this place!

One question Severedhead, how much do you pay for accommodation?

[Jingthing]

When I used to live in the US, I used to go to a movie house all the time that played all movies for 99 cents. Thats less than one dollar, 34 baht. No, I am not joking. The price there is still 99 cents. So maybe 120 baht isn't so cheap after all? In any case, I don't mind paying it especially for that new luxury theater. It is most excellent.

Edited August 18, 2007 by Jingthing

[tropo]

When I used to live in the US, I used to go to a movie house all the time that played all movies for 99 cents. Thats less than one dollar, 34 baht. No, I am not joking. The price there is still 99 cents. So maybe 120 baht isn't so cheap after all? In any case, I don't mind paying it especially for that new luxury theater. It is most excellent.

I remember seeing those cheap movie houses when I visited the states about 10 years ago, but they were not showing new release movies. Even so, you won't find these movie houses in Australia where movies were costing AUD $12 (that was 3 year ago)...maybe it's more now. Whichever way you cut it, 120 baht is great value for a movie shown on a good screen in a decent cinema.

If you really want cheaper movies, then try the Philippines...only 80 peso (54 baht).

[bowthai]

caught rush hour 3 at the new major and am sure it was the first cineplex i've been to where one buys tickets for a movie and goes up two sets of escalators to the theaters themselves.

and why doesn't it and the one at the big c have more chairs as we always end up sitting on the stairs waiting for the movie to start? at least the one at the big c does have a non air-conditioned game room to waste time playing the king of touch game which is unfortunately my girlfriend's obsession.

still much prefer the pattaya bowl on 2nd road to the new blu-bowl which replaces the great pool tables and foosball tables with annoying karaoke booths and blasting music.

Edited August 18, 2007 by bowthai

[tropo]

caught rush hour 3 at the new major and am sure it was the first cineplex i've been to where one buys tickets for a movie and goes up two sets of escalators to the theaters themselves.

They have an elevator there if it's too much trouble to go up 2 sets of escalators. I need to go up 3 sets from the motorcycle park on street level at the back.

An update:

In some of the cinemas they don't have the 500 baht love seats. In cinema 3 there were 2 grades of seats. The back 4 rows had seats with retractable arm rests for 140 baht, and the rest were 120 (with fixed arm rests).

Good news for the posters who had a problem with English not being spoken; The cashier at the box office today spoke English quite well.

[EmCross]

I have to tell you about the unfortunate experience I had at this new cinema. We decided to take my daughter and a few friends to this cinema for her birthday on Saturday; she wanted to see the Simpsons Movie.

In order to make sure that we had it all organized and had everyone meeting at the right time for the film in question we went to the box office on Friday (the day before) to check the times for Saturdays showing of the Simpsons, we were told that it was on at 11.50am and 18.00 so we elected for the 11.50 showing and arranged to meet everyone at 11.30am at the cinema box office. Of course when we had everyone together on the Saturday morning ready to go to the film we went to get the tickets for the 11.50 showing but low and behold the film did not start at 11.50 but at 13.30. I find here in Thailand it does not matter how hard I try; check and double check and go in person to make sure I never get the right information, it is so frustrating! So we are stood there at the cinema with 10 expectant children for a film that is not starting for over and hour and a half, so a quick change of plan and we decided to go for the film Ratatouille which started at 12.30 instead and took them to McDonalds for an ice cream first while we waited.

The film was really good and they all seemed to enjoy it and we had the cinema virtually to ourselves which was really nice but I do have to question the choice of previews they showed before the film began. This was a animated film mainly aimed at children but the preview clips of films were so violent with blood and gore and one with a head removed from its body; really gross I could not watch and I was with a group of 10 children all under 10 years old! I really think this should be stopped it is totally inappropriate for an innocuous animated film aimed at children, surely there should be some censorship of what films are shown in the previews.

I was very disappointed with the information provided which was totally incorrect even though I went in person to ask specifically and the lack of helpful staff at this cinema box office who were not very helpful or apologetic for their mistake.

[Phil Conners]

The film was really good and they all seemed to enjoy it and we had the cinema virtually to ourselves which was really nice but I do have to question the choice of previews they showed before the film began. This was a animated film mainly aimed at children but the preview clips of films were so violent with blood and gore and one with a head removed from its body; really gross I could not watch and I was with a group of 10 children all under 10 years old! I really think this should be stopped it is totally inappropriate for an innocuous animated film aimed at children, surely there should be some censorship of what films are shown in the previews.

Yep, they do that all the time here. Same goes for kids TV programs - it also have all sorts of inappropriate preview/clips/ads. TiT

[tropo]

I have to tell you about the unfortunate experience I had at this new cinema. We decided to take my daughter and a few friends to this cinema for her birthday on Saturday; she wanted to see the Simpsons Movie.

In order to make sure that we had it all organized and had everyone meeting at the right time for the film in question we went to the box office on Friday (the day before) to check the times for Saturdays showing of the Simpsons, we were told that it was on at 11.50am and 18.00 so we elected for the 11.50 showing and arranged to meet everyone at 11.30am at the cinema box office. Of course when we had everyone together on the Saturday morning ready to go to the film we went to get the tickets for the 11.50 showing but low and behold the film did not start at 11.50 but at 13.30. I find here in Thailand it does not matter how hard I try; check and double check and go in person to make sure I never get the right information, it is so frustrating! So we are stood there at the cinema with 10 expectant children for a film that is not starting for over and hour and a half, so a quick change of plan and we decided to go for the film Ratatouille which started at 12.30 instead and took them to McDonalds for an ice cream first while we waited.

The film was really good and they all seemed to enjoy it and we had the cinema virtually to ourselves which was really nice but I do have to question the choice of previews they showed before the film began. This was a animated film mainly aimed at children but the preview clips of films were so violent with blood and gore and one with a head removed from its body; really gross I could not watch and I was with a group of 10 children all under 10 years old! I really think this should be stopped it is totally inappropriate for an innocuous animated film aimed at children, surely there should be some censorship of what films are shown in the previews.

I was very disappointed with the information provided which was totally incorrect even though I went in person to ask specifically and the lack of helpful staff at this cinema box office who were not very helpful or apologetic for their mistake.

Give them some time to get organised, they're still finishing off the building. We are extremely fortunate to have another cinema complex in this city, especially one with 8 screens. My two experiences there so far were great. Nice screens, nice seats and good staff.

Regarding the gruesome trailers, you'll have to learn to live with it. Have you not noticed how many gory horror movies they show here in Thailand? Thais seem to have a fascination for blood and it sells at the box office. Check out the local newspapers and TV news.

[Lancelot]

hey mask for me b120 (almost us5!) to blow on a dumb-axx movie is more than i spend on food all day. i think rg can be about b70 still now. the cinema is fine there. THATS the point and the point we all SHOULD be in thailand for - same darn thing, 25% of the price. if you guys dont mind tossing about all this money why did you ever come here???

Well there you go, you spend 120 baht a day on food so I can understand why you have to budget your movie sessions.

I spend 400 - 500 baht per restaurant meal (for 2) on average, and that's only 1 meal, but still very good value compared to dining out in my home country and probably about 25% of the price.

RG is 80 baht minimum now, so you'll to cope with a 10 baht increase there. Oh my, what is happening to this place!

One question Severedhead, how much do you pay for accommodation?

Strop is Ho-So, so money is no object. However he loves to instruct others how to spend their money

[Solosiam]

hey mask for me b120 (almost us5!) to blow on a dumb-axx movie is more than i spend on food all day. i think rg can be about b70 still now. the cinema is fine there. THATS the point and the point we all SHOULD be in thailand for - same darn thing, 25% of the price. if you guys dont mind tossing about all this money why did you ever come here???

tropo .. way back when not only cinema but the airport (inside the gates) prices were not much more than your local night market or the 7-11. they now have american model and gouge - i thnk i saw the popcorn/soda gig at this new cinema for like b250 - so go ahead, have youre heart attack and pay some silly price for it too. thats like us7.00.

hey phil - an interesting point. car park has for years been the best business concept out there. not even open and already full.

Strange to think that some people would only come here because they think it's cheap.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Would you go there if it were expensive? You'd find somewhere else tout de suite.

[Aujuba]

I visited the cinema last week while I was there. The first visit I got a ticket for a 4:30 show then at 4:25 a staff member tells me that we can't go into the theatre until 5pm as there is a Thai Movie star doing a meet and greet with the audience from the show before. They knew this was going to happen but they didn't tell anyone prior to the ticket sale. Anyways I walked downstairs and complained to the staff at the ticket booth. A manager let me use my ticket the next day. The staff and the manager really seemed confused about what to do the whole time. It was very unprofessional. But I got my ticket so the next day I went to see the movie. That day everything went well. I sat in theatre 1 and I can say that I was not distracted at all by outside noise. The new theatre seems to have bigger seats than the BigC theatre so that's a plus. If I go back I will go to that theatre again.

[tropo]

I was in cinema 3 yesterday in the 120 baht seats, and behind me the 140 baht seats (4 rows from the back) were quite full with Thais....and this was an English movie with Thai subtitles.

I'm surprised foreigners who were used to paying 3 times as much back at home aren't too embarrassed to complain about prices here in Thailand. I actually felt kinda shy sitting in the cheaper seats when so many Thais were behind me in the more luxurious seats quite happy to pay the extra 20....there was even a family there at the back.

[Mobi]

but the preview clips of films were so violent with blood and gore and one with a head removed from its body; really gross I could not watch and I was with a group of 10 children all under 10 years old! I really think this should be stopped it is totally inappropriate for an innocuous animated film aimed at children, surely there should be some censorship of what films are shown in the previews.

About 6 months ago I was dragged to see a Thai comedy movie with the family. While parts of the movie were very funny (excellent visual humour) the amount of gratuitous violence absolutely staggered me. Ok it was suppose to be funny, but the violence waa extremely realistic and gory with dead bodies mounting up all over the place - must have been literally hundreds of dead bodies in varying stages of blood and gore by the end of the movie.

I'm a pretty tolerant sort of person, but I found the violence totally abhorrent - and when I looked around me, all I could see were laughing kids and parents.

And yet... kisses are not allowed, smoking and drinking are pixelled out.... and doctors and teachers are not allowed to have affairs.

TIT

[Mobi]

They could [not?] tell me in English they didn't have any. They could only speak in Thai. Then they gave my partner a draft coke drink in a large size cup, but we wanted a smalled one and asked for this. Again they didn't understand and had to say in Thai they only had one size. Big! This is very basic stuff really and the retail staff should be able to say in English these things.

Not sure if I believe this. Almost all Thais can say "no hab." It's one of the most common Thaiglish phrases that we hear daily in Thailand. And really, can't you understand "mai mee?"

It might be your own English that was the problem. Many farangs speak too rapidly, as if they are speaking to native speakers. Also most farangs in Thailand seemed never to have learned any standard English pronunciation and so use some some sort of regional dialect like Geordie or Brummie or otherwise thickly foreign-accented English. Indeed I often have a difficult time understanding the various flavors of "English" spoken even by supposedly native speakers esp. around Pattaya.

I often feel sorry for Thais trying to make sense out of some of that rapid-fire gibberish spoken in a pre-emptory if not condescending tone. They may be forgiven for becoming shell-shocked, even hostile, after a while. It's surprising they do as well as they do.

Better that if you intend on visiting a foreign country where English is not widely spoken, you should learn the basic phrases of the local language and carry a phrase book that you expect to produce on occasion.

It helps to realize--and accept--that most Thais have little if any interest in foreign countries or foreign cultures, though they are of course aware of the business advantages of English fluency. And I have the feeling (just a feeling) that they are beginning to regard Thailand as such an important and distinguished country (being so taught of course) that foreigners should start having some Thai language skills too. Can you learn to say "ow yai" and "ow lek?"

Good post sixpack

I too struggle to understand what is being said to me in my native tongue sometimes.

And while it behooves Major cineplex to have the sense to employ staff with basic English skills in a city full of tourists (or at least to put them through some kind of training), bearing in mind that TIT, it also behooves all foreigners, except maybe the 'one off' visitors, to make an effort to learn a few words of Thai which would help them in these typical situations of daily life.

Anyone who spends any length of time here and makes no effort to at least learn a few simple phrases of Thai, merits little sympathy, IMHO.

(You know, if you learn to speak even a tiny bit of Thai, you would be amazed at the positive reaction you get.)

[TigerLily]

Anyone got any pics of the new Mall

If you want to hv a full pictures of the completed The Avenue.... I suggest you to go look at The J Avenue Thonglor + La Villa Aree .. You will get the idea

[retirednavyman]

We went to the Borne Ultimatum yesterday at the new Major theatre, we splurged on the 500 baht seats but from the looks of it the 140 baht seats would have been just as good.

The picture and sound were great and all in all I was impressed. I am sure that will be the new theatre of choice for me!

The parking wasn't the greatest, it seemed pretty compact for a parking facility but all in all not too bad.

The mall seems like it has alot of wasted space with the wide open plan it is using, i am sure it will be full of shops by new year though.

Were the 500 baht seats per person or per couple? If they were 500 per person, then the admission price was more expensive than the local cinema close to where I live in Tacoma Washington.

thanks

Mike

[Jingthing]

I actually felt kinda shy sitting in the cheaper seats when so many Thais were behind me in the more luxurious seats quite happy to pay the extra 20....there was even a family there at the back

Thais richer than farangs!

Call the press!

[Phil Conners]

Were the 500 baht seats per person or per couple? If they were 500 per person, then the admission price was more expensive than the local cinema close to where I live in Tacoma Washington.

thanks

Mike

That's per couple.

Related to the same mall - we went to the Bowl, Blu-O, yesterday and had a lot of hassle. We were 4 adults and 4 kids; the kids were playing on one lane, adults on another. The kids had 3 games and the adults 2. We had received a pile of "Play one game, get one game free" vouchers, so we should get 8 free games and pay for 12 games @ 90 baht each, i.e. 1,080 baht. With drinks ("tower" of beer, 520; pitcher of coke, 120; ice 40) the total should have been 1,750.

While we were playing a "promo girl" came to our table and sold us a membership card - 20 free games and 20% discount on everything else for 2,000 baht. We though that sounded like a good idea, that we could use 12 of those free games and the discount for our games - we actually make a big point of of having this confirmed through our Thai wives, and it was confirmed.

Bah.

The first bill we got was 3,400 baht plus the 2,000 baht for the membership card and all our free games used.

It took 1.5 hours of discussion with staff and supervisor before we finally told them to stick their membership card where the sun don't shine, managed to get our 2,000 baht refunded and finally end up paying 2,000 (instead of the 1,750).

Blu-O, buyer beware!

Edited August 26, 2007 by Phil Conners

[tropo]

We went to the Borne Ultimatum yesterday at the new Major theatre, we splurged on the 500 baht seats but from the looks of it the 140 baht seats would have been just as good.

The picture and sound were great and all in all I was impressed. I am sure that will be the new theatre of choice for me!

The parking wasn't the greatest, it seemed pretty compact for a parking facility but all in all not too bad.

The mall seems like it has alot of wasted space with the wide open plan it is using, i am sure it will be full of shops by new year though.

Were the 500 baht seats per person or per couple? If they were 500 per person, then the admission price was more expensive than the local cinema close to where I live in Tacoma Washington.

thanks

Mike

They are per couple. They call them "Opera Seats", then they have 140 baht "love seats", along with the 120 baht normal seats.

It appears my early enthusiasm was premature.

There are now 16 cinema screens in Pattaya, and this week there are ZERO new English movies. Last week there was one new one in the whole of Pattaya (A gay comedy - "I now prounouce you Chuck and Larry").