Cinema In Hua Hin

[Wanderlust]

This is just to let anyone know who either lives or visits Hua Hin and area, that a petition has been set up to try and persuade Major Cineplex in Hua Hin to regularly show original soundtrack movies, rather than almost exclusively movies dubbed into Thai. The petition has been set up by the local weekly newspaper AWOL and has been running for a few weeks now and I thought it would be good to draw those on this forum's attention to it, and hopefully add a shed load more signatures to it. The petition can be found at www.ipetitions.com/petition/English_movies_in_Hua_Hin/index.html and that has a lot more description as to the current situation. Hopefully plenty of Thais will be signing it as well, because that is likely to have more impact so please tell anyone and everyone about this, as for us Hua Hin locals it is a pain not being able to just pop down to the cinema and see a movie, and is quite frankly amazing given the situation in all the other tourist resorts in the country, as well as other major towns and cities.

Thanks for your time and hopefully your signature.

[Garret]

You might even think about putting petitions in Farang buisnesses in and around Hua Hin....Name..resident or tourist status...HOWEVER........It would need to also be sent to the Head office in Bangkok . Really hope it works.

[CDNinKS]

This online petition requires a donation........

[d0ndela]

No I'm pretty sure your signing is already registered when it asks for that. Just close down your browser.

[Deadcert]

Great Idea, I'm down ...

[kensingto]

Hua Hin is a beautiful town and should reserve their local tradition. I hate to see Hua Hin turns into Pattaya. Stop requesting something to satisfy your own need. This is Thailand. If you want to watch something understandable, then why not you attend a Thai language class ?

[maccaroni man]

Hua Hin is a beautiful town and should reserve their local tradition. I hate to see Hua Hin turns into Pattaya. Stop requesting something to satisfy your own need. This is Thailand. If you want to watch something understandable, then why not you attend a Thai language class ?

i believe that any person who enjoys movies would agree that the original sound track of a movie in any language would be the preferred choice.

btw what local tradition does original sound track movies change?

[kensingto]

Hua Hin is a beautiful town and should reserve their local tradition. I hate to see Hua Hin turns into Pattaya. Stop requesting something to satisfy your own need. This is Thailand. If you want to watch something understandable, then why not you attend a Thai language class ?

i believe that any person who enjoys movies would agree that the original sound track of a movie in any language would be the preferred choice. btw what local tradition does original sound track movies change?

My point is if one's request is being satisfied there will second, third, fourth so on and on. The person is a foreigner (not racism) inquire something from the local to satisfy his/her exotic need. It is certainly a culturally invasion. I still wish Hua Hin can be a traditional place for tourist to visit without too many for-farang tendency.

[Ollie]

I still wish Hua Hin can be a traditional place for tourist to visit without too many for-farang tendency.

You're already many years too late.

Edited September 13, 2009 by Ollie

[hhfarang]

Kens..,

It's not just for the foreigners. A lot of Thais prefer original soundtrack too as the Thai dubbing stinks (according to my Thai wife)!

[d0ndela]

Kens..,

It's not just for the foreigners. A lot of Thais prefer original soundtrack too as the Thai dubbing stinks (according to my Thai wife)!

I'll second that, most of our employees and most of our Thai friends all goes to the movies in Bangkok, they simply don't want to see the amateur dubbed Thai versions.

[tjthai]

Yep I agree with everyone, except Kensingto!

How can an Original soundtrack movie invade local culture? Judging from my Wife and friend's comments having 1 male and 1 female voice for a film is plainly irritating. They won't use the Hua Hin cinema for that very reason. Why should they (and me) have to go to a Bangkok cinema to watch a movie with an original soundtrack? A cinema is somewhere to go for fun, with family and friends and so if the Thais don't like it, the non Thais don't like it then let's tell them............hence wanderlust's opening post

[teatree]

Dubbed movies use the hammiest 'actors' you can imagine and they are often the same male and female for all characters. If that wasn't bad enough they often insert dialogue into the movie that wasn't there before to make it funny.

I think everyone can benefit from having at least some kind of choice.

[WhiteShrek]

Hua Hin is a beautiful town and should reserve their local tradition. I hate to see Hua Hin turns into Pattaya. Stop requesting something to satisfy your own need. This is Thailand. If you want to watch something understandable, then why not you attend a Thai language class ?

i believe that any person who enjoys movies would agree that the original sound track of a movie in any language would be the preferred choice. btw what local tradition does original sound track movies change?

My point is if one's request is being satisfied there will second, third, fourth so on and on. The person is a foreigner (not racism) inquire something from the local to satisfy his/her exotic need. It is certainly a culturally invasion. I still wish Hua Hin can be a traditional place for tourist to visit without too many for-farang tendency.

Think the pseudo Thai native/ spoliling the culture stance etc doesn't really apply here. Think yu'll have 2 use it on another thread instead..... My wife and many other Thais like movies and want a cinema in HH. Most people, reagrdless of nationality would rather see an original soundtrack + subtitles.

Oh and you're spot on about having requests being granted. We've only ever wished for 2 things to improve HH: a cinema and a very goodhospital for anything serious. God forbid they should ever think about satisfying that second request..... that would be terrible...

Yu'll be telling us next that they shut cut the electricity off in the entire HH, and permit only buffaloes and elephants as transport within a 20km radius...

[maccaroni man]

Hua Hin is a beautiful town and should reserve their local tradition. I hate to see Hua Hin turns into Pattaya. Stop requesting something to satisfy your own need. This is Thailand. If you want to watch something understandable, then why not you attend a Thai language class ?

i believe that any person who enjoys movies would agree that the original sound track of a movie in any language would be the preferred choice. btw what local tradition does original sound track movies change?

My point is if one's request is being satisfied there will second, third, fourth so on and on. The person is a foreigner (not racism) inquire something from the local to satisfy his/her exotic need. It is certainly a culturally invasion. I still wish Hua Hin can be a traditional place for tourist to visit without too many for-farang tendency.

Think the pseudo Thai native/ spoliling the culture stance etc doesn't really apply here. Think yu'll have 2 use it on another thread instead..... My wife and many other Thais like movies and want a cinema in HH. Most people, reagrdless of nationality would rather see an original soundtrack + subtitles.

Oh and you're spot on about having requests being granted. We've only ever wished for 2 things to improve HH: a cinema and a very goodhospital for anything serious. God forbid they should ever think about satisfying that second request..... that would be terrible...

Yu'll be telling us next that they shut cut the electricity off in the entire HH, and permit only buffaloes and elephants as transport within a 20km radius...

an international school would be nice

[maccaroni man]

just returned from hua hin, i see the theater has the vampire movie and 2012 playing on all the screens, so no b rated thai flicks but when i asked if any of the movies had the english sound track, the ticket seller proudly said no. so i guess hua hin is so close to bkk if people want to watch a movie in original sound track they must travel a few hrs. i really dont get it, in samui they show most of the latest movies in both formats. why is this so hard for the major in hua hin to take on board?

[d0ndela]

Just reviving this topic to say that I just came back from Market Village and they are at the moment showing Avatar twice pr day with original soundtrack. So who ever wanted to support the English language movies should go see it, think the early one was between 1 and 2 afternoon, and the later airing is 19.20.

We asked them if they knew if after Avatar there would come more movies with original soundtrack, they didn't know.

To bad the cinema doesn't have 3D though, Avatar really is a revolutionary movie when you see it with 3D.

[maccaroni man]

Just reviving this topic to say that I just came back from Market Village and they are at the moment showing Avatar twice pr day with original soundtrack. So who ever wanted to support the English language movies should go see it, think the early one was between 1 and 2 afternoon, and the later airing is 19.20.

We asked them if they knew if after Avatar there would come more movies with original soundtrack, they didn't know.

To bad the cinema doesn't have 3D though, Avatar really is a revolutionary movie when you see it with 3D.

great news, sorry i am no there to support the movie.

[alina]

You might even think about putting petitions in Farang buisnesses in and around Hua Hin....Name..resident or tourist status...HOWEVER........It would need to also be sent to the Head office in Bangkok . Really hope it works.

I am all for English,

Resident or Tourist or Working status may be a problem as there is a large illegal workforce in Hua Hin, immigration might be gratefull.

[seabassskin]

You might even think about putting petitions in Farang buisnesses in and around Hua Hin....Name..resident or tourist status...HOWEVER........It would need to also be sent to the Head office in Bangkok . Really hope it works.

I am all for English,

Resident or Tourist or Working status may be a problem as there is a large illegal workforce in Hua Hin, immigration might be gratefull.

Any news?

I heard some soundtrack movies were playing?

[hhfarang]

You might even think about putting petitions in Farang buisnesses in and around Hua Hin....Name..resident or tourist status...HOWEVER........It would need to also be sent to the Head office in Bangkok . Really hope it works.

I am all for English,

Resident or Tourist or Working status may be a problem as there is a large illegal workforce in Hua Hin, immigration might be gratefull.

Any news?

I heard some soundtrack movies were playing?

They do play the occasional original soundtrack movie on one of the screens, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the schedule or which movies they do that with. You just have to go there and check.

[CDNinKS]

You just have to go there and check.

Anyone know of a website that lists the current movies playing? Save me a trip to that noisy section of the mall

[Pakaty]

Anyone know of a website that lists the current movies playing? Save me a trip to that noisy section of the mall

http://www.movieseer.com/

You can even see what language the movie is being shown in.

[CDNinKS]

Does not seem to be very user friendly, can find what movies are playing in HH, but when I select the movie and search, it says :

There is no showtime information available based on your current request.

[tfbpa]

Try the official website, http://www.majorcineplex.com/showtimepage.php?searchmode=1&refer=showtimebox&branch=HUH&movie=

There are a few problems though...

They only know what is playing the same day, so you cannot see what is playing any day after that (but that is the case even if you go to the cinema itself)

And the information is not always 100% correct.

The other day I saw on their website that The Karate Kid (why that name? He is learning Kung-<deleted>?) was playing in English, but after we went to the cinema itself we found that it was only in Thai...

Too bad for them, as now I had to download the DVDRIP and watch it at home the same night, they could have made some Baht from me!

[thaisomchai]

What is needed here is a second movie theatre . .as part of another mall or on its own. The competition might then make the Major moguls pay attention. Without knowing the details of the cinema business, it still seems to me that they are losing out on a rather substantial ( especially in high season) source of income in ignoring the local farang population and Thais who prefer soundtrack movies. Well advertised soundtrack screenings would increase their profits . . .one would think anyway. But there must be other forces at work here. I think it might be something along the lines of . .the manager's cousin is the male "dubber" and he needs the residuals. Or maybe some kind of kickback scheme. Wont change in our lifetimes.

[hhfarang]

There are two more shopping malls currently planned or under construction, but I don't know if either will have a theater. One can only hope. Competition is always good.

[tfbpa]

I only know the one that they are building next to the old Hua Hin shopping mall and there will be no cinema, at least it was not on the plan when I looked at the plan layout for renting a shop.

[hhfarang]

I only know the one that they are building next to the old Hua Hin shopping mall

There is supposed to be some sort of hotel, mall, grocery complex behind that big green construction fence at the corner of soi 94 and there was another mall complex planned just south of the flyover a couple of years ago. I haven't heard any more about that one so it may have been scrapped.

[thaisomchai]

Just back from a trip to Hanoi Vietnam and I have a few comments to add to this whole movie theatre language business.

Yes, the trip was short ( couple weeks) and I rely on what I was told and what I saw for myself . .and the comparison to Thai ways was inevitable! (And I am VERY happy to say that I am glad home is here and NOT in Vietnam!)

Anyway, we spent the better part of a week in Haiphong . .a non-tourist, port city with very few farangs. We went to the 6 screen cinema there to see a movie. Hello?? ALL the movies were the original soundtrack versions ( with Vietnamese subtitles) Evidently, movies are NOT dubbed into Vietnamese . .only subtitled. We saw the latest Tom Cruise flic (which was surprisingly entertaining.) I understand that they just dont dub movies into Vietnamese! So that throws a light on the constant arguments in threads like these . . .arguments that it is a cultural thing to have them dubbed into Thai here in Hua Hin, why should local Thai people have to suffer Western(original) dialogue, they are entitled to have movies in their own language, this is Thailand and movies should all be dubbed into Thai anyway, etc, etc (And as a quick side comment, I would judge the moviegoers there to be less well-educated than your typical Hua Hin patron . . based mainly on gut feelings.)

So the contrast: a non-tourist Asian city larger than Hua Hin with no farang population to speak of has only soundtrack movies while a tourist city like Hua Hin with a large seasonal population of farangs ( and a fair-sized population of resident farangs) shows only movies dubbed ( and badly dubbed seems to be the consensus) into Thai. Add to that the fact that most of the cineplexes in Bangkok show mainly soundtrack versions of all major films. ( And most moviegoers in Bangkok appear to be Thai! ) It seems harder and harder to justify the Thai language ONLY policies here in Hua Hin. ( Not that anyone is going to try mind you, or that anything will change.)

An additional note: I saw something I have never seen before or even knew existed with the movies we saw on TV. (Maybe they do this is some theatres too?) They didnt dub the movie, they translated it!! One voice, usually a woman can be heard speaking over the dialogue which you can still hear in the background. She is either reporting what is going on or simultaneously translating all the dialogue. Weirdest thing I have ever seen!