Thai Movie

Sunday, September 26, 2010

2:07 pm

            Last night I finally got to go see a Thai movie! We went to the mall in Siam, which is the epicenter of shopping in Bangkok. Now, in America, the malls are pretty much middle class shopping destinations. In Bangkok, the class difference is so extreme that their malls make ours look like street markets. Shannon was quite entertained by Nicole and me, our jaws to the floor as we looked up and saw escalators crisscrossing seven or eight stories high. "Don't you have malls in America?" Shannon jabbed in sarcastic Aussie fashion. It was so crazy to see just how upscale the upper class is here in Thailand (There was a Lotus dealer on the fourth or fifth floor). And that is where Thais place us in their American stereotype. After reaching the seventh or eighth floor, the shock and awe was just getting started. At the very top of the mall was the movie theatre (that's how you spell it when you're not in America). This place put The Rave, the Universal movie theater in City Walk, and the one in Pleasure Island all to shame. Imagine a movie theater crossed with a five-star hotel, but a little fancier. There was even a bowling alley! Remember, we are already seven or eight floors up. We bought our tickets and had to pick our seats at the box office (there goes movie hopping). We went up yet another escalator to get to the actual screens. It wasn't a big surprise to find the seats recline as it usually is in America. Goi, Nicole, and I went to see a Thai movie called Hello Stranger. Shannon had already seen it, so he went to see Wall Street 2. Hello Stranger was a chick-flick, but it had an indie vibe going for it and I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I really like the Thai sense of humor. It was pretty on par with anything that would have come out of American cinema (probably better than most in it's genre). I think I've been here long enough to catch most of the cultural gags: unknowingly eating dog meat, obsession with Korean movie stars, single man and woman traveling together, etc. Also, seeing places that I recognized like the airport, BTS, etc. was pretty cool. I don't think I've seen many movies where I recognize the exact location and can say, "Oh yeah, I know where that is! I've been there lots of times." It was quite an experience (so thankful for subtitles).

Trailer for Hello Stranger

Only picture I took at the theater... I'll get more next time.