Bangkok cinema guide: House Samyan, Lido, Scala and the Film Archive

Bangkok cinema culture has two halves. The multiplexes in the malls are among the most comfortable in the world, with reclining seats and a national anthem before the feature. The independent side is smaller and keeps moving: a single arthouse cinema in Sam Yan, the shell of a famous old picture palace in Siam Square, and a national archive on the edge of the city. Here is the city for film, area by area.

Siam Square: Lido and the memory of Scala

Siam Square was Bangkok's cinema district for fifty years. Scala, the grand single-screen cinema with the sweeping staircase and the chandelier, closed in 2020 and was demolished the next year, and its loss is still felt; photos of its foyer turn up in exhibitions and the name is shorthand for what the city lost. The Lido, its smaller sibling, closed as a cinema in 2018 and reopened in 2019 as Lido Connect, an events space with a stage, markets and occasional screenings. The building's programme has changed hands more than once since, so check what is on before you rely on it. The Siam guide covers the square.

Sam Yan: House Samyan

House Samyan, on the top floor of the Samyan Mitrtown mall at Sam Yan MRT, is the city's arthouse cinema: festival films, Thai independents, restored classics and a small bar in the lobby. It grew out of the old House RCA, and it is the one venue where you can count on a subtitled film that is not a blockbuster. See the Sam Yan guide.

Sala Daeng and the micro-cinemas

For several years the Doc Club and Pub, a documentary cinema with a bar in the Woof Pack building near Sala Daeng, carried the independent scene, as the Bangkok Screening Room had before it. Licensing rules for small screening rooms forced it to stop showing films in 2025, and it announced a move to the Cloud 11 development in southern Sukhumvit. Search the map for its current home before you go.

Salaya: the Thai Film Archive

The Thai Film Archive in Salaya, west of the city in Nakhon Pathom, is the most rewarding film trip in Bangkok. It has a museum of Thai cinema history, a cinema that screens restored Thai films and world classics, often free, and grounds laid out as a small film town with a replica of a 1930s studio. It is a train or bus ride from the city, which is why so few visitors make it.

The multiplexes

The mall cinemas are worth a visit in their own right, especially in a downpour: the big Paragon Cineplex at Siam Paragon, the ICON CineConic at ICONSIAM across the river, and Major and SF branches in almost every mall. Expect reserved seating, a long run of adverts and everyone standing for the royal anthem. The rainy season guide has more wet-weather ideas.

Festivals

Bangkok's film festivals come and go with their funding. The World Film Festival of Bangkok has run in some years and not others, and the Thai Film Archive runs its own retrospectives through the year. BACC at National Stadium also hosts screenings and video art. Check the map for what is on.

Getting there

• Siam Square and Paragon Cineplex: Siam BTS.
• House Samyan: Sam Yan MRT, direct into Samyan Mitrtown.
• ICON CineConic: Charoen Nakhon station on the Gold Line, or the shuttle boat from Sathorn pier.
• Thai Film Archive: a Southern Line train from Thonburi station to Salaya, then a short taxi; or a bus or taxi from Bang Khun Non MRT.
• BACC: National Stadium BTS.

Thai films in multiplexes are rarely subtitled; look for the EN or ENG mark on the showtime, and check the venue for the version you want.