Bangkok Thai Cultural Arts on Stage

Situated on the 4th floor of Esplanade shopping center, Ratchadaphisek Road, not far from Siam Niramit Theatre, is Muang Thai Rachadalai Theatre, the prestigious form of professional theatre in Thailand. The show is usually a play or musical that appeals to a mass audience, presented in professional theatres with luxurious 1,500 seats or more. The theatre offers world class stage productions and special effects.

Captivating shows of Thai art and culture are also presented by the Siam Niramit Theatre on Tiam Ruammit Road with over 150 dazzling performers and state-of-the-art special effects, this luxurious 2,000-seat theatre presents how Siam became a cross-roads for civilizations, how karma binds the Thai people, and how Thais earn merit in this life through religious ceremonies. The world class performances will capture you with their concisely interesting story and stunning techniques presented.

"Hun Lakorn Lek" or the Small Theatrical Puppet is a revival and a modification of the Royal Puppet and the Little Puppet. It is called "Hun Lakorn Lek" so as to differentiate from other puppets.Each of the Hun Lakorn Lek measures one meter in height and has a complete body, with head-trunk-arms, hands, legs, and feet. Complicated stringing passes mostly through eyelets in the torso for activation. Slim, stiff sticks are attached to some important parts of the puppet so as to manipulate it directly by the hands of puppeteers.Generally, three puppeteers are assigned to manipulate a single Small Theatrical Puppet. It should be noticed that each puppeteer must be skilled and deeply instructed in the art of the Thai Drama. Moreover, each one should be acknowledged in his function and harmonically coordinate in the dancing movements along with others.

Master Krae Saptawanit was a prominent Hun Lakorn Lek inventor. He brought the Small Puppet show into the popularity. When the time passed by, the Hun Lakorn Lek show has become Popular once again under the direction of Master Sakhon Youngkiewsod, whose descendants are still trained in the art of the Small Puppet manipulation at the Joe Louis Theatre. Joe Louis Theater is now being known as "Traditional Thai Puppet Theater" (Nattayasala Hun Lakorn Lek).

The Chalermkrung Royal Theatre or Sala Chalermkrung was designed in 1933 by a Thai elite who was a former student of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The design is Thai Deco, and it is another place that hosts traditional Khon performances. It features high-tech lighting and sound which add an entirely new dimension to this classical dance art. Khon, as well as other Thai dramas and plays, are held all year round. The theatre is located on Charoen Krung Road.

The National Theatre lies in a wooden building next to Sivamokha- phiman Hall in the National Museum on Rachini Road. This is an ideal place to view the marvelous Thai performing art-Khon or the classical masked dance-drama usually based on tales from the Ramayana Epic. Visually stunning, Khon, in which performers wear extremely ornate costumes with masks and move in a rhythmical, puppet-like fashion, is highly recommended.