Oblique exterior shot of Hawaii Cinema in Bangkok. It is mostly a dusty ochre color with a marquee visible over the entrance. The sky is hazy and mostly grey, while power lines stretch across the scene.

Looking up from street level at the impressive facade of Hawaii Cinema. Empty metal frames show were movie posters would have been displayed back in the day.

Looking across the street at the entrance to Hawaii Cinema in Bangkok. There is a prominent red postal box in front and the aquamarine-bordered marquee stretches across the building behind intervening power lines.

A scene from the lobby of Hawaii Cinema. The name of the theater appears in red Thai lettering and there's dust and debris strewn around. A beam of sunlight graces the name of the theater.

Snapshots from a quick visit to Hawaii Cinema (โรงหนังฮาวาย) in Bangkok. Despite the abandoned appearance it was still operational when I visited in 2018, though it wasn't showing conventional films. From a scan of reviews on Google Maps it might finally be out of business as of 2025. #TheaterHunt

Changle Theater (大樹昌樂大戲院) - Spectral Codex Established by Xu Kaichuan (許開傳) in 1960 on the land behind Guangming Theater (光明戲院). It is an impressive structure with room for 750 seats in the main hall on the second floor. Business was poor in t...

Field notes and grainy photos from Changle Theater (昌樂大戲院), an imposing golden age cinema established in suburban Kaohsiung in the early 1960s. It closed in 1987 and has long been abandoned due to a property rights dispute. #TheaterHunt #urbex spectralcodex.com/dashu-changl...

Tainan Minzu Theater (台南民族戲院) - Spectral Codex Established in 1963 and specializing in Western films, this theater prospered into the 1980s, after which it was partially renovated into a cineplex. After it closed in 2000 it was converted into a cr...

A brief entry about the curious case of a 1960s movie theater in Tainan partly converted into a towering cineplex. The weird part is the fact that a third of the original theater building was left intact for whatever reason. #TheaterHunt spectralcodex.com/tainan-minzu...

Hunei Wenxian Theater (湖內文賢戲院) - Spectral Codex A small town theater built in the early 1950s. It operated until 1973 after which it was converted into a factory and migrant worker dormitory. Most of what remained of the structure was dismantled in...

Shining a light on an old 1950s vintage theater in Hunei, right on the border between Kaohsiung and Tainan in southern Taiwan. Only the facade remains... but it tells an interesting tale. #TheaterHunt
spectralcodex.com/hunei-wenxia...

Guanshan Zhonghua Theater (中華大戲院) - Spectral Codex Once the largest theater in Taitung with seating for 1,200 patrons, this KMT-affiliated cinema dominated the region from 1965 until its closure in 1985. Known as “Northern Boss” (北霸天), it was co-found...

Zhonghua Theater in Guanshan, Taitung County, opened in 1965 with 1,200 seats, making it the largest cinema in the region at the time—and earning it the nickname "Northern Boss" for its dominance over the local film industry. #TheaterHunt #Taiwan spectralcodex.com/guanshan-zho...

Nanzhuang Theater (南庄戲院) - Spectral Codex Established around 1946 to serve the large population of lumberjacks and miners in this mountain town in Miaoli. Initially focused on traditional Hakka opera and performance before getting into screen...

A brief write-up about Nanzhuang Theater, which still stands in this small Miaoli mountain town, but currently idle and inaccessible AFAIK. It prospered during the mining, lumber, and camphor boom and later become famous for its strip tease shows. #TheaterHunt spectralcodex.com/nanzhuang-th...

Cinema Folkets Bio Grand - Simrishamn, Sweden

#beforethecineplex #oldcinemas #simrishamn #scala #skåne #bioskop #theaterhunt #cinesdelmundo #urbandiscovery #facadelovers #cinematreasures #portas #doorsoftheworld #biograf #architecture #urbexlife #tueren #doorables #doorsofinstagram

【紀錄】看完台灣本島所有電影院 2021年5月1日，我在高雄義大國賓影城，看了上午11時開演的《聽見歌再唱》，完成了把台灣本島全部電影院進場看完的心願... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofFiFYoNGqM 2021年5月1日上午，我踏上高雄大樹三和里、觀音山東麓，被泛稱為「義大」的丘陵地上。這片山頭曾經借道、閒晃、工作等原因造訪，於我不算格外陌生，然而這趟「特別的」旅程，實在象徵我終能得償...

Kudos to this Taiwanese man who watched a movie in every movie theater still operating in Taiwan by 2021. Many of the 155 theaters he visited were no longer open by the time he completed this quest. #TheaterHunt worldscreewinc.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/%...

Miaoli Theater 苗栗戲院 | Spectral Codex The former Miaoli Theater (苗栗戲院) is located in the heart of Miaoli City, a mid-sized settlement of 86,000 residents in north-central Taiwan. Approximately 30 theaters were once found scattered...

If this story intrigued you I strongly recommend reading my report about the eponymous Miaoli Theater, now a veterinarian clinic and pet supplies shop. I provide a little more context for cinema history in Miaoli County in this post. #TheaterHunt spectralcodex.com/miaoli-theat...

Miaoli Guoxing Theater 苗栗國興戲院 | Spectral Codex Guoxing Theater (國興戲院) was the very last standalone movie theater operating in Miaoli, Taiwan. After 70 years in the cinema business it closed for renovations in the final days of 2019…

A report about the very last standalone theater operating in Miaoli, #Taiwan. It was in business in the 1950s and somehow managed to stay afloat until recently. I visited in late 2019, mere months before it closed for renovations, never to reopen. #TheaterHunt spectralcodex.com/miaoli-guoxi...

Inside a dimly lit projection room of a theater abandoned for more than 30 years in central Taiwan. There is an old projector in the foreground, and obvious signs of ruin and decay around the room.

Electric panel surrounded by Taiwanese pinup girls evidently plastered on the wall by some bored and lonely projectionist decades ago.

Light seeping into the boarded up ticket booth of an old movie theater in central Taiwan.

An ugly building covered with sheet metal captured in the early evening, with dark skies. This is another old movie theater, one that partly collapsed in the 921 Earthquake, losing its facade. Nowadays it is just used for some old shops selling clothes and shoes and other consumer goods.

1/2/3) Inside the projection room and ticket booth of a movie theater in central Taiwan that went out of business in 1990;
4) Another old movie theater (not the same as the previous photos); this one partly collapsed in the 921 Earthquake, hence the sheet metal paneling out front #TheaterHunt

An old Japanese colonial era post office in central Taiwan, painted green but long abandoned and falling apart.

The interior of an abandoned Japanese colonial era post office in central Taiwan. The rooftop is caving in and there is rotten wood everywhere.

Several structures constructed inside the ruins of an abandoned theater.

A view of the ruins of an abandoned theater in central Taiwan. The roof has caved in in places and the tattered remnants of the curtains that surrounded the screen dangle limply across a stage with holes in many places.

1/2) An abandoned post office in Shuili dating back to Japanese colonial times, but obviously in use into more modern times #urbex
3/4) Another abandoned theater somewhere in central Taiwan; strangely, some shophouses were constructed in the ruins #TheaterHunt

The fortress-like appearance of a classic 1950s cinema in Dongshih, Taiwan, now abandoned. There is a big ad for porkchop rice hanging out front.

The interior of an abandoned movie theater in Taiwan. The seats have already been removed, but 1950s style detailing can still be seen around the chamber.

The silver screen from the former theater, all rolled up and ready to be disposed.

An abandoned building in dire shape, two rounded staircases leading up to a balcony level in near-perfect symmetry.

1/2/3) An old movie theater in Dongshih was scheduled for demolition in August 2023, but it was still standing when I breezed through town #TheaterHunt
4) An abandoned building on the campus of a vocational high school condemned after the 921 Earthquake #urbex