Cinema halls in Yangon (Rangoon)

Compared to other capital cities of South East Asia, Yangon has fewer cinema halls. And most of them are quite old, dating back to as far as the colonial period. There are about six or seven cinema halls in downtown Yangon which show Hollywood, Bollywood (Indian movies) and local movies. They usually play four shows a day.

In Myanmar, the cinema halls are single theatre types, usually having two levels of seating. On first level, there are usually three or four classes with the front seats being the cheapest. Level two is upper class or first class, and the most expensive. Because of limited number of cinema halls in Yangon, there usually a lucrative black market of cinema tickets, sold at two to three times the official selling price, depending on the popularity of the movies.

Most of the theatres in Yangon are equipped with old and out dated projectors and sound systems. There are now a few theatres equipped with more modern projectors and sound systems. However, the quality is still no where near those from other modern theatres.

Comments

Guy said…
I went to the theater on Bogyoke Aung San Rd./33 street. The movie was very dark and the sound crackling (english). But the tickets were available without a problem. Nice way to spend an afternoon in Yangoon. I think I spend about Kyt 500 -600. Btw. Beauty Land II Hotel was a great place to stay. And one more thing. There are always some Indian money changer crooks hanging out in front of the Traders Hotel. When I changed money they let me count 1000 Kt bills and later handed me a stack of 500 Kt bills with the same thickness without me noticing it.
I lost about $15 not to bad but very irritating. Those crooks seem to work in organized groups of spotters and closers. They were nicely dressed and spoke good english. A few days later I recognized one of those guys in front of the Traders Hotel in Yangon and When I grabed one and started to shout for the police they gave me my money back.

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