BANGKOK, Thailand — In a city where traffic jams are legendary, one company hopes Bangkok residents will spend even more time in cars — at the movies.
EGV Entertainment plans to open a theater in a shopping mall on the city's outskirts fashioned after the '50s drive-ins of the United States, The Nation newspaper reported.
The air-conditioned theater will be fitted with old, classic-style cars converted into seats, the newspaper said.
Murals on the side walls will depict open-air desert scenery.
The company plans to charge $6 per ticket, double the price of an ordinary ticket, and serve fast food to family audiences, the report said, quoting an unidentified company source.
The theater, due to open this week, is aimed at introducing "novelty in the local cinema business," to compete with rivals such as Major Cineplex ahead of a planned stock-market offering later this year, The Nation said.
EGV officials were not available for comment.
EGV director Wichai Poolworaluk said last year the company would buy out a 50-percent stake in his company held by its Australian partner, Village Roadshow.
Village Roadshow had announced that it's selling its stakes in movie-theater chains in Thailand, India and Malaysia to get out of underperforming markets and focus on its core business, which includes theme parks.
PARENTS FLYING ON Singapore Airlines can now block in-flight films they find inappropriate for their children, the airline has announced.
Conservative Singapore regularly censors sexual content from Hollywood films headed to its local theaters. But the island nation's flag carrier does not censor its in-flight offerings, mainly G-, PG- and R-rated movies from the United States, airline spokeswoman Teo Lay Cheng said Tuesday.
On Singapore Airlines flights, passengers watch movies on small in-seat screens. Parents can ask the cabin crew to block movie titles in their child's seat or they can block movies over the phone when they make their reservations, the statement said.
"Swimfan," a creepy PG-rated thriller about a teenage seductress who stalks a high-school swim star, and "Trapped," an R-rated drama about a violent kidnapping, are among the films now being offered on SIA flights.
G-rated films are meant for general audiences while PG films recommend parental guidance.
Children under 17 are barred from R-rated films unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.