Siam Niramit () is a nighttime Thai cultural theme complex in Phuket, Thailand. The Bangkok branch closed in 2021.
After five years of preparation, the company Ratchada Niramit opened Siam Niramit in Bangkok in 2005. It took ฿1.5billion (US$43.9million) to build on a plot of land and had a 2,000-seat theater. The company opened a second location in Phuket in 2011 after two years of construction. It cost ฿2billion (US$58.6million) to build on a plot of land and had a 1,740-seat theater. Ratchada Niramit used the Bangkok branch to host MICE tourism (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions tourism) including the 9th IIFA Awards in 2008, the Suphannahong National Film Awards in 2012, Miss Tourism International 2012, and the 19th IIFA Awards in 2018.
The complex featured traditional Thai villages from the country's four regions. The company transported wood dwellings and plants from the various regions to the complex. Visitors could try food from the four villages, take a boat excursion, give food to elephants, watch musical performances, view silk weaving and basket weaving, and experience a Thai massage. The venue put on the show Journey to the Enchanted Kingdom of Siam. It has three acts: "Journey Back to History" tells the tale of Kingdom of Lanna and covers Khmer history; "Journey Beyond Imagination" discusses hell, mythical beings, and heaven; and "Journey Through Joyous Festivals" showcases numerous merit-making Thai festivals. The Bangkok theater had a proscenium arch, making it the tallest in the world, and for which it received an entry in Guinness World Records.
The show received mostly positive reviews. Commentators said that while the show was touristy and not a purely authentic cultural show, it was inspired by Thai culture and history and was aesthetically and technically captivating. The Straits Times theater critic Ong Sor Fern found the show to be kitsch but said that "tourist trap cultural performances" like Siam Niramit were gateways to "purer" art forms, inspiring audience members like her to try to find Thai shows that are more authentic.
History
Siam Niramit means "Magic Siam", "Magical Siam", or "The Glory of Siam" in Thai, and "Siam" is Thailand's historical name. The Kittiparaporn family, which had for nearly two decades ran the amusement parks Dan Neramit and Dream World, created and ran Siam Niramit. The company Ratchada Niramit spent ฿1.5billion (US$43.9million) to construct the Grand Ratchada Theatre, Siam Niramit Bangkok's theater, on a plot of land in Huai Khwang, Bangkok, on across from the Thailand Cultural Centre. The theater was on property leased from the private sector. The artistic group spent five years to design the cultural show and build the theater that housed the show. The company originally planned to open the theater in May 2005. John A. Williams, a lighting designer and professor at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, said the show's opening experienced a few months of delay owing to severe problems with lighting. Wikran "Nit" Maneesri, who had previously been his student, recruited him to fix the lighting, which he said was owing to the light rig's arrangement matching a rock concert and not a theater show. The duo worked together to fix the lighting to illuminate most of the stage.
Siam Niramit Bangkok began doing shows on 27 October 2005. The show's gala premiere was attended by statesman Prem Tinsulanonda and other celebrities who dressed in traditional Thai attire for the evening. Dangkamon Na-Pombejra was the director; Amphol Suthiphein was a producer; Krissara Warissaraphuricha was co-producer and technical director; Kaiwan Kulavadhanothai was the music composer; and Chatvichai Promadhattavedi created the costumes and the sets. On the business side, Pannin Kittiparaporn () served as the chief executive and Suriya Songsomboon as general manager. A Taiwanese book about Bangkok said Siam Niramit was similar to the cultural theme park Phuket FantaSea. Aiming to have 730,000 annual visitors, the company planned to spend ฿40million (US$1.2million) on marketing in 2005 and visited travel expos in ASEAN countries, Britain, Dubai, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Moscow, Taiwan, and the United States to promote the show. Ratchada Niramit signed a three-year contract with ThaiBev, which owns the Chang brand, in 2005 for the beverage company to sponsor Siam Niramit at an annual cost of ฿20million (US$580,000). Only Chang beverages like water and beer would be sold in the theater.
Siam Niramit had 800 daily visitors and 270,000 attendees in 2007, and 60% came from outside the country. The number of daily visitors dropped to 500 to 600 in 2009, representing a 30% occupancy rate. The two causes were a weak global economy and a price war with competitor tourist attractions that catered to Chinese tourists, who were their largest clientele. That year, Chinese tourists comprised 45% of their clientele, Europeans comprised 35%, and other countries made up the remaining balance. According to Wallapa Phokawat, Ratchada Niramit's assistant managing director, 90% of their customers in 2011 were foreign tourists. She said political strife and economic challenges had caused the 2,000-seat theater to have for each show between 300 and 400 audience members over the last three years but that by October and November 2010, the number of viewers grew to between 800 and 1,000 owing to a better economic and political environment.
Ratchada Niramit spent about 2billion (US$58.6million) to construct the Siam Niramit Phuket theater on a plot of land that the company owned. The company purchased the land for the venture, which took two years to complete. Located in the Ko Kaeo subdistrict of the Mueang Phuket district, the property opened in December 2011. The theater sits on Tiamruammit Road, which connects the city of Phuket with Phuket International Airport.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Siam Niramit paused doing performances on 17 March 2020. The company initially retained all of its employees but as the pandemic situation did not improve, they laid off nearly all except those who managed the building and physical assets. Employees were given 30% of their regular wage to work remotely. According to the company's CEO Pannin Kittiparaporn, the Bangkok theater had 600,000–700,000 annual visitors prior to COVID-19. Siam Niramit Bangkok told over 200 employees that the business would shut down on 10 September 2021. The rationale was that with a large number of the theater's customers from China, in the midst of the pandemic, the economy needed three years to recover. With seven years left on the lease, there would be insufficient time for the return of capital. The company transferred some of its Bangkok theater assets to its Phuket theater. Siam Niramit Phuket reopened on 20 October 2022. After the pandemic began, the company renovated its complex and revamped the show. The show's occupancy rate reached between 30% and 40% by January 2023.
Synopsis Named Journey to the Enchanted Kingdom of Siam, the cultural show is split into three acts and goes over around 700 years of Thai history. Split into four scenes, the first act is titled "Journey Back to History: The Ancient Kingdom of Lanna". Titled "Faith... The Ancient Kingdom of Lanna", the first scene is set in the Kingdom of Lanna in Northern Thailand. Visiting a temple, the king and queen of Lanna pay their respects to the Buddha's relics. The maids of honor who attend to the queen tote magnificent lanterns. As sentries engage in swordsmanship, the maids of honor dance. The second scene is titled "The South Sea... Traders from Overseas" and is set between the Srivijaya kingdom and the Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom. It depicts the Thai inhabitants having fun by dancing and singing, demonstrating that the Muslim and Buddhist Thai practices fuse together well. Enticed by the fruits of the land, Chinese sailor traders visit for engaging in commerce. A Chinese sailor has a romantic relationship with a woman from a Thai village. The third scene is titled "Isaan... Heritage of the Khmer Civilization". It depicts Isaan inhabitants going outside the Wat Phra That Phanom Buddhist temple to celebrate the Boon Paweht festival and to accrue merit. Unexpectedly, they see the Khmer castle Prasat Hin Phanom Rung made of stone pop up, while chiseled angels made of stone (apsaras) marvelously awaken. Titled "The Mighty Capital... Ayutthaya", the fourth scene is set in the historic capital of Ayutthaya. A man takes a dip in a body of water on a part of the stage that had previously been a firm floor. Women sailing on rafts hawk flowers. The scene depicts peasants who reside in Central Plains canals, taking advantage of the arable terrain to seed and reap rice. The uncomplicated way of how peasants live is diametrically different from the opulent lifestyle of palace residents. In the show, the prosperity is demonstrated through a royal barge parade. Cultivating a powerful military, Ayutthaya welcomes ambassadors from the West to establish connections with those countries. A downpour of rain from the ceiling causes a paddy field's crops to rise.
Split into three scenes, the second act is titled "Journey Beyond Imagination: The Three Realms". Titled "Fiery Hell", the first scene starts with an entirely dark stage, using light and shadow to represent a quickly shimmering fire that transports the audience down to hell. It features the King of Hell, Prayom, and souls he presides over. Viewers feel the room getting hotter when the staff shut off the air conditioning just as the souls are cursed to be tormented by Prayom in line with their human-performed misdeeds. Set in the Himmapan forest, the second scene is titled "Mystical Himapaan". Himmapan is a middle-of-the-road place where people with few misdeeds but little merit are sent. Legendary plants and animals inhabit the forest, including the tree Nareepon, which has gorgeous women as its fruit; Kinaree, who is a human-bird hybrid; and Hongsa, birds who are nimble and resemble swans. The third scene is titled "Blissful Heaven". Indra, the strongest divine being, oversees heaven's second story, Daow-wa-dueng. To captivate the deities, Khontan performs angelic music. Some angels do a beautiful dance in the air.
The third act is titled "Journey Through Joyous Festivals". A tenet of Buddhism is that to ascend to heaven, people on Earth have to accrue merit. Thailand, as a result, has numerous festivals that allow people to accrue merit. The festivals are joyous and vibrant occasions that mix in Buddhist rites. The act features festivals including the water festival Song Kran; Khao Pansaa, which celebrates monks undergoing ordination; and Phi Dtaa Khon, which has a procession of ghosts. The show's last scene is the festival Loy Krathong, which features tiny boats ("krathongs") gliding through the lake on the stage after being set free by Thais and viewers chosen by the performers to walk to the stage to help. Filled with candles, flowers, incense sticks, and banana leaves, the boats are a way to show their gratitude to Buddha and the Goddess of Water. It represents how worshippers are beginning anew by liberating themselves from any enmity.
Venue and show