Long before the Skytrain, the neon towers, and the mega-malls, Phra Khanong was Bangkok’s movie capital. Every weekend, crowds would arrive not by car or train, but by boat, floating in from the canals for a glimpse of the silver screen. The neighborhood boasted six grand cinema houses, including what was then the largest movie palace in Southeast Asia. At the heart of it all was a modernist industrial building humming with light and motion: Cinematique Filmworks.

Founded in 1967 as an ambitious Thai-American collaboration between producer-director Lalawan Nakaratkul and her American cinematographer husband, Philip Kay, the studio emerged during a time of rapid transformation in Thailand. Their marriage alone was a subject of gossip and raised eyebrows, but the work they created together broke real ground. Cinematique Filmworks was one of the first production houses to release bilingual films, reaching both domestic Thai audiences and the wave of foreign nationals arriving in Bangkok alongside American military and global corporations.

Stylistically, the studio fused Thai aesthetics and folklore with Western pacing, polish, and genre conventions. Their early years were rocky, but in 1968 they struck gold with “สวนรัก (Where Love Always Waited)”, a wistful melodrama of unfulfilled desire. It ran for nearly a year in Bangkok cinemas and cemented the studio’s reputation as a cinematic force.

What followed was a decade of ambition. Cinematique released historical epics, fantasy films, jungle adventures, and stylized spy thrillers. The ‘Phaya Nak’ horror franchise — starting with ‘Rise of Phaya Nak’ and climaxing in ‘The Serpent’s Curse’ and ‘Fall of Phaya Nak’ — became a cultural phenomenon. Their ghost films terrified audiences, and their action stars filled the tabloids.

Tragedy struck in 1980, during the filming of the climactic scene of “รังอินทรีแดง (Red Eagle’s Nest).” The studio’s leading man, a beloved national icon, fell to his death while performing a dangerous stunt. 

His loss marked the start of the studio’s decline. Production delays, rumored debt, and internal conflict followed. The ambitious follow-up, ‘พญานาค๖ (Return to the House of Phaya Nak),’ became a logistical and creative disaster. Filming halted, and crews walked off set. Some said the studio was cursed.

In early 1986, without announcement or warning, the building was shuttered.

Neighbors said the departure was sudden, if not unexpected. Costumes still hung on racks. Unedited reels sat stacked near abandoned editing bays. Call sheets lay across the floor. Completed sets remained littered with props and costumes, as if someone had just yelled “cut.”

Equipment, scripts, maps to remote shooting locations, old love letters were all left behind. Even today, no one knows exactly what happened. Some say Lalawan and Philip split and disappeared. Others whisper about mafia debts, or darker things. The truth was never confirmed. The studio was forgotten.

Phra Khanong fell out of favor; the city moved on.