| Siam Niramit | |
|---|---|
 Siam Niramit logo | |
| Genre | Variety show and Thai history |
| Show type | Resident |
| Date of premiere | December 2011 |
| Location | 19 Thiam Ruam Mit Road, Huai Khwang, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Creative team | |
| Director | Dangkamon Na-Pombejra |
| Producer | Amphol Suthiphein |
| Producer and technical director | Krissara Warissaraphuricha |
| Music composer | Kaiwan Kulavadhanothai |
| Costume and set designer | Chatvichai Promadhattavedi |
| Other information | |
| Chief executive officer | Pannin Kittiparaporn |
| General manager | Suriya Songsomboon |
| Official website | |
Siam Niramit (Thai: สยามนิรมิต) 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 ฿1.5 billion (US$43.9 million) to build on a 24-rai (38,000 m2; 410,000 sq ft) 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 ฿2 billion (US$58.6 million) to build on a 57-rai (91,000 m2; 980,000 sq ft) 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 12-metre (39 ft) 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.[1]
- ^ Ong, Sor Fern (11 November 2010). "One theatrical night in Bangkok - The lavish stage drama Siam Niramit shows that kitsch can teach us a few things about culture". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.