Jamie and the Moonlight Cinema

What is your Koh Phangan story?
After graduating university and exiting the company I was involved with I decided to travel for six months and came to south east Asia. Some friends and I landed in Bangkok with no plans but given that it was a Full Moon coming up we were recommended to come to Koh Phangan.

I booked for four days and ended up staying for one month.

When my visa expired we continued travelling but I came back for three months in the spring of 2013.

For the following season I lived here for seven months and was well immersed in the party scene as I was djing quite a bit.

I knew I wanted to come back but this time for permanency so I decided to launch a business and over my two years of being here I was able to look at the island from an opportunistic perspective and notice a huge lack of nightly entertainment that did not involve partying.

So this is an open air 3D movie garden, what is the concept?
The focus is to provide people with an environment that promotes detoxification, relaxation and wholesome entertainment.

Given that the island, in my perspective, is very much yin and yang, I wanted to provide a well rounded audience a new platform to decompress after a long night of partying or a long day in the sun or just to end another day in paradise.

The design I’m going for is timeless hippy chic, it’s like upscale bohemian.

Because the island is changing right now there is a new demographic of tourism, a new standard of service and quality that’s emerging, given this direction I think it’s wise to set up a business where even a fifty year old can come and be impressed with the decor.

I don’t want this to feel like another half arsed bamboo business at the side of the road.

I really want people to identify this cinema as their sanctuary within the craziness of Ban Tai and Thong Sala.

What kinds of entertainment will you provide?
So the main movie cinema which is the public cinema, will seat up to forty people and will show movies in 2D and possibly 3D during the hours of 6pm - 6am.

Along with this public cinema we will also be providing a private home ‘cinema cabana’ allowing a party of up to ten people to have endless entertainment at their fingertips for however long they want. This includes movies, tv shows, documentaries, live sports and much more to come!

What types of films will you show in the public cinema?
The idea is for every day of the week we will showcase a different genre such as ‘freaky friday’, cult monday, something like that.

How far have you got and when do you think you will be ready?
Things are moving along qute fast given the rain is on our side, however at the moment we are aiming for the opening night, at the very latest to be february 1st.

Has it been hard work?
I’ve been very fortunate that the landowners are one of the original families on the island so this helps in all regards. Furthermore, as soon as I mention the idea of a cinema people genuinely become interested in sharing ideas and helping out through sheer enthusiasm.

However the core logistics and managing the site has been all me, a man of many hats if you will.

That being said, this season for me on Koh Phangan doesn’t feel like a vacation but it is still paradise.

You have told us abit about the detox drinks, can you tell us more about the menu?
We are priding ourselves on our food and beverage selection as we truly believe that any decent detoxification includes a proper diet.

The moonlight smoothie bar will consist of scientifically enhanced recovery smoothies that not only replace a meal but also help you rebalance after a long night out.

One of my friends in north America runs a very successful tea detox company so we have exclusively partnered up with them for the whole of Thailand to provide the finest hand crafted herbal tea blends from around the world.

As for food, we understand that a cinema will draw various different diets so we have decided to offer a stupid simple, clean and dirty menu.

So has it been hard to leave your party days behind?
I still go hard on occasion however I think I speak on behalf of many locals that when you decide to make the final move here your prerogatives change a lttle bit.

That being said I do enjoy dark techno at 6am.

What do you love about Koh Phangan?
What made me decide to want to live here is that I have found nowhere else in the world that offers the type of unconditional love, respect and community that is overwhelmingly abundant on Koh Phangan.

Right now my days consist of running around working but to me that’s fun. I love the game of business, I’m not the type to sit on secret beach for hours getting ancy. I like to keep my mind and body young and this is a good way to do it whilst providing value to the community I have chosen to immerse myself in.

Do you have a life philosophy?
Keep it real.