TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Thai metal workshop dazzles tourists with movie-inspired creations
Change Size
This photo taken on June 13, 2017 shows artist Phairote Thanomwong operating a mechanical Transformer at Ban Hun Lek, a metalworks shop renowned for giant statues of Transformers, the Hulk and other pop icons, in the central Thai province of Angthong. - As Buddhist temples across Thailand struggle to stay relevant in the modern age, some monks are drawing on a tried-and-true magnet for children: superheroes. (AFP/Lillian Suwanrumpha )
T
owering Transformers, life-sized Marvel superheroes and extraterrestrial lifeforms -- a "House of Steel Robots" in Thailand has made a name for itself by transforming scrap metal into dazzling sculptures inspired by Hollywood blockbusters.
Ban Hun Lek, an hour's drive north of Bangkok, has become a popular weekend spot for families eager for Instagram selfies against a backdrop that looks plucked from the the silver screen.
Visitors to Phairote Thanomwong's welding workshop gaze up at eight-meter-high sculptures modeled after the robots of the Transformers franchise and a jet-black King Kong hewn together from old car parts.
Phairote opened his welding workshop 20 years ago and eventually converted its front section into a gallery for curious tourists.
"It was just a hobby at first," he tells AFP. "When I was a child, I liked mechanics a lot... so I made what I liked into my work."
Every sculpture is built using scrap metal and recyclables, which makes each creation unique, he said.
A one-meter-high piece sells for up to 30,000 baht ($950), and the majority of his customers are overseas buyers.
Since the coronavirus pandemic spread around the world and sent the global economy into a tailspin, Phairote says his art exports have been put on pause.
Still, the towering metal brontosaurus at Ban Hun Lek, which can be seen from the main freeway, draws dozens of Thai visitors each weekend.
"If they want to see something amazing, they should come here," Phairote says with a laugh.
