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On Saturday (Jun. 10), Thailand's first pet-friendly cinema opened its doors to many four-legged moviegoers and their pawrents, AFP reported.

The pet-friendly cinema, "i-Tail Pet Cinema", is a joint cooperation with Thailand's leading movie theatre chain Major Cineplex Group Plc and a dog and cat food manufacturing company i-Tail Corporation Plc.

It screened The Little Mermaid for its grand opening on Saturday.

Taking his rescue cat Kati to the cinema, cinemagoer Mano told AFP that his cat "will enjoy seeing all the fish on the screen".

Conditions

At the moment, only small to medium-sized dogs and cats can enter the cinema with their pet owners.

Pets must also be over four months old, healthy, not aggressive, clean, odourless, and weigh no more than 15kg.

They must also receive flea and tick medication according to the criteria required.

All pets must also wear disposable diapers throughout the movie. There is a diaper service point located outside the cinema halls for pet owners to put diapers on their pets.

To make it more pet-friendly, lights will be kept on during the screening while the volume will be lowered by 30 per cent.

There are carrier bags located at the seats of the cinemas for pet owners to put their pets in during the movies. The orange carrier bags are for cats, while the blue carrier bags are for dogs.

Currently, the pet-friendly cinemas are available at Mega Bangna's Mega Cineplex, Central Eastville's Eastville Cineplex, and Major Cinema Robinson Ratchapruek.

Tickets are priced at 99 baht (S$3.82) per seat. It is only available for the first screening of the day on weekends only.

Understanding

According to AFP, Thailand's pet industry is considered the second largest in Asia, just behind China.

A recent report by the College of Management Mahidol University (CMMU) found that more than 49 per cent of Thais surveyed prefer to adopt pets over having children, showing Thailand's pet industry's strong potential to grow exponentially.

"We hope the new venture will help draw more pet owners to the movies and boost the occupancy rate by 10 to 30-40 per cent on weekend mornings," said Narut Jiansanong, Chief marketing officer of Major Cineplex Group, as quoted by Bangkok Post.

The pet-friendly cinemas are built on Major Cineplex's concept of child-friendly theatres.

"In the kid cinemas, kids will be running around screaming or shouting... I think pet cinema will be the same. Everyone who comes will own a pet and be understanding (if dogs bark)," Major Cineplex spokesman Narute Jiensnong said to AFP.

Unnatural

Not all pet owners welcome the opening of "i-Tail Pet Cinema", however.

A long-time Bangkok expat told AFP that she finds the concept "unnatural" and "torture".

"Being zipped up in this cage, I don't know if that's enjoyable for the animal," she told AFP.

"It's so ridiculous dogs are not allowed in (most Bangkok) parks but they can go to a movie or cafe. What comes next, you bring your dog or cat to a massage palour?"

Top image via @Thai PBS News/Twitter.