Major Cineplex

Major Cineplex was founded by Vicha Poolvaraluk (or Poolvaraluck) in 1994. A member of a family with roots in the movie business (the family was involved in film studios as well as several single-screen theaters), Vicha started out in property development.

In 1992, he was asked by his father, Charoen Poolvaraluck, to take over the movie theater business. Vicha decided on a concept of large movie complexes that could offer a range of entertainment services, including not only movies, but also bowling alleys, karaoke rooms, restaurants and shopping. The first such complex opened in 1996 on Borommaratchachonnani Road (Pinklao-Nakhon Chaisri Road) in Pinklao, Bangkok. The 14-screen, 4,000-seat Major Cineplex Ratchayothin opened in 1998 and featured Thailand's first IMAX cinema. It was the company's flagship cinema complex until 2006, when Paragon Cineplex opened. Other early Major Cineplex theaters include branches at Ramkamheang and Sukhumvit.

In 2004, Major Cineplex absorbed Thailand's No 2 theater operator, EGV Entertainment, which was Thailand's first cineplex operator. EGV had been owned by a rival branch of the Poolvaraluck family, headed by Vicha Poolvaraluck's cousin, Wichai Poolvaraluck, who started EGV as a partnership with Golden Village.

While movie theaters are Major Cineplex Group's core business, the company is heavily involved in the bowling alley, and the ice skating rink business, with a total of 245 lanes under its Blu-O brand. It also has 127 karaoke rooms, and 4 rinks under its Sub-Zero brand. The company also provide leases for retail space to outside tenants in its anchored shopping malls, it has total 48,828 sqm rental space in 2022.

The company has also invested in California WOW Xperience Plc. (SET: CAWOW), the leading fitness center operator in Thailand. California WOW Xperience has 10 branches: eight in Bangkok, and one each in Pattaya and Chiang Mai. The company established California WOW Xperience due to foreign ownership rules for the wholly owned Asian subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness, known as California Fitness. It has member swap agreements with both chains and holds a 36.75% stake in that venture. Consequently, California's Fitness Center branches are becoming part of Major Cineplex's developments.

However, the company sold all of its CAWOW stock before it was terminated by SET in 2011. CAWOW's business was completely shut down that year. In 2012, the Anti-Money Laundering Offices (ALMO) began investigating CAWOW's business and found that 99% of the business cash flow (1,669 million baht) had been transferred from CAWOW to other nominees by Eric Mark Levine, the CEO of CAWOW. As a result, the business went bankrupt in 2013. The ALMO froze an 88-million-baht land plot in Phuket before it was transferred to a nominee, leading to a lawsuit between Eric and ALMO.

After the shutdown of CAWOW, the old CAWOW team and Major Cineplex formed a new fitness club business under the WE brand. The concept behind WE is that it will not accept new members once the member list exceeds their branch limits. Currently, WE Fitness has 6 locations around Bangkok and Nonthaburi provinces. The 5 clubs under WE Fitness Society are Major Cineplex Ratchayothin, Major Cineplex Sukhumvit-Ekkamai, Major Cineplex Pinklao, Central The Esplanade, and the Esplanade Cineplex Khaerai. Additionally, there are 1 premium club under WE Signature at the Vie Hotel Bangkok Ratchathewi.