Situated in the Suan-Lum Night Bazaar, you’ll find a wonderful building called the “Joe Louis Theater.” The first thing you wonder about of course, in this kingdom of unpronounceable names, is the name. “Joe Louis” is in fact, a nickname for a remarkable Thai artist whose real name was Sakorn Yanghiawsod, who has been deemed a National Artist, and was the sole keeper and Grand Master of the traditional Thai puppet theater. The task has since been passed on to his children and grandchildren, who keep this marvelous art form alive in this incredible theater.

This is truly a unique experience that you’re sure to enjoy. The puppetry is simply amazing, and each puppet is a work of art. Besides the beautiful puppets and the masks themselves, the puppeteers’ skill is incredible to behold. Each puppet requires three people, dressed in black, to manipulate it. On stage, you can see the puppets as well as the puppeteers in their graceful moves—and the puppeteers are highly trained traditional dancers. Remarkably, you can almost see the emotion of the story in the puppets’ faces. All three puppeteers work separate controls to bring each puppet to life, giving it the ability to dance and move elegantly and effortlessly through the stage.

These puppets are no simple toys. Each one is an incredibly detailed work of art, and before the show, you can see how these traditional “khon” masks are made. Each one of these highly stylized masks are hand made and very detailed.

There are several plays at the theater, but the most popular is the Ramayana, a fascinating ancient epic story from India involving royalty and the gods. One of the more entertaining characters is Hanuman, the monkey god, who is as playful as he is devoted to his service to Lord Rama. In the Joe Louis performance of the Ramayana, Hanuman may even jump off the stage and run through the audience!

The history of how it came to be is as fascinating as the performance. Sakorn was himself discovered by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to be the last person alive who had mastered this traditional art form, and sponsored him in an effort to revive it. After recognition as a National Artist and sponsorship of the royal family, the theater was created, and today is still the only theater in Thailand that offers this beautiful performance.

Although you can’t take pictures while the performance is going, feel free to take your cameras out afterwards to take pictures of the incredible masks, and pose with the puppeteers and puppets themselves for the ultimate photo souvenir to take back home with you.