At around 11pm on 30th March, French National Daniel, 28, was caught on camera spraying the word “IMMA” — meaning “mother” in Hebrew — onto the front door of Aunty’s Corner pizza restaurant.
With the city blanketed with CCTV cameras, it wasn’t long before he was tracked down at his hotel. Daniel confessed without hesitation, explaining that he considered himself an artist who simply wanted to display his work. He paid 20,000 baht in damages to the shop owners and was charged with property damage and violation of the Public Cleanliness Act.
But the story didn’t end there. On the evening of 1st April, accompanied by the Tourist Police, Daniel returned to Aunty’s Corner to make good on a promise. He arrived with paint and brushes, wai-ed the owners — Sirisupamas Thanthawi and Kaewko Na Chiang Mai — and got straight to work covering up his own handiwork. What followed turned into a group effort: the owners and staff, rather than standing back and watching, picked up brushes themselves and joined in, turning an awkward moment of restitution into something genuinely convivial.
The owners told reporters they were grateful for the speed of the police response and confirmed they had received their compensation. They also shed some light on Daniel’s motivation: he had apparently noticed that the door already had some existing spray paint on it, thought it looked unattractive and decided — without asking — to improve it. The owners acknowledged the intention may have been good-natured but were clear that this was far from an isolated incident. The front of Aunty’s Corner has been hit by taggers multiple times before, by both Thais and foreigners, though tourists tend to be the more frequent culprits.
The owners used the occasion to send a message to would-be street artists, local or visiting: if you want to create, go and learn your craft properly — and do it somewhere appropriate. They called on relevant authorities to take the issue more seriously, with stronger measures and harsher penalties to deter anyone tempted to treat Chiang Mai’s shopfronts as a canvas.
