Residents near Tha Pae Gate have submitted video footage to CityNews showing that the so called “Tha Pae pigeon gang” remains active, despite multiple crackdowns, arrests and penalties by police and all manner of authorities over what is now many years. This ongoing defiance dates back to at least July 2018, when CityNews reported that Chiang Mai Municipality first enacted a prohibition on the sale of bird feed to prevent infestations, with seven vendors arrested in a single operational swoop.
Over the years our reports of police crackdowns have been frequent. The latest footage to hit the news was recorded on 1st March, and shows in the usual suspects selling bird feed and offering pigeon photo opportunities to tourists in apparent complete disregard of both enforcement efforts and the very visible and large warning signs posted in Thai, English and Chinese.
CityNews visited the area on Sunday afternoon and saw the group operating openly, approaching tourists casually, to sell feed and photography services. Some appeared to have adapted their methods to avoid detection, securing a sale before retrieving feed from hidden locations nearby — behind a tree, in a motorbike basket.
The group was also seen scattering feed to attract large flocks of pigeons before rushing around soliciting paid photo services. This so-called “pigeon mafia” tactic gained wider notoriety in February 2024, when a Chinese tour guide filed a formal complaint after vendors demanded 100 baht per person for photographs, claiming the public square as their personal territory. Tourists who declined were reportedly met with rudeness or chased away, and clips shared on social media have also caused outrage, with one in particular showing gang members making offensive gestures toward visitors — content that continues to circulate on Chinese social media platforms and fuel negative commentary of Chiang Mai as a destination.
A local resident who submitted the complaint told CityNews that those involved had been arrested and fined on numerous occasions, yet always returned within two or three days — at most a week — once official attention had subsided. As reported, despite 11 people being fined 2,000 baht each in June 2025, for instance, all were back in business within a week. Most recently, following arrests on 25th December 2025, the same sellers were back at the gate by 5th January 2026, having had a long weekend hiatus.
“They get arrested, they pay the fine, and they come back,” the resident complained, questioning why the same culprits are allowed to go about business as usual again and again. Many local business owners share that frustration, citing unsightly and damaging droppings left on their properties and the perceived unfairness of vendors profiting tax-free while drawing thousands of pigeons to the area. Health officials have also warned that the growing flocks pose serious hygiene and disease risks, particularly during the cool season.
Residents are urging authorities to move beyond short-term enforcement and take serious, lasting action — before the pigeon gang’s continued presence does further damage to both the city’s tourism image and the health of those who live and work nearby.
