The students fanned out across more than 54 locations in the old city, targeting graffiti and unauthorised markings on walls, buildings and public spaces in areas including Tha Pae Gate, Phra Pokklao Soi 3, the Three Kings Monument and the Wat Lam Chang neighbourhood — damage that organisers say has undermined the visual integrity of the historic Lanna quarter.
Organisers acknowledged that graffiti carries artistic merit in its own right, but drew a distinction between street art as a form and its appropriateness within a protected historic environment. The key concern, they noted, is not aesthetics alone but the capacity of the city to maintain its cultural landscape in a condition that reflects the values underpinning its heritage status.
That concern has taken on particular urgency with an ICOMOS assessment delegation scheduled to visit between 3rd and 8th August. Chiang Mai is one of 35 sites worldwide — selected from more than 800 nominations — currently under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage listing, with its case built around the concept of a “living heritage city” linking eight significant historic sites: Wat Chiang Man, Wat Umong, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Suan Dok, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Wat Jet Yot and the old city moat and walls.
