Chiang Mai’s bid to become UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in jeopardy

Civil society groups in Chiang Mai have expressed concern that this northern capital may miss out on registration as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site this year, due to the unresolved problems of pigeon droppings, advertising billboards at the Tha Pae and Chiang Mai gates in the Old City and prolific graffiti in public places.

The groups pointed out that, in the next six weeks, a team from UNESCO’s international advisory body for archaeological sites will be arriving in Chiang Mai to assess whether the city meets the required criteria for listing.

The groups complain that vandals have spray-painted images and words on walls, electrical transformers, meter boxes and other public places throughout the city, creating an eye-sore and affecting the image and landscape of the city.

They stressed the urgent need to rectify the problem, as well as the huge advertising billboards and pigeon droppings in the Old City section of Chiang Mai before the delegation from UNESCO arrives.

Kriang Boonpornprasert, manager of the Provincial Electricity Authority in Chiang Mai, said, as a short-term solution, he has instructed officials to repaint all the vandalised electrical equipment.

In the mid-term, he said he will invite members of the public and civil society organisations to present designs, relevant to the cultural context of Chiang Mai, to be painted, while he proposed that spaces should be made available for street art to allow people to express their creative ideas instead of resorting to vandalism.

A city councilor, Nannaphat Pathomdetphattarakhun, has recently proposed a draft ordinance to regulate the feeding of pigeons, to prevent the birds from gathering in droves, and for the proper disposal of droppings. The draft is, however, yet to be considered by the city council.

A campaign is now under way to collect 3,000 signatures to support the draft ordinance.