Street Art Spotlight: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Finding street art every place I go is one of my main interests while traveling. Whenever I find a fantastic mural, a funny stencil or an interesting tile piece, I feel excited and happy! Some places have more street art than others, and luckily Chiang Mai is one of those places.

I visited Chiang Mai last year and found some really amazing street art that I’d like to share with you! These were photographed in late 2023, so they might be different now than when I visited. That’s one of the beautiful things about street art: it’s always changing, whether from rain, sun, or another artist painting over it. I’ve tried to note locations when I know them, and artists if they’re signed.

NOTE: This post is image-heavy!

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and buy something, I get a small percentage at no extra cost to you. Your support helps keep this blog running— thank you! Read full disclosure here.

Chiang Mai Old Town

I spent most of my time inside the city walls, so of course that’s where I saw the most art. 😉

This cute portrait of a sleeping tiger is on one of the walls at 1 Jhaban Rd, where Sarisa Design is. I’m not sure who the artist is– any ideas?

These are on the shutters on the building right next to Nice Trip Motorbike, on a side street off Mun Mueang Road. Here’s close-ups of each side:

The propellers are pizza slices. Cute!

Sri Poom 4 Alley

Lots of interesting art pieces in this little alley…

This is at the top of the alley, right before you get to the old wall up there.

Always interesting to see American cartoons while abroad.

These three are all right next to each other, but they’re done by different artists. The one on the far left is by parangjews, the middle one is by ?, and the the last one is by mateutarga and was painted in 2018.

This is in the style of Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragonball and other manga. I’m not sure if it’s referencing a specific manga– maybe just combining the art style with the mural artist’s interests, which is insects.

Another one from Yak near the larger mural. I just noticed the leftover spray paint cans in the bottom left corner!

This is on the outside of a “boarding house” (according to Google Maps).

Soi Sri Poom Lane 7

I especially love portraits like these because they’re so beautiful to look at and it gives a human element otherwise boring architecture.

Sri Poom 6 Alley

Who did this mural?? It’s too amazing not to have a credit somewhere.

Same artist as the above mural, maybe? This one is right next to it and the heart matches.

Alley between Wiang Kaew Rd and Singharat 4 Alley

This alley actually has a LOT of great art but I only managed to get a decent photo of this stencil piece and one larger mural.

It’s worn quite a bit but it’s still pretty!

Carwash on Singharat 4 Alley

This is a wall along one side of a car wash, and I assume it was requested by the company because it’s so huge. Anyone know the artist who did it?

Tona (Artist)

Tona is a street artist from Hamburg, Germany who does stencils and wheat paste, mostly portraits of people he meets. They’re usually small and tucked away in unobtrusive areas, or next to other graffiti pieces, and it’s fun spotting them. I’ve actually seen his work in both Laos and Thailand!

Nimman Neighborhood

Nimman is a nice neighborhood to the north-west, outside of the city walls. There’s some great stores and restaurants up there.

This is on the side of the building where Skill​ Barber is located.

This was on the shutter for Pop Car Rent (right next to Skill Barber).

The Tile Project

This was the only ceramic street art I found in Chiang Mai (doesn’t mean there aren’t more, I just didn’t see them). This is a piece by The Tile Project, an art group from Barcelona who make these amazing blue and white tiles and stick them up around the world. Read more about The Tile Project here.

Tha Phae Gate Area

This is just outside the city walls, near the east gate.

According to my Google Maps, these are on the shutters for building for Lee Heng Furniture #2 store. Unfortunately it looks like two of the gorillas have been painted over by a tag, but at least we can see the original art here. The artist is @MAUY_msv, a local who does a lot of stylized animal portraits.