the right by Teas. Photo: Rupert Mann
Bangkok Street Art and Graffiti: Hope Full, Hope Less, Hope Well
Rupert Mann
River Books: 2022
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When Rupert Mann, an Australian, discovered his appreciation for Thailand’s cultural heritage, it wasn’t at one of the kingdom’s famed temples or on a government-arranged press tour, but through what many Thais regard as a colossal monument to their national embarrassment.
His source of inspiration was the Stonehenge-like concrete slabs that lined a railroad in northern Bangkok, remnants of a megaproject from Thailand’s roaring 1990s. It was supposed to serve as an elevated rail line for Bangkokians. Instead, the project was abandoned after a series of mismanagement and graft. Graffiti adorned the structures, which had been left standing for decades due to lengthy court disputes.
As retold by Mann in a phone interview, he came across the columns “by accident” in 2013, when he was driving past the site. Their sheer size caught his eye first, followed by the riot of graffiti art that covered them.
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- Tags: Issue 30, Rupert Mann, Teeranai Charuvastra, Thailand