{"id":20306,"date":"2025-10-18T18:13:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/?p=20306"},"modified":"2025-10-18T18:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T18:13:07","slug":"should-graffiti-be-polite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Graffiti Be Polite?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism
<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and topics related to his best-selling books Very Thai and Very Bangkok. After two major pieces of street art were defaced in Bangkok, he looks at Thailand\u2019s unusually polite experience of graffiti. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any travel article about Bangkok will invariably depict its street art. Murals tend to concentrate in the hippest regenerating areas with vacant walls on walkable lanes. The appeal is not just the colour, for murals add to places a layer of meaning, whether cool or cultured, nostalgic or provocative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Khlong Ong Ang was renovated, street art was commissioned from the start to make the plain buildings more picturesque. This September, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) commissioned new murals by over 15 international artists for the Krungthep Creative Streets project. As part of urban beautification, they were hoped to last many monsoons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Myrtille \u2018Mimi\u2019 Tibayranc with her mural for Krungthep Creative Streets project. Courtesy of Myrtille Tibayranc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two festival murals defaced<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thai street art is so uncontroversial that it\u2019s sponsored by embassies and the authorities using it to revitalise the city. Hence the shock when almost immediately two murals had been defaced \u2013 both in the Bangrak Creative District. Each happened for specific reasons, though they reveal cultural ructions about the urban space we share. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Carolina Ad\u00e1n Caro with her mural for Krungthep Creative Streets project. Courtesy of Spanish Embassy Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vandalism is mercifully rare in Thailand, so the public was appalled when tags (graphic signatures of aliases) were found covering a Spanish mural by Carolina Ad\u00e1n Caro. She had taken ten days to paint a woman\u2019s face against a leopard-print backdrop on Charoenkrung Soi 30 with the slogan \u201cjust be you.\u201d Police soon arrested one of the three suspects caught on CCTV. Under the Maintenance, Cleanliness and Orderliness Act, damaging property carries a 60,000 baht fine and jail of up to three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis made me angry. The behaviour was unacceptable,\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIf they considered themselves graffiti artists too, they should respect others\u2019 work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
BMA Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and the artist who restored Caro\u2019s mural. Courtesy of BMA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In many other countries, such vandalism is lamented but no longer shocking. Graffitists have always sprayed over their rivals\u2019 work in a game of oneupmanship that even afflicts the world\u2019s most famous graffiti artist, Banksy. That\u2019s for the same reason as Caro\u2019s work: the more prestigious the mural, the bigger the target. Graffiti originated as a protest against the powerful. Curiously though, Thai street art has long been an emblem of the establishment \u2013 a sign of urban cleansing not urban blight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Carolina Ad\u00e1n Caro\u2019s defaced mural at Charoenkrung Soi 30. Courtesy of French Embassy Facebook
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thai Graffiti History<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Astonishingly, graffiti had been absent from Thailand until 2000, when it suddenly appeared fully formed as street art. The earliest spray artists were all careful to tag and paint only in derelict locations that would not lose face for property owners. Almost immediately, spray artists got commercial work, often with the public invited to view the spray-painting live at malls, gallery enclaves, Red Bull X-Park or Culture One rave music festival. Very early on, at the opening of Union Mall in Lad Prao, Thai artists incorporated lai thai<\/em> motifs and cultural themes into their work, making graffiti feel Thai. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As documented in Rupert Mann\u2019s book Bangkok Street Art & Graffiti<\/em> (River Books), structures left unfinished by the 1997 economic crash, such as the Ghost Tower and pillars of the abandoned Hopewell train project, became a portfolio for Thai aerosol artists. The most accomplished, like Rukkit and Alex Face, soon made the leap into galleries and corporate commissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thailand has always imported musical genres as a consumer style shorn of their rebel origin, from rock and blues to punk and metal. Graffiti came as the polite art side of packaged hip-hop culture, along with sanitised rap, mellow breakdancing, spoof bling on oversized Ts \u2013 all of it shorn of its distinctive aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graffiti\u2019s alienated origins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The shock now is partly because Thailand missed the alienated initial stage of graffiti. Spraying walls arose in American cities during their 1970s decline, plastering trains, bridges and buildings. At Time Out in London in 1989, my mentor Hayden Williams was a criminologist who\u2019d studied graffiti. He explained that it\u2019s about marking territory, like animals do with scent and countries do with flags, hence we get tags overwriting murals. It also told the powerful that the voiceless live there too. Graffiti enabled artists to \u201cbe everywhere at once,\u201d wrote author Norman Mailer, in his 1974 essay \u2018The Faith of Graffiti.\u2019 He famously encapsulated graffiti as \u201cyour presence on their presence.\u201dThe BMA soon hired an artist to restore Caro\u2019s presence. Chadchart relayed that the three vandals had acted on a dare, stating: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cLet\u2019s all protect and take care of these works. They\u2019re the city\u2019s heritage for everyone\u2026 If you want to express your art, contact the city and we will find you a rightful space.\u201d \u2060<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Trespassing on graffiti<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of those rightful spaces, for Krungthep Creative Streets, was on the side of Rose Hotel. And the rightful muralist was Myrtille \u2018Mimi\u2019 Tibayranc, a French artist living in Chiang Mai, whose watercolours of the body featured in the Bangkok Art Biennale. In her first-ever mural, she painted a topless male and a nude female demurely face down and wreathed in a snake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the figures were painted over in mid-October, leaving just foliage and flowers, netizens erupted at the censorship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cMy painting has been completely censored without my permission!\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Mimi wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIt is ironic that this painting is just a few metres from Patpong, the red-light district where hundreds of girls are half-naked… what hypocrisy!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The public were shocked and confused that it was censored in the name of the venue itself, without consulting the artist. \u201cThe erasure was ordered from a person in my family,\u201d posted the hotel owner Nawamin Vitayakul, a longtime supporter of the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWhile I\u2019m still travelling, he used the opportunity for this misconduct. He knows and understands art enough, but is still narrow-minded. [A nearby] temple and school never voiced any complaints or concerns. In the laypeople\u2019s world, the physical realm still encompasses us, with bodies, clothed and naked.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

All parties seem keen to restore the mural. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Myrtille \u2018Mimi\u2019 Tibayranc with her mural for Krungthep Creative Streets project. Photo courtesy Myrtille Tibayranc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Mimi deserves respect as one of the people most responsible for street art in Thailand. In 2013, she co-founded Bangkok\u2019s first graffiti festival, Bukruk (Trespass). The first Bukruk was held in a derelict area in Ratchathewi, and its murals by top artists were preserved as Chaloemla Park. The second Bukruk in 2016 left many of the landmark murals of Chinatown, like the tumbling elephants on Songwad Road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Myrtille Tibayranc\u2019s mural at Rose Hotel has its figures censored without permission. Courtesy of Myrtille Tibayranc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Should graffiti be polite?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These incidents spotlight a dilemma about public art and public taste. The censorious tend to assume that the line should be theirs to decide, claiming reasons like protecting children, but maybe just projecting their beliefs. The open-minded wonder how something so mild can offend and why society keeps getting denied wider views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This division cuts across all creative fields. Depicting bodies in Thai art is wildly inconsistent. Female nudes fill MOCA, but have grown rarer, while male nudes have become more accepted in galleries. When the Culture Ministry fulminated about katoeys dancing topless at Songkran, it was pointed out that the ministry homepage led with a painting of Songkran goddesses dancing topless. As in many aspects of Thainess, the legitimacy of any activity is less about the act or the subject than who does it. Their presence on your presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Poster for the BMA\u2019s Krungthep Creative Streets project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Cover of Rupert Mann\u2019s book Bangkok Street Art & Graffiti<\/em> (River Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This twice-monthly column, Very Thai, is syndicated by River Books, publisher of Philip Cornwel-Smith\u2019s bestselling books Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture<\/em> and Very Bangkok: In the City of the Senses<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views expressed by the author of this column are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Koktail<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and topics related to his best-selling books Very Thai and Very Bangkok. After two major pieces of street art were defaced in Bangkok, he looks at Thailand\u2019s unusually polite experience of graffiti.  Any travel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":20398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,51,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-happenings","category-lifestyle","category-the-arts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould Graffiti Be Polite?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"th_TH\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should Graffiti Be Polite?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Koktail Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koktailmag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T18:13:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T18:13:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"838\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Cornwel-Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Cornwel-Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 \u0e19\u0e32\u0e17\u0e35\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Philip Cornwel-Smith\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b6434c77c07eccd4dc1ed36e7a08c1b\"},\"headline\":\"Should Graffiti Be Polite?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T18:13:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-18T18:13:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1406,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cultural Happenings\",\"Lifestyle\",\"The Arts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"th\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/\",\"name\":\"Should Graffiti Be Polite?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T18:13:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-18T18:13:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"th\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"th\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":838},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/18\\\/should-graffiti-be-polite\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should Graffiti Be Polite?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Koktail Media\",\"description\":\"Koktail is a media brand that recognizes people with ideas, from all walks of life, that are doing great things for Thailand.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"th\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Koktail Media\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"th\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/KK_NEWLOGO-012-scaled.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/KK_NEWLOGO-012-scaled.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":752,\"caption\":\"Koktail Media\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/koktailmag\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b6434c77c07eccd4dc1ed36e7a08c1b\",\"name\":\"Philip Cornwel-Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"th\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/cropped-S__30588934-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/cropped-S__30588934-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/cropped-S__30588934-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Philip Cornwel-Smith\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.koktailmagazine.com\\\/th\\\/author\\\/philipcornwelsmith\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should Graffiti Be Polite?","description":"The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/","og_locale":"th_TH","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should Graffiti Be Polite?","og_description":"The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/","og_site_name":"Koktail Media","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koktailmag\/","article_published_time":"2025-10-18T18:13:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-18T18:13:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":838,"url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Philip Cornwel-Smith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Cornwel-Smith","Est. reading time":"8 \u0e19\u0e32\u0e17\u0e35"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/"},"author":{"name":"Philip Cornwel-Smith","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b6434c77c07eccd4dc1ed36e7a08c1b"},"headline":"Should Graffiti Be Polite?","datePublished":"2025-10-18T18:13:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-18T18:13:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/"},"wordCount":1406,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png","articleSection":["Cultural Happenings","Lifestyle","The Arts"],"inLanguage":"th"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/","url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/","name":"Should Graffiti Be Polite?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png","datePublished":"2025-10-18T18:13:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-18T18:13:07+00:00","description":"The blurred lines between street art, graffiti and vandalism VERY THAI: In this regular column, author Philip Cornwel-Smith explores popular culture and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"th","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"th","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KOKTAIL_Website_Banner.png","width":1440,"height":838},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/2025\/10\/18\/should-graffiti-be-polite\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should Graffiti Be Polite?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/","name":"Koktail Media","description":"Koktail is a media brand that recognizes people with ideas, from all walks of life, that are doing great things for Thailand.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"th"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#organization","name":"Koktail Media","url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"th","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/KK_NEWLOGO-012-scaled.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/KK_NEWLOGO-012-scaled.png","width":2560,"height":752,"caption":"Koktail Media"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/koktailmag\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b6434c77c07eccd4dc1ed36e7a08c1b","name":"Philip Cornwel-Smith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"th","@id":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-S__30588934-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-S__30588934-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cropped-S__30588934-96x96.jpg","caption":"Philip Cornwel-Smith"},"url":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/author\/philipcornwelsmith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.koktailmagazine.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}