Introduction
The Walking Street project originated at Silom Road, the business zone in Bangkok of
Thailand, in order to decrease the traffic, air and noise pollutions, and to promote tourism. After
the success on Silom Road, the government promoted this activity into the Chiang Mai
municipality and named it, Chiang Mai Walking Street. Chiang Mai municipality organized the
“Four Year Anniversary of Chiang Mai Walking Street” on February 5, 2002 at the Three Kings
Monument Courtyard. It was intended to promote Chiang Mai Walking Street activities, which
over the last four years had become a thriving Sunday market for locally-made handicraft
products displayed on the street. Unashamedly borrowing the idea from other locations where it
had been successful, Walking Street was promoted by the city council to close off a particular
city street to vehicular traffic every Sunday. The purpose of the Walking Street project was to