via Chiang Mai City Life, 01 August 2019: Descendants of the Lanna royal family in Chiang Mai complaining of tourists inappropriately using the royal cemetery as a backdrop for photos.
Pictures of a foreign traveller shot inside the royal cemetery at Wat Suan Dok released on Instagram this week has sparked criticism among conservative local residents. Other photos of tourists doing the same thing have also been found and widely shared. The descendants of the royal family made a public statement on July 31st expressing their concerns over what they perceive as a disrespectful act.
During a site visit, Chao Werayut Na Chiangmai, the vice president of the Royal Cemetry committee, who was accompanied by officers from Chiang Mai Office of Culture, stated that the pictures are disturbing as the site contains remains of the royal Lanna family; therefore, the place is sacred.
Source: Lanna’s royal descendants call out ‘disrespectful’ tourists