SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Committee has decided not to grant historic landmark status to the billboard mural commemorating ‘Grandpa’ Vicha Ratanapakdee. His killing in 2021 triggered national outrage and became a symbol of rising anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision comes as the suspect, Antoine Watson, finally faces trial in San Francisco after years of delays. Neither then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin, criticized for his comments on this case, nor his successor, current DA Brooke Jenkins, added a hate crime charge.
Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old immigrant from Thailand, was walking in his Anza Vista neighborhood when a teenager shoved him to the ground unprovoked, inflicting a fatal head injury. The mural bearing Ratanapakdee’s likeness was put up in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood a few months later.
Intention to remove Vicha mural
“Within a week of when my father was killed, I heard a conversation between my 11 year old son and my husband talking about doing a billboard or mural,” said Monthanus Ratanapakdee, Vicha’s daughter and head of the Justice for Vicha Ratanapakdee Foundation. “At that time elderly people were getting assaulted and killed, and my father’s death became part of the national movement for anti-Asian hate… so that’s when my husband went to knock on doors in Chinatown, because it’s a good place for a mural to remind people not to do violence or attack the elderly.”
Eric Lawson, Monthanus’s husband and Vicha’s son-in-law, contacted California Grant Family LP, the owners of 717 California Street. They signed an agreement to install the artwork temporarily for at least six months on the side of the building, where it has remained for the last five years.
Jeff Chen is one of the owners of 717 California and its property manager. He spoke before the Historic Preservation Commission in their last December meeting.
Lawson “responded to me on March 3rd, that it doesn’t need to be permanent, it was temporary, that he just wanted to get the word out and it could be removed at any time… it was always our intention to have rotating artwork there. Several attempts have been made earlier this year, notifying Eric that it is our intention to remove the artwork and move forward with other art which we have lined up.”
Mural ruled not a historic landmark
The Ratanapakdee’s filed to declare the billboard mural a historical landmark shortly after.
Kelly Oshima is the attorney for California Grant Family LP. She told the Historic Preservation Committee that the artwork, which she argued was a “sign” rather than a mural, did not meet the criteria for historic landmark status.
“The sign is not directly connected to any historic event that happened at 717 California St. The tragic incident involving him did not happen at or even near this address. Second, there’s also no evidence this location has a special connection with Ratanapakdee’s life or that it holds historical significance for him. The sign itself does not have any unique architectural qualities or show particularly outstanding craftsmanship, nor does it reflect a lasting or widespread sense of attachment for Chinatown or this building.”
The SF Historic Preservation Committee ultimately agreed, mainly on the basis that the mural is too recent to qualify as a historic landmark, which are typically at least decades old. Commissioner Robert Vergara added that he hopes the discussion brings awareness to the other memorial for “Grandpa” – the Vicha Ratanapakdee Mosaic Stairway, a colorfully tiled installation unveiled in 2024 near his Anza Vista home.
Vicha mural ‘reflects memory, awareness’
In a statement, Monthanus Ratanapakdee said, “We respect that process even though it has been disappointing. Our focus has always been on what the mural represents for the broader community and future generations, not just one family. The mural reflects memory, awareness of anti-Asian hate, senior safety, and community care. Even as circumstances change, we remain committed to supporting public safety and working respectfully with the city and the community.”
She followed through on that commitment, being appointed to the SF Immigrants’ Rights Commission in 2024, and with the Justice for Vicha Ratanapakdee Foundation, sharing information with Asian seniors on personal safety, resources, and how to report hate crimes.
“A lot of people have a different language. They don’t know how to report a hate crime, and they’re scared to report at all, even though the Hate Crime Act passed already,” said Monthanus, referencing the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act passed by President Biden in 2021 in response to the still-rising trend of anti-Asian discrimination.
“What we’re doing for the mural, for Grandpa, it’s not only for our memory, or for our family, but we’re representing another family’s victims of crime too.”
New location for Vicha mural
As the Ratanpakdee’s are planning the future of the mural, Lawson says a potential location might be emerging on Market Street.
“We’ve met with this building owner in the TL (Tenderloin), and she has art permission to write on the whole wall. And she was saying we could maybe do a whole new one that’s even bigger in the TL, where there’s a more mixed Asian community, and maybe they would accept it a little better.”
But for now, their attention is shifting to the long-delayed trial of Vicha’s attacker, where they are hopeful to receive justice.
Chris Alam is a California Local News Fellow with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
