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don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
you cannot rid all of Bangkok of street food vendors or it would not be Bangkok. i know they take up some footpath and it's dangerous,as you avoid huge vats of boiling oil,hot barbecues. if that was gone,it would not be Bangkok.

it is also a tourist attraction as some have never seen before. the quality and the price,tourists love it,things they don't have in their own country which makes bangkok unique,different to else where,it is part of life for the thai people,not just them that earn a living but also the people living there.we all know it is illegal,but what isn't.
at least they are working and give more attraction than a new condo.
a solution might be food courts they work a treat in singapore.

just my two portions

A lot of these street vendors are a nuisance.  I understand many are poor and trying to make a living.  They can't complain for having to move when many of them have been running their business rent free and many tapping into the electric lines for free. In some areas it's so congested, you have to walk out into the middle of the street just to get by them.  The ones that sell junk (not food) are the worse, touting everyone that passes by.  Sorry I don't need a butterfly knife today or a machete.  Then you have to deal with idiot motorcyclists who don't know the difference between a sidewalk and the road.

Nan's idea makes perfect sense.  There are places where they can clear out some huge lot and make it an outdoor food court where you can have all of them together and take your pick of food.  That makes more sense to me than having them spread out all over the place.  Saveone for example is a place like this. The problem is people don't want to pay money and rent a stall like the rest of us.  Instead, it's much easier to leach off the system.

I remember years ago there was this lady who just out of the blue decided to setup her Somtam shop right in front and to the right of the old Lebanese restaurant and Pizza Shop.  Didn't ask the store front owners, just plopped down and started doing business, and tapping into the power lines as well.  If you parked in front on the road in front, she'd come out and yell, telling you to move your car.  Then she (as well as other food vendors do) would dump her left over slop in the road or try to carefully pour it down some sewer hole which created a stink that was just sickening.   She once tried to order (not ask politely) to move my car because I was obstructing the view of her Shit-tam business.  I told her she was doing business there illegally and where I am parked is public parking. She didn't like that and went to a flurry of "farang this and farang that."  My response was "Lao this and Lao that." 

I have an idea.  How about replace one of those Thai fish bowls with a lot where all these street vendors can set up shop. Instead of building yet another temple, (even though there are ten of them all within walking distance of each other), create a place for these unfortunate people.   

I do enjoy many of the street vendor food.  Since most of them aren't huge businesses, perhaps they could offer a discounted rent rate or something. 

As far as the BMA clearing them out....that's going to be interesting.  I wonder what kind of protest or march will take place.  No offense, but I wonder how many of these folks pay their taxes.

Day after law banning street food in Thong Lor takes effect, streets are a ghost town



We took a walk on Soi Thong Lor (Sukhumvit Soi 55) last night to see how many vendors were observing the new law banning street food in their ‘hood.

The law took effect on Monday, which was part of the Songkran holiday and the one day of the week when vendors were prohibited to sell anyway. We thought we would find at least a few vendors that weren’t observing the law and had set up their stalls with the intention of moving quickly if the police showed up. Instead, we found… nothing.

Strips of the main street that are usually so congested with food stalls that you have to walk around them into dangerous traffic were deserted.



Most of the people we approached seemed unaware of the new law or perhaps still sleepy from the long Songkran holiday.

Many said, “Oh no! There is no new law. They are just closed on Monday.” When we pointed out that it was Tuesday, they either looked confused, shrugged, or said that the vendors must still be on vacation. But, it’s easy to be confused on the first day back to work after a long holiday that includes a Monday. Those Tuesdays always feel like Mondays.

We can understand that some vendors may yet be meandering back from their hometowns after the Thai New Year, but every single one?

Pipe, a third-year university student that lives in Nana, often hangs out in Thong Lor. He was the first person to look around in a surprised way when it was pointed out that the vendors were not missing because it was Monday since it was, in fact, Tuesday.

He said that he eats street food four or five times a week and would be pretty unhappy to see it disappear completely. “I think it’s not appropriate. Street food is part of Thai culture, but if you ask me if it’s right or wrong, I can’t say it’s wrong. I think the law needs to depend on the area.”



Mook, a barista at The Coffee Club in Thong Lor, had not heard about the new law. She also thought the vendors must be straggling back from their Songkran holidays.

Seino, a Japanese man who has lived in Thong Lor for 20 years, was the only person strolling down a section of the street that is usually so occupied by food, ice cream, and cold drink vendors that pedestrians have to walk into the traffic to get through the mess. He said that he rarely eats street food and that, if it didn’t return to his neighborhood, he would not be too upset since it was easier to walk. However, he was adamant that no new law had been passed. He said, “Come back at the weekend and I’m sure this street will be full of food vendors again!”

Sara Gabai is an Italian expat who has lived in Thong Lor for 7 years. “I’ve seen a lot of changes in this area. Before, when we didn’t have The Commons, international chains and global brands here, the stalls were the only places where you could meet your friends for food and a beer after work.”

“Now, we’re here at Sit and Wonder because it takes the street food concept indoors. It’s almost the only place left for this kind of food around here. It’s affordable for every day. The prices for a lot of the places around here now are as high — or higher — than Europe. But, my concern isn’t for us,” she said referring to herself and her friends, “it’s for the workers in this neighborhood. Where are they supposed to eat?”

Sure they can eat food from the convenience stores that litter the street, but Gabai said she thinks a convenience store diet can’t be healthy for eating every day. “You know, it sounds crazy, but some of the street food on this street seemed pretty healthy. Like balanced food that you can get nutrition from every day when you don’t have a lot of money. I know it saved me many times when I had to watch my budget.”

“What scares me is that this is going to end up as a street with only luxuries [and] big hotels, and I don’t know what will come of the locals.”

Nui, a woman who spoke nid noi English and was handing out massage flyers on the street, knew about the law but was not concerned. She said she used to frequent the food stalls but now “I’ll get something at 7 [Eleven],” she said as she fanned herself with her stack of flyers in the hot Bangkok night on the largely deserted street.

coconuts.co

Bangkok Street Food. The Fabulous Stalls of Khao San Road

A determined drive against food stalls

The BMA is being lambasted for shutting down sidewalk vendors, but restrictions are needed

A plan by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to ban sidewalk food stalls throughout the city has met with a huge public outcry. The groans are coming not just from the vendors and lower-income residents who depend on the inexpensive fare for their daily meals, but also from foreign tourists who view street food as a major attraction of this city, part of its innate charm.

The city’s efforts to “return” the pavement space to pedestrians has met with much praise from residents in general, even if it’s caused aggravation and financial harm for the street vendors who have to find new places to do business or shut down altogether. Most Bangkok sidewalks are narrow, particularly in the inner city. It’s entirely the fault of poor urban planning, the result of two centuries of letting residences and shophouses nudge close to footpaths, so that when the roads were inevitably widened to handle more traffic, the buildings were directly abutting.

Thanks to countless celebrity visitors and foreign YouTube bloggers with sizeable followings, Bangkok street food has been featured regularly and praised highly on the social media. Bangkok is renowned as a street-food destination, one of the world’s street-food capitals. However, the BMA this week vowed to continue implementing its ambitious policy of reclaiming the pavements for pedestrians. Vendors, it said, would be barred entirely from the streets by the end of the year. Reminded that CNN has singled out Bangkok as the world’s top city for street food for two consecutive years, Wanlop Suwandee, chief adviser to the city’s governor, said he appreciated the plaudits, but cleanliness and safety were the BMA’s top priorities.

The ferocity of City Hall’s intent has met with opposition and dismay. Major foreign media outlets have noted the widespread lamenting on the social networks and have tended to agree that Bangkok will just not be the same without its street fare.

In fact the food stalls haven’t been completely removed from the pavements. Many, along with stalls selling clothes and other items, have simply relocated a few metres, to space rented in front of shophouses, which is technically not public space, even if it’s part of a public walkway. Other food-stall owners have moved to nearby rented and roomier roadside properties and resumed business as usual. Clearly there are many others who will need to do the same,

with BMA-designated markets

seeming to offer ideal locales.

The thrust should be to allow enough space for pedestrians on pavements. Street vending must be completely banned on narrow sidewalks. There are, however, a lot of pavements in the city that are spacious enough for both foot traffic and food stalls. These areas could continue being shared between pedestrians and street hawkers.

The ban on roadside hawking should be relaxed in key tourist areas like Chinatown and Khao San Road, particularly at night when there’s less vehicular traffic. It would maintain the city’s status as a world street-food capital and a tourist draw. As is the case now, residents and tourists alike could continue enjoying delicious food at night from stalls in these areas.

The authorities should certainly take measures to ensure that street food is safe for consumers. Tourists occasionally complain about food poisoning. There must be proper health requirements and inspections. Also, licences must be required to run roadside food stalls, as they are in other street-food havens like Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul. Today anyone can set up a roadside food shop if they have the money to do so, with no need to get a licence or permit.

The Nation

Final orders at Uncle Pan’s noodle stall as Thong Lor street food banned


Photo: Jaipet Mameesuk/Facebook

For three decades, cops, builders, street cleaners and partying rich kids have come together to gorge on noodles at Uncle Pan’s streetside stall in Bangkok’s most hi-so neighborhood. 

But now, the 67-year-old food vendor is no longer welcome at his pavement spot. He is yet another victim of the purge of street food stalls by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), who say they are cluttering Bangkok’s curbs.

With dishes that average THB35-55 a plate, most of the city’s street stalls don’t make a fortune selling their fare that spans from grilled seafood skewers to spicy papaya salads.

But they have won global acclaim as some of the finest fast food chefs in the world, fueling a booming city besotted by eating.

Like his peers, Pan Chaiyasit works behind a small push cart where he dishes out yellow egg noodles — topped with pork and wonton dumplings — to customers who cluster together on plastic chairs spread across the pavement.



The family-run stall is a fixture in a neighborhood that has exploded with development over the past few decades.

But with new laws being enforced this week that ban street food in Thong Lor, Ekkamai, and Phra Khanong, Pan must either uproot his restaurant to a new locale or downsize the shop so it doesn’t spill onto the sidewalk.

“I’ve been selling here since there was nothing,” the genial, apron-wearing uncle said, explaining that the Thong Lor area was a tree-studded backwater when he first set up.

Today, his customers sit ringside at a central artery of Bangkok’s ritziest neighborhood — the stall is located at the top of Thong Lor Soi 9 — surrounded by towering condos, upscale restaurants, and nightclubs.

That makes for a varied clientele that pulls from all layers of Thailand’s social fabric.

“Office workers, police, soldiers… even if they drive a Mercedes Benz, they have the same right to eat here,” Pan said, wiping away a bead of sweat as waiters buzzed around him to serve the after-work crowd.

On a good month, Pan rakes in around THB30,000. But his sales rely on his close ties to the neighborhood.

“We all know each other on this street. Everyone, factory workers, company staff, they know me and we are friends…if we move, we won’t have these relationships.”

Yet city officials insist the foot paths must be “returned to the public” and have laid out a plan to bar tens of thousands of street stalls from the capital’s main roads, instead squeezing them into side streets or hawker centers as they do in Singapore.

Pan isn’t sure what the future holds — other than more bowls of soup.

“Even though we sometimes face trouble, we have to keep selling. We have to fight to survive.”

coconuts.co