Khao San Road D-Day! Transformation set for August 1st

[The manic]

On 7/21/2018 at 6:08 PM, Knocker33 said:

Bit like when they banned street food for a couple of days and realised they had dropped a bo##ock

But the vendors, pop up bars and hawkers and traders never returned to lower suk

[webfact]

Crackdown on Khao San sidewalk vendors starts August 1

By The Nation

 

Bangkok city hall on August 1 will begin a crackdown on vendors encroaching on sidewalks in the Khao San Road tourist destination, says the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration deputy-governor Sakoltee Phattiyakul.
 

The action results from complaints of vendors blocking sidewalks of Khao San Road, Ram Buttree Road, Sib Sam Hang Road, Tanao Road and the alleys connecting to Khao San, requiring pedestrians to walk on the roads.

 

While acknowledging that the atmosphere of Khao San Road has made it a famous tourist destination, Sakoltee said order must restored.

 

He said vendors now begin occupying the Kaho San sidewalks at dusk, completely covering the sidewalks and forcing pedestrians to risk their safety by walking among the road traffic.

 

The BMA also found that the main culprit in the sidwalk encroachment are the store owners whose shops border the sidewalks, and who have expanded their shops onto the sidewalk at night.

 

“This act is taking advantage of the public,” Sakoltee said.

 

He led BMA executives to inspect the area two weeks ago and the they had agreed in a subsequent meeting to start the crackdowns at the beginning of the next month.

 

Sakoltee said the Phra Nakhon district office has been instructed to inform shop operators on Khao San Road to stop encroaching the sidewalks, as the city administration will start strictly enforcing the law next month.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30350693

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-07-24

[CLW]

Killing their golden goose.

Goodbye tourists to Bangkok and Thailand.

Other countries with more charm awaiting you such as Vietnam or Laos.

Bangkok slowly becoming a super boring and sterile city like KL or Singapore.

[bluesofa]

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

Crackdown on Khao San sidewalk vendors starts August 1

Based on other regular crackdowns, is that going to be all day, or just in the morning?

 

[overherebc]

On 7/19/2018 at 10:16 AM, jvs said:

Yes i think you are right,when they cleaned up the sidewalks around

Sukumvith the charme and romance went with it.

There should(could) be a balance to keep it attractive.

Agreed ther could/should be balance but to get that balance would require effort from both sides.

Unfortunately when Somchai sees Sombat park his stall his natural reaction will be I'm going to do that as well and I don't care about silly rules.

[Mad mick]

just ban tourists altogether would be easier than slowly getting rid of them?

[Italian guy]

On 7/19/2018 at 8:51 AM, Cadbury said:

Just about everywhere in Thailand is an "accident waiting to happen"; particularly those areas frequented by tourists. Safety is not high on the priority list as exampled by the new world record in road deaths. Military juntas are not recognised for their humanitarian qualities.

That's not to say some other countries, even without military generals running them, don't face similar problems. 

So in the end you suggest which of the following? 

 

A- Well done, have more of these initiatives!

 

B- No need to bother, it'll never work.  Give up. 

 

C- Other (explain) 

[kannot]

On 7/19/2018 at 8:02 AM, webfact said:

And an emergency lane is going to be set up to allow access for ambulances, fire engines and the like.

great a "new  parking spot"

[kannot]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:01 AM, CLW said:

Killing their golden goose.

Goodbye tourists to Bangkok and Thailand.

Other countries with more charm awaiting you such as Vietnam or Laos.

Bangkok slowly becoming a super boring and sterile city like KL or Singapore.

little India's  good and Mustafas  is  great

[SupermarineS6B]

Went down Khao Sarn a couple of days ago for old times sake saw the overweight BIB riding up and down on scooters looking as though they were waiting for the Royal cortege to enter. They had also moved all the stalls off the road onto the pavements and were then starting to spray paint on the road EMERGENCY EXIT in big white letters on both sides of the road.....   What is it with some nationalities and uniforms ?  you've only got to put one of these lot into an action mans uniform, chuck a bit of BS onto it and you've got instant dictator material..... What a shame this mob are destroying such a great country.... Sad really, ah well, going to Malaysia next week, Penang's starting to look better day by day......

Edited August 2, 2018 by SupermarineS6B

[JennaBurrows]

Trying to be Singapore - but without nowhere near the wealth that state has. 

 

Bangkok has very little in the way of tourist attractions - the culture, street food, markets (hell even the sex industry) is what makes it one of the biggest tourist cities in the world. 

 

Singapore is sanitized beyond belief, but it's huge wealth allow it to create tourist areas like Sentosa, Universal Studios, Marina Bay, etc However it doesn't get anywhere near the volume of tourists Bangkok gets. 

 

[JennaBurrows]

I also don't get the issue with 'emergency services not having room' - when the zone is pedestrianised you have the whole of the road to get emergency vehicles in. 

 

This is nothing but another backward step to sanitization by officials who are charged with doing whatever they want without consequences. 

[lamyai3]

On 8/3/2018 at 7:07 PM, JennaBurrows said:

I also don't get the issue with 'emergency services not having room' - when the zone is pedestrianised you have the whole of the road to get emergency vehicles in. 

 

This is nothing but another backward step to sanitization by officials who are charged with doing whatever they want without consequences. 

Quite right, the biggest obstacle to emergency vehicles will always be regular traffic. Vendor carts can mobilise and get out of the way in seconds (almost as quickly as people can) in the event of an emergency.

 

Glad to see the international media is shaming them for this and hope there's much more to come, it's absolutely insane to kill off one of the most iconic and long standing traveller destinations in Asia. Khaosan and the surrounding area has for decades attracted countless visitors to the country, generally in the much derided backpacker and gap year category, even though they benefit the economy significantly - prices over there aren't even especially cheap there compared to the more local Thai areas in the city. Many a backpacker ploughs more per day here into the local economy than a lot of retired expats or minimum spend Chinese coach tourists do.