Order threatens Bangkok’s charm

[rooster59]

Order threatens Bangkok’s charm

By Phatarawadee Phataranawik

The Nation Weekend

 

Khaosan is boring by day, but it's busy by night. Nation/Tanachai Pramarnpanich

 

Academics offer ‘win-win’ suggestions to maintain capital’s street culture in the war between street vendors and the authorities

 

Singapore has asked Unesco to formally recognise its street-hawker culture, which would help the island-state promote it as yet another tourist attraction. In Thailand, it’s a completely different story.

 

Prodded by the orderliness-obsessed military-led government, Bangkok authorities are determined to transform the city’s reputation for unsurpassable street food – or extinguish that reputation, as critics charge. The mobile noodle vendors and everyone else informally touting goods on the sidewalks have to clear out.

 

Khaosan is boring by day, but it's busy by night. Nation/Tanachai Pramarnpanich

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-tion (BMA) wants street vendors licensed, registered and contained neatly in designated areas well away from busy footpaths. It’s imposing military-style order in such tourist hotspots as Siam Square, Sukhumvit, Yaowarat, Nana, Khaosan and Chatuchak. 

The push hasn’t gone down well with many Thais, including academics and urban planners, who regard the sheer chaos of crowded street-hawking scenes and especially the clots of food vendors’ smoky, aromatic carts as being among Bangkok’s premier attractions.

 

The city is being sanitised, the critics complain, while pointing out that foodies from around the world rave about the tasty yet cheap dishes they can slurp up on any Bangkok sidewalk.

 

“Bangkok is famous as the city of markets, but now many markets are dead,” said British expatriate Philip Cornwel-Smith, author of “Very Thai”, a well-received book exploring what is unique about the Kingdom. 

 

“Just to treat the markets with eviction after eviction actually does big damage to parts of Bangkok’s identity and its reputation internationally.”

 

French tourist David Lago, making his third visit to Khaosan Road recently, found it utterly changed. It was cleaner now, he noticed, but “boring”.

 

“Khaosan has lost that charm of being chaotically filled with street vendors. It’s empty during the daytime,” he said, adding that he’d be back after dark, the only hours the hawkers are allowed to set up.

 

A network of street vendors founded to push back against the clean-up effort marched on Government House early this week with a handful of demands. Many more attended a pair of public discussions about the ruckus coincidentally organised for the same week.

 

 

One, called “Street Vendor and City: Leaving No One Behind”, took place at Chulalongkorn University.

 

“The management of street vending is a complex issue,” Assistant Professor Narumol Nirathron of Thammasat University pointed out.

“The BMA alone can’t handle it – it’s a matter for the national agenda. 

 

“To achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the government needs to handle this issue properly, by integrating the work of the Economic Affairs, Security, Commerce, Tourism and Sports and Culture ministries.”

 

Narumol and fellow academics from Thammasat, Chulalongkorn, the Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation and Urban and Design Development Centre plan to present an open letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asking him to reconsider street-vending regulations designed to “return the pavements to the public”.

 

The government’s ultimate intention is to ban street hawkers in 683 areas of the capital where they’ve long been “temporarily” permitted to do business. As of last month, they’d been shut down in 478 areas, affecting 11,573 vendors in all. 

 

 

The BMA is gradually moving in on the remaining 210 areas and most recently has had Khaosan Road in its gun sights.

 

In their letter to Prayut, the academics note that one reason given for the cleanup was “to liberate Bangkok from a ‘disorderly’, ‘antiquated’, ‘undeveloped’ look. 

 

“In reality, however, a state of disorder – or order, for that matter – also depends on the management by government agencies, while an antiquated or undeveloped look has nothing to do with street vending. 

 

“In the US and Europe, known for their advanced development, the governments are allowing more street vendors to operate because the authorities are not able to create enough jobs [for everyone]. Thus, in pursuing the goal to make Thailand modernised and more developed, the government must not leave a number of people behind, as seems to be the case at present.

 

“Singapore is more advanced,” Narumol said. “It has a long-term policy to make the country clean and green and recently bid for Unesco to recognise its hawker culture as an intangible cultural asset.”

 

 

Assistant Professor Niramon Kulsri-somba, director of the Urban and Design Development Centre, said Bangkok street vending could be sustainably managed and become “a win-win situation”. Niramon, an urban architect, is with her team redeveloping the Phaholyothin Soi 9 (Soi Aree) area with zones for street vendors. “Rather than top-down management, community engagement is the key. We need to get all the stakeholders talking so they can compare their needs and come up with a solution that will satisfy everyone,” she said, while admitting it will take time.

 

At the second discussion, “Negotiating Bangkok Streets”, held at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Trude Renwick, a PhD candidate in architectural history and theory at the University of California Berkeley, said street-vendor culture was important for a “creative city like Bangkok”.

 

“Street culture is something that can’t be taken away. It’s an essential part of the urban and rural ecosystems in Thailand,” said Renwick, who in 2011 began making “Observations from the Siam Square night market” on her way to earning her master’s degree.

 

“Good urban change benefits all citizens and requires complex thought. Bans haven’t produced any positive changes in the past, so I have a hard time believing that it will be any different now.” 

 

Rangsit University architecture lecturer Parisa Musigakama has been focusing on the Khaosan situation for her PhD.

 

“Top-down governance by the state is infective and exploitative,” she said. 

 

“The Khaosan Road Street Vendor Association is very strong, with a powerful leader in Yada Pornpetrumpa, and their negotiations have reached the national level.”

 

In response to the petition given him by the marching street vendors, Prayut ordered the BMA and Metropolitan Police to establish committees to address issues with the vendors.

 

Unesco Bangkok director Hanh Bich Duong believes it would be best to consider the matter in terms of sustainable tourism and preserving old communities.

 

 “Properly planned community-based tourism might be a measure to address this dilemma,” he said. “It’s important to work closely with communities when planning for tourism, to hear their voices and see whether and to what extent they want to open up their neighbourhoods to tourists. 

 

“Fair-benefit sharing is another important aspect to ensure that local communities do benefit from tourism development, rather than being left out or being at the lower end of the supply chain,” Duong said. 

 

“In addition, awareness about the importance of safeguarding the heritage, both intangible and tangible, needs to be raised among local communities and the authorities alike to ensure that age-old heritage doesn’t have to give way to modern tourism facilities.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30353985

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-08

[YetAnother]

11 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Prodded by the orderliness-obsessed military-led government,

that is their overall 'style' they want thailand to be the same as a military barracks; no independent thought or action; just obey , unquestioning

[Esso49]

Bangkoks charm may be considered being enhanced by street vendors but there again,  in few years time it will become the worlds largest floating market when it  becomes flooded.

[Samui Bodoh]

This desire for "order" is simply an extension of the Junta's 'life-sucking', 'fun-killing' agenda for the Kingdom.

 

The joy of Thailand, and the reason so many people come here and come back here, is the vibrancy of its people and the glorious cultural inclination to have fun; "Sanook!!!"

 

This campaign of cleaning up the streets is killing so much of what is good and fun about Bangkok; the joy of street food, the vibrancy of the street stalls, the laughter of touts trying to get you into their shops, the winks and nods of the working girls, the beautiful smiles of the shopkeepers, the smile of the passers-by, etc; they are all extensions of the basic Thai/Bangkokian "Joie De Vivre".

 

I said it in another thread, but a friend noted that the Junta's plan for Bangkok was to create a place with;

 

'All the charm of an army base, but without the ambiance'

 

And he had it right. Bangkok/Thailand's main attraction isn't the architecture, it isn't the convenience of the transportation system, it isn't the shopping opportunities, etc, it is the vibrancy and joy of the people.

 

Stop this 'order' nonsense and promote "Sanook!!!"

 

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Samui Bodoh
Lack of coffee

[colinneil]

Control, control, it is all about control.

What the clowns fail to understand is the charm, vibrancy, is all part of what draws tourists to Bangkok.

Destroy that then you destroy Bangkok.

The clowns who are trying to do that, dont care, they have had their fingers in the pie, siphoned off many hundreds of millions, to hell with the future, we got ours and will soon be gone.

[Hayduke]

 

Another brilliant idea General. The footpaths should be empty for the people who, because of this emptiness, will no longer come to walk them.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Hayduke

[mok199]

Balance...a word thais do not embrace.Thailand is built on street markets and food vendors ,but..Defiance, disrespect and lawlessness have created this problem ..when push comes to shove , we know who will win...

Edited September 8, 2018 by mok199

[mok199]

13 minutes ago, Hayduke said:

 

Another brilliant idea General. The footpaths should be empty for the people who will no longer come to walk them...because of the emptiness.

 

 

I agree..and saddly the Malls are full of lifeless ,lost people ,who wander aimlessly in its airconditioned ''coolness''

[DoctorG]

The general mayhem is the only good thing about BKK.

[NanLaew]

46 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

In their letter to Prayut, the academics note that one reason given for the cleanup was “to liberate Bangkok from a ‘disorderly’, ‘antiquated’, ‘undeveloped’ look. 

 

“In reality, however, a state of disorder – or order, for that matter – also depends on the management by government agencies, while an antiquated or undeveloped look has nothing to do with street vending. 

 

“In the US and Europe, known for their advanced development, the governments are allowing more street vendors to operate because the authorities are not able to create enough jobs [for everyone]. Thus, in pursuing the goal to make Thailand modernised and more developed, the government must not leave a number of people behind, as seems to be the case at present.

 

“Singapore is more advanced,” Narumol said. “It has a long-term policy to make the country clean and green and recently bid for Unesco to recognise its hawker culture as an intangible cultural asset.”

The academics have it right. This is an industry that feeds hundreds of thousands whilst it pays the bills for tens of thousands. They can't just pop down to the Job Center and file for unemployment benefits now can they?

 

A bustling street food vendor sector does not make you look like a backward nation but steamrollering them does makes Thailand appear to be a very backward nation.

[ezzra]

In their blind rush to install " order" and to make BKk and Thailand for that matter as squeaky clean and orderly as Singapore, and thus doing away with all the reasons of why tourists coming to this country, they have managed to install so called order to Pattaya streets and beaches but it backed fire on them big time,

Thailand and BKK is lovely as it is, and god sake, don't try fix something if it ain't broken...

[johnc925]

Have to agree, sterilizing cultural environments for the sake of trying to cleanup too quickly can come back to bite you in the economic hand.

 

They can certainly do something to regulate things but not completely eliminate them.

[johnc925]

Have to agree, sterilizing cultural environments for the sake of trying to cleanup too quickly can come back to bite you in the economic hand.

 

They can certainly do something to regulate things but not completely eliminate them.

[anon537687643]

I would suggest most of these posters don’t live in Bangkok surrounded by vendors ,blocked footpaths, walking on Road ,rats in garbage, aggressive sellers .. and believe it or not 90% of locals, Thais not farang, are happy they’ve gone !


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[RotMahKid]

They want to make a second Singapore of Bangkok, but it will be a great failure.

Just looks at the infrastructure it already suck now and don't even look what is beneath the road the maintenance and expansion of sinks, gutters and sewers, just with a little bit of rain it's flooding and all the dirt what's in it comes flooding around.

They even can't keep the city clean for now as long everybody just throw away everything everywhere. Do I have to go on?

Just take away the jobs of people and the fun for the tourist, yes that will help, shame on that fake government! 

Edited September 8, 2018 by RotMahKid

[chicowoodduck]

There is a good reason why they call it a footpath....it is for foot traffic....not the hawkers......?

[SoilSpoil]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

This desire for "order" is simply an extension of the Junta's 'life-sucking', 'fun-killing' agenda for the Kingdom.

 

The joy of Thailand, and the reason so many people come here and come back here, is the vibrancy of its people and the glorious cultural inclination to have fun; "Sanook!!!"

 

This campaign of cleaning up the streets is killing so much of what is good and fun about Bangkok; the joy of street food, the vibrancy of the street stalls, the laughter of touts trying to get you into their shops, the winks and nods of the working girls, the beautiful smiles of the shopkeepers, the smile of the passers-by, etc; they are all extensions of the basic Thai/Bangkokian "Joie De Vivre".

 

I said it in another thread, but a friend noted that the Junta's plan for Bangkok was to create a place with;

 

'All the charm of an army base, but without the ambiance'

 

And he had it right. Bangkok/Thailand's main attraction isn't the architecture, it isn't the convenience of the transportation system, it isn't the shopping opportunities, etc, it is the vibrancy and joy of the people.

 

Stop this 'order' nonsense and promote "Sanook!!!"

 

 

You mean sanook for some tourists like you and a nuisance for millions of others?

[pokerface1]

The JUNTA FAMILY RESTAURANTS are coming to a Soi near you. The slogan of course will be "SHOW ME THE MONEY"?

 

[Phaser]

To be clear Singapore forced all of the street food vendors into designated hawker areas and strictly enforces hygiene rules. Prayut should do the same. 

 

Walking on Sukhumvit between Asoke and Nana was a pleasure recently. I have lived here 20 years - love the street food but not on the sidewalk! 

[ThaiTrav]

Do you honestly believe Thais will listen to what Farangs think or recommend???? Of course not !!  Why waste your breath, what you or I think is irrelevant, they know everything !

[robblok]

31 minutes ago, markaoffy said:

I would suggest most of these posters don’t live in Bangkok surrounded by vendors ,blocked footpaths, walking on Road ,rats in garbage, aggressive sellers .. and believe it or not 90% of locals, Thais not farang, are happy they’ve gone !


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Indeed most posters don't live in BKK have no idea how traders block the road. I don't like that they are all moved but they did play a role in their own demise. The problem is that vendors don't leave enough room for walking, they never accept how much room they have want more all the time. If they had not constantly encrouched more and more there would not have been so many complaints and this would never have happened.

 

Problem is just that they can't accept limits and its obviously too much work to police them. So they all have to go. Its like the beach chair vendors ... give them an inch... they take the whole beach. Vendors are ok as long as they leave room to walk.. unfortunately they like to go to places where there are lots of people and block too much of the road.

 

It would be nicer if both sides came to a good solution where vendors kept the road open enough for traffic and of course did not dump their garbage in drains (food vendors). The vendors have partly themselves to blame. Sad for them and sad that they have to go at some places where they are not a problem.. but many places there is just no room for them.

 

Khaosarn there is room for them, i don't see them as a problem there.

[Shaunduhpostman]

I was never a fan of the street hawkers either for the 10 years or so I lived in Bangkok. But that's just me and they are clearly important for people who want a quick low cost meal. I doubt moving them to designated areas will go smoothly let alone work well, I doubt the people behind this reform care what happens and it will be badly planned, botched etc. I knew of one area around Thong Lor area on Sukhumvit that was famous for its noodles and then Khao San road, if you get rid of the hawkers in those places you are throwing the baby out with the bath water. But that is just the point, in part, to appear arbitrary, bulldozing and indiscriminate because you are military junta Thailand, tough guys stamping out corruption and crime.

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, YetAnother said:

that is their overall 'style' they want thailand to be the same as a military barracks; no independent thought or action; just obey , unquestioning

Hmm, reminds me of Life of Brian:

    Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!
    Crowd: [in unison] Yes! We're all individuals!
    Brian: You're all different!
    Crowd: [in unison] Yes, we are all different!

 

[gunderhill]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The city is being sanitised, the critics complain, while pointing out that foodies from around the world rave about the tasty yet cheap dishes they can slurp up on any Bangkok sidewalk.

I personally  find them pretty disgusting.

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, chicowoodduck said:

There is a good reason why they call it a footpath....it is for foot traffic....not the hawkers......?

Where you have street stalls don't allow vehicles. You just can't fill the sidewalks and make people walk in the traffic, it's stupid and dangerous.

Balance is the word but that won't come into it. The idea of trying to limit the number of of stalls won't work as the atandard 'he can do it so I'm going to as well no matter what the rules are.'

[jaiyen]

So do you really need food at every corner on every street like it was ?  Having to look carefully so you don't walk into a fire or vat of boiling fat ?  Some places are nicer now the pavement is clear e.g. Sukhumwit.   However I do agree that too much cleaning up will ruin the atmosphere of BKK and where will the people going to work in the morning buy their food ?  They rely on the stalls.  This hasn't got much of a mention. 

[overherebc]

6 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

I personally  find them pretty disgusting.

Especially with the seasoning of diesel exhaust and dried dog sh-t blowing in the air around you while you slurp. ?

[newcomer71]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Control, control, it is all about control.

What the clowns fail to understand is the charm, vibrancy, is all part of what draws tourists to Bangkok.

Destroy that then you destroy Bangkok.

The clowns who are trying to do that, dont care, they have had their fingers in the pie, siphoned off many hundreds of millions, to hell with the future, we got ours and will soon be gone.

I remember another general whom was all about control and power... It didn't end up so well, especially when he tried to turn back after the exile.
History repeating.

[fittobethaied]

I guess the tourist authority thinks the world will flock to Thailand to see it's beautiful temples after they've eliminated all the other drawing cards. But, once you've seen one you've seen them all. With an ever increasing number of monks doing drugs, smoking, watching porn, stealing from the coffers, sexually abusing young boys and girls and sitting around waiting for their next free meal, they don't have time to get out and clean up the temple grounds. The ones I've seen here in Isaan are nothing but filthy eyesores in the community and filled with feral dogs. Better bring back the street vendors and clean up the beaches if they want the tourists to keep coming! 

Edited September 8, 2018 by fittobethaied

[Genericnic]

"Singapore has asked Unesco to formally recognise its street-hawker culture, which would help the island-state promote it as yet another tourist attraction." 

 

There is no street hawker culture in Singapore that I was able to find. All the hawkers have been moved to hawker centers. Even my Singaporean friends describe Singapore as a boring place. Bangkok (and other parts of Thailand) are well on their way to meeting the same fate.

 

David