Bangkok's Silom Road Turns Into Walking Street Fair

[rubl]

any pics online?

http://tweetphoto.com/24313261

Many more on tweetphoto

Also this one: http://yfrog.com/3rkihj

[Randee]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

..... So innocent, so naive, so unaware

[Hawk]

any pics online?

http://tweetphoto.com/24313261

Many more on tweetphoto

I see that one vendor in your photo is selling "fake" watches. You can see these watches on stalls throughout the land, all made in China.

[Hawk]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

..... So innocent, so naive, so unaware

Another one with his head up his rear end. Lord, how do they fill in the passport application forms I wonder?

[rubl]

any pics online?

http://tweetphoto.com/24313261

Many more on tweetphoto

I see that one vendor in your photo is selling "fake" watches. You can see these watches on stalls throughout the land, all made in China.

Trying not to be too cynical, but Silom Walking street after all we went through is an ideal opportunity to get rid of & sell whatever there was laying in a corner. Some is just ordinary stuff which is also sold during the week (like in Silom Soi5), some may be explicitly directed at foreigners. The police may still be too busy to tackle fakes, illegal copies and the like. As usual: All had fun.

Btw, not my photo's, I stayed home.

Edited May 28, 2010 by rubl

[Frezie]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

..... So innocent, so naive, so unaware

If that's your view - fine. Better that than being a bitter and twisted bigot like yourself.

[Hawk]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

..... So innocent, so naive, so unaware

If that's your view - fine. Better that than being a bitter and twisted bigot like yourself.

I suppose you believe in father christmas as well?

[Randee]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

..... So innocent, so naive, so unaware

Another one with his head up his rear end. Lord, how do they fill in the passport application forms I wonder?

who are you talking about?

you're agreeing with me yes?

Edited May 28, 2010 by Randee

[Hawk]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

Another one with his head up his rear end. Lord, how do they fill in the passport application forms I wonder?

who are you talking about?

you're agreeing with me yes?

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Yes, of course I agree with you, I was referring to "frezie" from cuckooland. I just edited the page to show who I was talking about.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Hawk

[Randee]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

..... So innocent, so naive, so unaware

If that's your view - fine. Better that than being a bitter and twisted bigot like yourself.

...........

[Randee]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Yes, of course I agree with you, I was referring to "frezie" from cuckooland.

hahahaha im amazed at how unaware this person is!!!! talk about being in a cotton wool ball. what has he/she been doing all their life???

talk about scam fodder .....

and then they attacked me for pointing it out!!! i think someones in for a very sharp and painfully rude awakening at some point!!

haha still believes in father christmas

see my signature below here ...... how true it has rang!

[Hawk]

If that's your view - fine. Better that than being a bitter and twisted bigot like yourself.

Such self righteous indignation!

[Randee]

If that's your view - fine. Better that than being a bitter and twisted bigot like yourself.

Such self righteous indignation!

yes!

I was kind've feeling sorry for them until that comment snapped back but not now

[loser1]

Eye think it's a good idea 2 help da people affected by da recent terrorism in bkk. Eye might go and bye some stuff. My wife needs some shoes & clothes. she told me their's some really super good prices over there, like 80% off in some cases and da good are knot low quality like you wood see from da typical street vendors in pat pong and sukhumvit and da platinum and pratunam. she said these r stuff from da central world and such

Is this guy for real?? Imagine Thai people thinking this is how English is supposed to be written

[RPETER65]

Go to Silom Road today spend a few bucks and support the vendors, vehicle traffic should be light with the holiday.

It is time to show the world Bangkok is back

Back to nothing is still nothing, we need a little bit more than a fair to be back my friend.

Everything has to start somewhere

[RPETER65]

Why so many idiotic, hatred and childish comments here??

The people are REALLY affected. The busineeses are REALLY need support. And all of those workers are not the ones who made problems - now they just need to survive after the terror right below their windows. Those who dislike the red's actions - please just come and sue them, it is ANOTHER story for ANOTHER topic!

Talking about "bangkok should be back" - but very ironic in every step on this long way...??

A very nice "support" from all of you, yeah, who dare to call this land "a home"...

Shame on you all. Get back to your holes and dont bark on the wind, if unable to say something more meaningful.

Unfortunately to many people can only see a negative veiw of anything, no matter how simple it shows them to be, these people would have nothing good to say no matter where they lived.

[RPETER65]

A good chance for terrorists?

Go hide in your closet, while the rest of us get out and enjoy life.

[RPETER65]

I do agree that the businesses need to recover and they must have tons of stuff to sell at discount price to help their cash flow problems, but do we really need another congested area in this busy district? I thought that streets closure and inconveniences to general public were all over? Why not use Lumpini park or another place where closing streets won't cause headaches to people trying to go/leave home?

Have you considered the idea they may want to show people this is a safe area again?

Edited May 28, 2010 by RPETER65

[RPETER65]

Why so many idiotic, hatred and childish comments here??

The people are REALLY affected. The busineeses are REALLY need support. And all of those workers are not the ones who made problems - now they just need to survive after the terror right below their windows. Those who dislike the red's actions - please just come and sue them, it is ANOTHER story for ANOTHER topic!

Talking about "bangkok should be back" - but very ironic in every step on this long way...??

A very nice "support" from all of you, yeah, who dare to call this land "a home"...

Shame on you all. Get back to your holes and dont bark on the wind, if unable to say something more meaningful.

Ask help from people you respect !

Surely not the farang !

And as long they call me farang ,

i call them "china-man"

For the rest i dont interfere with politics,

get a life or work.

I have to agree, reluctantly. Did anyone here seriously and honestly ever here us called 'farang' in a positive way? Not if you answer honestly. Respect? For us? Not in a million years. Respect for our purchasing power, every time. They're not a bad people at all, but they are not as pure as the driven snow as some of you long timers seem to think.

From your post I can easily see you have no real connection to the people of Thailand. I have lived in Thailand for several years, I have few friends who are not Thai and I have never felt being called falang as anegative term, I have always been accepted into there homes and circles of friends. The only time I have been charged higher prices are nationa parks, and often my Thai family and friends have negotiated a lower price for me, often paying themselves. I have been to many Thai weddings and other special events and usually have been treated as a guest of honor. If you want to truly enjoy Thailand you need to immerse yourself in Thai life and show Thai people you truly loike and respect them.

[AliasJohn]

Go to Silom Road today spend a few bucks and support the vendors, vehicle traffic should be light with the holiday.

Nice idea. Spend a few MORE 'bucks' than the Thais are charged, do you mean? Spend maybe triple the price, now that they have to make up for their people's actions? Hmmm ... I think I will stay at home and let the tourists be ripped off even more than normal.

I went there yesterday and the atmosphere was great. No tourist around sadly for the vendors. Dont be so negative. What a wally you are! Give them a break

[Randee]

Go to Silom Road today spend a few bucks and support the vendors, vehicle traffic should be light with the holiday.

Nice idea. Spend a few MORE 'bucks' than the Thais are charged, do you mean? Spend maybe triple the price, now that they have to make up for their people's actions? Hmmm ... I think I will stay at home and let the tourists be ripped off even more than normal.

I went there yesterday and the atmosphere was great. No tourist around sadly for the vendors. Dont be so negative. What a wally you are! Give them a break

im with docjohnnie99 on this ... hes not a wally here, he's being realistic. you go give them a break. i'm sick of them ripping off when theres no troubles let alone now that there is.

let them learn the lesson that reducing prices and offerring real bargains will have the punters pouring in.

and that overcharging will keep the punters (the smart ones) away

[Randee]

Eye think it's a good idea 2 help da people affected by da recent terrorism in bkk. Eye might go and bye some stuff. My wife needs some shoes & clothes. she told me their's some really super good prices over there, like 80% off in some cases and da good are knot low quality like you wood see from da typical street vendors in pat pong and sukhumvit and da platinum and pratunam. she said these r stuff from da central world and such

Is this guy for real?? Imagine Thai people thinking this is how English is supposed to be written

[Frezie]

I don't understand all the comments about Farangs being ripped off. The normal arrogance of many of our kind I suppose.

I took a walk down there today and it was packed with - guess what? - Thais. Well it is Thailand. I saw very few Farangs, although there were some. So are these vendors gonna rip off their own - possibly.

From the quality of most of the post on TV, we don't deserve their respect.

Another one with his head up his rear end. Lord, how do they fill in the passport application forms I wonder?

who are you talking about?

you're agreeing with me yes?

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Yes, of course I agree with you, I was referring to "frezie" from cuckooland. I just edited the page to show who I was talking about.

Actually guys I'm not a newbie here. been here about 7 years. My Thai GF and I tried an experiment about 6 months ago as we both thought thje same as you that farangs pay more than locals so we agreed to go to JJ Market and spend 1000 baht on cheap T shirts and stuff. To the surprise of both of us I got about 20% more stuff than her. Not very scientific I know but I thought it quite a good indication. By the way we took the same motor cycle ride which cost me 40 baht and her 60 baht.

The point I'm trying to make here is that our attitude towards them makes a big difference. If I think they are charging me too much I politely smile and walk away. Sometimes they call me back and re-negotiate, although not always

[blanco]

Go to Walking Street and have fun.

There is way too much hatred on these forums these days. Enjoy it for what it is or get out.

[Randee]

Edited May 29, 2010 by Randee

[Randee]

Another one with his head up his rear end. Lord, how do they fill in the passport application forms I wonder?

Actually guys I'm not a newbie here. been here about 7 years. My Thai GF and I tried an experiment about 6 months ago as we both thought thje same as you that farangs pay more than locals so we agreed to go to JJ Market and spend 1000 baht on cheap T shirts and stuff. To the surprise of both of us I got about 20% more stuff than her. Not very scientific I know but I thought it quite a good indication. By the way we took the same motor cycle ride which cost me 40 baht and her 60 baht.

The point I'm trying to make here is that our attitude towards them makes a big difference. If I think they are charging me too much I politely smile and walk away. Sometimes they call me back and re-negotiate, although not always

this means nothing to me.

you and me live on different planets.

your first reply to me was so dumb and pathetic that i have no time or interest in a character like you. there is zero that i can learn from a character like you.

[dreidcs2]

Why so many idiotic, hatred and childish comments here??

The people are REALLY affected. The busineeses are REALLY need support. And all of those workers are not the ones who made problems - now they just need to survive after the terror right below their windows. Those who dislike the red's actions - please just come and sue them, it is ANOTHER story for ANOTHER topic!

Talking about "bangkok should be back" - but very ironic in every step on this long way...??

A very nice "support" from all of you, yeah, who dare to call this land "a home"...

Shame on you all. Get back to your holes and dont bark on the wind, if unable to say something more meaningful.

Well said ....

[loser1]

Why so many idiotic, hatred and childish comments here??

The people are REALLY affected. The busineeses are REALLY need support. And all of those workers are not the ones who made problems - now they just need to survive after the terror right below their windows. Those who dislike the red's actions - please just come and sue them, it is ANOTHER story for ANOTHER topic!

Talking about "bangkok should be back" - but very ironic in every step on this long way...??

A very nice "support" from all of you, yeah, who dare to call this land "a home"...

Shame on you all. Get back to your holes and dont bark on the wind, if unable to say something more meaningful.

Well said ....

Well said ....

[damaja]

Having spent 8 years in Cambodia, I'm no newbie to Asia, and have had many very pleasant trips to Thailand - as a tourist and client (on work trips). I've now lived in Bangkok for 11 months and I must confess, I am seeing more and more every week I live here of a quite different complexion to Thailand than all the years I'd visited before. The duplicity I find 'popping up' on a regular basis is really starting to erode the love and respect I'd always had for Thais the many years before.

I live in Silom and had a walk down my soi to see how things were going at the "Together We Can" 'Walking Street Fair'. I have had plenty of sympathy for the small business and working Thais that would have suffered loss or damage these last 2 months, so I went down there thinking I hope they're getting something from this...

WOW! I couldn't believe my eyes! The whole of Silom Rd. was ABSOLUTELY PACKED! Not just with thousands and thousands of people, but with hundreds of stalls. Four banks of stalls - one on each kerb and a double-sided one in the centre verge - ran all the way from Rama 4 to at least Narathiwas Rd! In between these tightly packed lines of stalls, on the actual road, there was barely room to swing your elbows, while being carried along by a stream of people squeezed in between. I was astonished at several things, none of which made me particularly happy:

- There was plenty of effort put into putting up the stalls but I could see absolutely no consideration given to the safety/risk factors of having hardly any access or egress in between them.

- Thousands of people, yet no police or medical services to be seen

- Hundreds and hundreds of sellers, yet, I cannot possibly imagine more than half would have been possibly been ones that would have been from areas especially affected/damaged such as Siam square - which was what the whole thing was 'sold' as being in 'aid' of. So I can only suppose a large number were there knowing it would be a great opportunity to cash in on the 'national unity' charity sentiment the event was marketed as.

- Yes the vast majority of people there were Thais - one would guess well intentioned and looking to help out their adversely affected countrymen - but the majority of the vendors didn't look very adversely affected (unlike the ones I saw at the temporary stalls at Siam Square on Friday). They certainly would have had a MAJOR boost from the numbers there today! But the Thais I saw there looking to be customers to the 'needy' vendors, mostly looked like not very well-off average urban Thai people themselves, so probably of the ones 'giving' their custom didn't have a lot to spare themselves.

- I came to the end of the soi I live on (piphat) - after being buffeted and bumped and having my feet trod on by the stupidly packed-in crowd for the 150m or so I'd walked from Soi Convent - to find the *whole* of the street was blocked off by a tent! Barely 60cm was left unblocked - between a building wall and a telephone pole - for a constant stream of people to *try* to squeeze through! To make it even more ridiculous, there wasn't even hardly anyone in/using the bloody tent!!!???

And, the crowning glory: - Before I'd got stuck in the 'lemming' pack, I'd stood in line to get a sausage/meat snack, the kind of sausage on a stick thing i'd normally expect to pay between 15-20 baht for. I'd heard a Thai guy in front of me being charged "samsip" baht, then (accepting, begrudgingly, but still accepting, the 'slight' hike up from the usual price) I asked for the same (pointing) and asked in gesture and mouthed English "how much?"; to which the vendor replied "sixty baht" in English, while holding up six fingers. Then she firmly repeated it again, "sixty baht!", while I'd kind of looked at her a bit confused... err!? My patience already thin, I replied "hoksip baht!? Mai samsip?" whereupon she giggled in that now increasingly annoying way and then started nodding agreement to the latter figure, avoiding my eyes, as she put the snack in a bag. I then raised just one finger at her and laughed back! "f*@k - off!"

I ask you!?

I check the mirror every day at least once, just in case I've somehow missed some kind of subtle mark or tattoo on my head that might read "stupid" or "mug"!

I know it's not everyone, it can't possibly be, i still have some threads of faith left... but I must confess, I become more and more jaded about the "pretence" I come across so increasingly and which I find so unpalatable here. I must also admit, I only have a couple of Thai friends as yet. But, the really sad thing is, I find myself questioning even their sincerity more and more as i wonder if they really just humour me most of the time - glad to have a few 'trophy' farang friends on their list. Though they speak excellent English (so the language barrier is negligible), they avoid or deflect any kind of contentious or awkward questions I ask of them.

Awfully cynical and bitter as all that sounds, i really hope to be proven wrong - significantly and soon! I'm not one that can accept artifice and duplicty too easily, and need some hardcore, laid-bare honesty and sincerity to offset it and temper my frustration... where do i find that in Bangkok then?

[bboy]

I understand why they proposed this walking fair and I hope it does stimulate the economy, but for people like myself that work on Silom road it's caused absolute misery!! I work at a language school which is nearly inaccessible because of these stalls. I don't think the point of the fair was for copious amounts of street food vendors to take over every inch of the footpaths - I thought it was supposed to be more for businesses selling merchandise and clothing etc. After my school has been closed for the protests, and now re-opened I have to add an extra 40mins to my journey just to walk from the MRT to my workplace. Lots of people at this walking fair don't use anti-perspirant so the place reeks of body odour. It's got out of hand now - I wouldn't moan if they'd stuck to the road, but putting stalls in the middle of the footpath takes the f***ing piss. Thank f*** it's the last day.