Thai Police to crack down on street vendors in congested spots from August onwards

[frankwhite]

Who cares about vendors

Get rid of the african drug dealers

Sent from my iPhone

[watcharacters]

I have talked to street vendors, and they told me they all pay money directly to the police.

And no , this money does not go to install better street lights.....

So this will be another dent in the income of the " Royal" Thai police. Go Prayuth !!!

Careful what you wish for.

Mamma still needs new shoes and if they ain't getting it from the locals in a long established, stable (and yes, brutal) hierarchy, I fear an increase in random pee-in-a-cup stops, or even worse.

Have you anything to fear from peeing in a cup?

Since you feel entitled to ask, how about one to you: do you support just the likes of random urine-testing of passerby who happen to be in a certain part of town, or, if you have a line, where do you draw it: random cavity searches? Blood tests? X-rays? 20 years from now will you be writing "have you anything to fear from having nano-bots injected in to your bloodstream? Huh, have you?" Just curious.

.

Some people may actually enjoy the finger wand/random cavity searches.

[razer]

One of the things I love about BKK are the mini economies. I don't have to find a store to get fresh fruit. I don't have to go to a restaurant if all I want is Som Tam and chicken,or a bowl of noodles. You get the gist. I think some areas are over crowded like the Pratunam area but I think these mini economies are good for the over all economy. I think the street vendors should be interviewed to determine which policemen are extorting money from them and let the NCPO deal with them.

[scorecard]

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razer, on 02 Jul 2014 - 13:01, said:

One of the things I love about BKK are the mini economies. I don't have to find a store to get fresh fruit. I don't have to go to a restaurant if all I want is Som Tam and chicken,or a bowl of noodles. You get the gist. I think some areas are over crowded like the Pratunam area but I think these mini economies are good for the over all economy. I think the street vendors should be interviewed to determine which policemen are extorting money from them and let the NCPO deal with them.

On many of your points I don't disagree but it is true that I some areas pedestrians end up walking of the dangerous roadways because the street stalls have taken over 90% of the footpath and when pedestrian numbers build up even a little then large numbers of people just walk out onto edge of the roadway and in danger.

One good example is Ramkamhaeng Road between Sois 21 and 27. Every day the footpath stalls, some with frameworks, some just on the pavement seem to encroach just a little more on the remaining walking area of the footpath. Often it's painful and quite time consuming to walk even 100 metres, so large numbers of locals / visitors, with little kids in tow just take to the very busy Ramkamhaeng road, and danger.

Not the main point, but if you try to use the actual available footpath area and you bump even slightly into one of these stalls there's a good chance the stall holder will attach with some abuse. Many times I've seen some nasty such arguments.

Time for change.

[callcharlie2001]

Too bad they are not cracking down on the vendors along Silom Rd, yet. The push carts occupy one traffic lane, and the double parked taxis & tuk tuk occupy the 2nd lane.

[lvr181]

I have talked to street vendors, and they told me they all pay money directly to the police.

And no , this money does not go to install better street lights.....

So this will be another dent in the income of the " Royal" Thai police. Go Prayuth !!!

Careful what you wish for.

Mamma still needs new shoes and if they ain't getting it from the locals in a long established, stable (and yes, brutal) hierarchy, I fear an increase in random pee-in-a-cup stops, or even worse.

Have you anything to fear from peeing in a cup?

Yes, are they sterile cups?

[JoeThePoster]

I have talked to street vendors, and they told me they all pay money directly to the police.

And no , this money does not go to install better street lights.....

So this will be another dent in the income of the " Royal" Thai police. Go Prayuth !!!

Careful what you wish for.

Mamma still needs new shoes and if they ain't getting it from the locals in a long established, stable (and yes, brutal) hierarchy, I fear an increase in random pee-in-a-cup stops, or even worse.

Have you anything to fear from peeing in a cup?

Yes, are they sterile cups?

I have nightmares of the cup running over.

[lvr181]

People need to make a living! It would not be Thailand without street vendors.

DON'T BAN but CONTROL. Only street vendors on one side of footpath not both, etc. Allow them to occupy up to 25% of footpath space by depth, for instance? And vendors must be registered FREE OF CHARGE.

And Police policing this? You gotta be kidding.

Just some thoughts.

[ggt]

The military is executing a well planned attack on the ills of Thai society...good for them...

[spidermike007]

How about Sukhumvit? Those sidewalks are literally taken over by vendors selling virtually useless junk, every evening. Who has been profiting from this trade? The cops? A fortune must be made from this. Come on. It is time to clean up that mess.

Spidermike

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Basil B]

I do hope they not forget Pattaya and Jomtien, as there is one restaurant that has taken over the whole of the pavement in Jomtien near Sio 5, and if I am not mistaken a lot of the BiB's hang around there during the day like they own it.

[englishoak]

Leave the street vendors alone,I have nothing against people trying to make a living.

What are they going to do open a highstreet shop with rent the amount it is ?

Far as the inconvenience I really dont care about having to go around, it is all part of what makes Thailand what it is... people here do like the idea of making Thailand into an asian version of what they left at home... cant understand it myself.

[Living in a cartoon]

Clear the sidewalks. They are not designed for vendors and that is not their purpose. I have some sympathy for the vendors when they are moved out, but not that much. I have zero sympathy for the police that assign space and collect rent.

I won't even go into the guys that decide it's OK to drive their motorbikes on the sidewalk.

Soi 11 used to be nice, just a few carts. It's a freaking joke now.

[impulse]

How about Sukhumvit? Those sidewalks are literally taken over by vendors selling virtually useless junk, every evening. Who has been profiting from this trade? The cops? A fortune must be made from this. Come on. It is time to clean up that mess.

You and I hate it. It's inconvenient at best, hazardous at worst. But tourists love the place. And tourists support the hotels there, and the restaurants, and... Take away the street market and VW bars, and porn and fake dogpoop, and what's going to draw the tourists to that part of Suk?

Without them, it would be just like Suk between Asoke and Emporium. A virtual wasteland, devoid of hot, sweaty tourist money. And boring.

I'll put up with the inconvenience if it keeps Bangkok, well, Bangkok. And puts food in a lot of Thai folks' mouths.

As for the BIB, I despise the way they do it, but can you imagine the fistfights (knife, gun, grenade fights) over the best spots every single day if someone didn't control who got what spot? If the General has a better plan, great.