BMA and Police to rearrange street vendors at Siriraj Hospital

BMA and Police to rearrange street vendors at Siriraj Hospital

BANGKOK, 8 October 2014 (NNT) —The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Metropolitan Police Bureau are joining forces to control the many street vendors and improve the landscape in front of Siriraj Hospital.

Pol.Lt.Gen. Wichai Sangprapai, advisor to the Governor of Bangkok, accompanied by Pol.Lt.Gen Adul Narongsak, deputy commissioner-general of the Metropolitan Police Bureau in traffic management, today checked the BMA's landscape renovation project on Wang Lang road in front of Siriraj Hospital.

The BMA has terminated the street vendors allowance zone. Retailing activity on the pavement is now prohibited from Siriraj intersection to Prannok intersection. The BMA is to clean the pavement, and repaint the curb and traffic signs, as well as put in pot plants to improve the scenery.

Meanwhile, the BMA will adjust the regulations for street vendors on the pavement opposite Siriraj hospital. Each shop must be no wider than 1.20 meters. This allowance will eventually enhance the tidiness of the city.

The BMA and the Metropolitan Police Bureau have regularly made an effort to control the street vendors. However, some merchants soon return to put up shops on the pavement. Therefore, strict measures are now being enforced. Police and municipal officers are patrolling the area to prevent any street vendors returning, while ensuring vendors elsewhere are conforming with the law, said the governor's advisor.

The deputy commissioner general of the Metropolitan Police Bureau said that the police and the BMA have invited related personnel to discuss the regulations. The enforcement will be divided into phases. Initially, the police and the BMA will reorganize dirty and hectic areas as well as vendor-prohibited areas like markets, schools, and shopping malls. Ultimately, all contracts for areas permitting retail activity will expire and will not be renewed. Meanwhile the BMA will find other retailing locations for merchants.

The BMA and the police have also discussed creating a walking street to boost tourism and to be a place where merchants can operate their shops in the future.


-- NNT 2014-10-08