So long, Sukhumvit 38, and thanks for all the street food

[veyron18]

Such a sad news for me, I am an almost daily customer there for the last 3 years. I love this place and I love the people there. This is IMO another piece of Bangkok's heart that's going away.

Less fun hangout places, more condos, more traffic... Bangkok is really changing...

[Happy Grumpy]

Pity it's only a family that own the land behind it and not the BMA.

Get rid of the filthy place, train and educate the vendors in how to prepare food in a way that is some what acceptable in the 21st century, and place them elsewhere. Culture? If eating disgustingly prepared offal among scuttling rats and cockroaches while sitting in filth is a culture, then time to kill it and progress.

[SoiBiker]

Pity it's only a family that own the land behind it and not the BMA.

Get rid of the filthy place, train and educate the vendors in how to prepare food in a way that is some what acceptable in the 21st century, and place them elsewhere. Culture? If eating disgustingly prepared offal among scuttling rats and cockroaches while sitting in filth is a culture, then time to kill it and progress.

Someone else who's clearly never eaten there - or who is just trolling for reactions.

[joboss]

Good.

Now clear the pavement thoroughly, and keep it clean. A few rubbish bins, trees, and actual space to walk.

Go home.

[jspill]

Sad, There's already a high rise condo shortly past the food stalls too, Morph 38.

[Jenny Adara]

This is not about whats good for Bangkok - its simply about selling the land some rich Thais owned and passed down to their sons for inheritance. Its also what 99% of everyone reading this forum would do if they were to be given land. gee should i sell it and make millions or should i preserve the street vendors koi tiaw and pad tai vendors? hmmmm let me think?

[Happy Grumpy]

People are actually getting upset over this horrid place being done over.

Good grief.

[nigelnigel]

Was a regular customer in soi 38 some years ago, thing that bugged me mostly was the hiso thais stopping in their hi end european cars and ordering food from the car window, they would wait till the food was cooked and handed back into the car window blocking the street and causing chaos, also pumping exhaust fumes into the faces of people eating at tables.

I lived around the corner from there and YES...i frickn hated that! I would "accidentally" scrape their beloved car while squeezing past it with my keys or other such objects. Again, it was an accident.

[tigerfish]

Good.

Now clear the pavement thoroughly, and keep it clean. A few rubbish bins, trees, and actual space to walk.

Really,, sounds a touch boring,,

Plenty of exciting places in Bangkok. Also plenty of filthy slum streets full of poor people eating low quality food among the sewer-rats.

Bulldozing one and replacing it with a footpath that people can use to walk along, as opposed to in the middle of the road, is a plus.

if ever there were a case for the red button to be brought back . this is it !

[thedude82]

when is this housing bubble going to burst? condo after condo after condo...complete with 40 security guards just standing/sitting around telling jokes on their walkie talkie....when they are awake. For the most part they are paid to sleep.

[teatree]

Good.

Now clear the pavement thoroughly, and keep it clean. A few rubbish bins, trees, and actual space to walk.

There IS space to walk. There is very little vehicular traffic on this street so the vendors do not impede anybody from safely and easily walking past. Have you even been there? I doubt it. Soi 38 is a great example of a safe and relaxed street market with good food, and it will be a great loss.

The current soi 38 scene is a very good example of how Bangkok street food should be.

However, it wasn't always like that. I remember around 10 years ago the area along the mouth of the soi along Sukumvit being crammed with food stalls, so much so that it was the typical single file, 10 metres a minute shuffling that infects so much of Bangkok.

The police came along and forced the food stalls into the soi to leave the area around the BTS clear. Of course there were cries of people losing their income and Bangkok losing its character and how people should either leave it as it is or move to Singapore. Turned out that soi 38 became probably the best location for street food in Bangkok.

Just shows what happens when a bit of common sense is applied and street vendors are placed in areas that actually have space for them.

[hhgz]

"when is this housing bubble going to burst? "

According to the anti-condo TVers, it crashed on August 29, 2014, when new visa requirements went into effect.

[DLang]

Now how are all the rats there going to survive?

[madmitch]

Sad.

I lived on Soi 38 when I first came to Thailand and soon realised that this was probably home to some of the best street food in the city. I particularly remember the father and son satay sellers who seemed to treat each stick like a work of art.

I shall pay a final visit next time I'm in Bangkok.

[skildpadden]

Are we talking about the same Soi 38?
The Thai food is cooked for foreigners and it is over priced - the food scene reminds me of Khao San with the same bland tastes. I will not miss all the tourists and backpackers walking mindlessly in the middle of the street making it difficult for people to pass through.

The Thai street food I can find much better and cheaper at a lot of other places in the city (Bangkok is actually more than Sukhumvit). Daniel Thaiger burger is the only good food stall there and I am sure he will be able re-locate successfully.

There is still plenty of street food in the area - you just need to venture further down the sois.

[SoiBiker]

Yes, we're talking about the same place. The rest of us just don't feel the need to be snobbish about it because some tourists have discovered it.

[DLang]

Yes, we're talking about the same place. The rest of us just don't feel the need to be snobbish about it because some tourists have discovered it.

Move to Cambodia.

[SoiBiker]

Yes, we're talking about the same place. The rest of us just don't feel the need to be snobbish about it because some tourists have discovered it.

Move to Cambodia.

No thanks. I'm happy in here Thailand.

You should visit some time.

[DLang]

^ Enjoy your holiday here. Being a freshy newb can be exciting. Oh look, a giant sewer rat scuttling around where that lady is cutting the vegetables she's serving people. Haha, did he just pick his nose and go back to cutting the meat that's been sitting out all day without washing his hands. Eating off a dirty metal table is so hip.

Just wait until your travels take you to Cambodia. You'll be in heaven!

[SoiBiker]

I've lived here for years. I probably first went to Cambodia whilst you were still at school.

Now get back under your bridge.

[DLang]

There's nothing to be ashamed about being a newbie that is drawn to rat-infested street markets mate.

Thankfully this one is about to be no more.

Let's hope the BMA take note and get rid of more of the awful places.

[SoiBiker]

Why would you care? You've clearly never been to Soi 38. You've probably never ventured further than Soi 4, if you've been here at all.

Anyway, to get back on topic - is it really the whole Soi that's under threat? The article implies that it's just the building on one side that's being sold, presumably the one with the indoor seating area. Maybe they'll just have to move deeper into the soi.

[tigerfish]

^ Enjoy your holiday here. Being a freshy newb can be exciting. Oh look, a giant sewer rat scuttling around where that lady is cutting the vegetables she's serving people. Haha, did he just pick his nose and go back to cutting the meat that's been sitting out all day without washing his hands. Eating off a dirty metal table is so hip.

Just wait until your travels take you to Cambodia. You'll be in heaven!

you sound like one of those p.c. plebs. you know the kind that believes that good cheese served in a restaurant should be refrigerated instead of being allowed to breath.

or i bet you think that banning smoking in pubs is a good idea too ( never mind that it's help kill an industry, with people losing their livelihoods ) just so long as your alright Jack, hey ?

please tell, what did the human race do before all these so called helpful and insightful ideas, how did they survive for so long ?

[DLang]

^ Enjoy your holiday here. Being a freshy newb can be exciting. Oh look, a giant sewer rat scuttling around where that lady is cutting the vegetables she's serving people. Haha, did he just pick his nose and go back to cutting the meat that's been sitting out all day without washing his hands. Eating off a dirty metal table is so hip.

Just wait until your travels take you to Cambodia. You'll be in heaven!

you sound like one of those p.c. plebs. you know the kind that believes that good cheese served in a restaurant should be refrigerated instead of being allowed to breath.

or i bet you think that banning smoking in pubs is a good idea too ( never mind that it's help kill an industry, with people losing their livelihoods ) just so long as your alright Jack, hey ?

please tell, what did the human race do before all these so called helpful and insightful ideas, how did they survive for so long ?

Related to Sukhumvit 38, how?

[timendres]

Bangkok is making the same mistakes made by Singapore. That is, destroying another cultural tradition and experience that makes BKK so special for tourists ... and Thais ... with yet another high rise.

That's true. But in this location it seems inevitable. The spot is not only at trendy Thonglor, it is bang slap next to Thonglor BTS station and therefore a prime location for a profitable residential development. I don't like the prospect at all, but it is a logical urban development. The mouth of Soi 38 is a great piece of old Bangkok lifestyle, but it could never last for ever, I now have to admit.

This is absolutely the reality. Anywhere there is BTS or MRT, the location is going to change to be high-rise and high-end. That is the natural result. Nobody wants a BTS station at an empty field. Sadly, this great market was in the way of that development. Wish they could move to Soi 28!!!

Edited May 26, 2015 by timendres

[Jonmarleesco]

Must be getting close to one condo per mall. What innovative imagination the BMA has.

[Jonmarleesco]

^ Enjoy your holiday here. Being a freshy newb can be exciting. Oh look, a giant sewer rat scuttling around where that lady is cutting the vegetables she's serving people. Haha, did he just pick his nose and go back to cutting the meat that's been sitting out all day without washing his hands. Eating off a dirty metal table is so hip.

Just wait until your travels take you to Cambodia. You'll be in heaven!

you sound like one of those p.c. plebs. you know the kind that believes that good cheese served in a restaurant should be refrigerated instead of being allowed to breath.

or i bet you think that banning smoking in pubs is a good idea too ( never mind that it's help kill an industry, with people losing their livelihoods ) just so long as your alright Jack, hey ?

please tell, what did the human race do before all these so called helpful and insightful ideas, how did they survive for so long ?

Banning smoking in pubs helped kill an industry? BS! Which planet are you living on? What it did do was allow people who do not wish to breathe in someone else's smog to enjoy a relatively fresh night out, while those who do wish to absorb burnt leaf fumes can do so outside.

But I fail to see the connection between your rant and the Soi 38 food stalls.

[DLang]

^ Enjoy your holiday here. Being a freshy newb can be exciting. Oh look, a giant sewer rat scuttling around where that lady is cutting the vegetables she's serving people. Haha, did he just pick his nose and go back to cutting the meat that's been sitting out all day without washing his hands. Eating off a dirty metal table is so hip.

Just wait until your travels take you to Cambodia. You'll be in heaven!

you sound like one of those p.c. plebs. you know the kind that believes that good cheese served in a restaurant should be refrigerated instead of being allowed to breath.

or i bet you think that banning smoking in pubs is a good idea too ( never mind that it's help kill an industry, with people losing their livelihoods ) just so long as your alright Jack, hey ?

please tell, what did the human race do before all these so called helpful and insightful ideas, how did they survive for so long ?

Banning smoking in pubs helped kill an industry? BS! Which planet are you living on? What it did do was allow people who do not wish to breathe in someone else's smog to enjoy a relatively fresh night out, while those who do wish to absorb burnt leaf fumes can do so outside.

But I fail to see the connection between your rant and the Soi 38 food stalls.

Exactly.

Unlike the fantastic smoking ban, those who revel in being able to eat poor, dirty food, prepared by people who pick their noses and wipe their bottoms with their hand without washing them, while sitting among rats and cockroaches, have plenty of other places to do so.

[SoiBiker]

Haven't you grown up yet?

[DLang]

Haven't you grown up yet?

Owww.

Cutting.