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

[NoshowJones]

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.

You sure are one nice person.

[berybert]

I lived just around the corner of 38 for just over a year. Is there enough room to build a condo block on the mouth of that soi ?

Not forgetting there are condos already built pretty much to the street anyway.

The guy who owns channel 3 lives in the big house with the massive wooden gates just past the market. He wont be happy to be overlooked I'm sure.

[Spaniel]

I used to live at the Sri Guest House on Soi 38. Back then, 1971, I don't recall any food vendors on the soi. I guess they came later?

[MJKT2014]

Having lived on Soi38 for the past 15 years, I won't miss the night market. Getting the public access Soi back so I can drive home on it void of everyone standing in the middle of it queuing for food will be a reward. I'm all for street food markets as they add character but Soi38 oversteps the mark sometimes blocking public right of way.

[Jimjim]

That's a shame. My friend always got mango and sticky rice from somewhere along there, I believe. He said it was the best.

[DLang]

Having lived on Soi38 for the past 15 years, I won't miss the night market. Getting the public access Soi back so I can drive home on it void of everyone standing in the middle of it queuing for food will be a reward. I'm all for street food markets as they add character but Soi38 oversteps the mark sometimes blocking public right of way.

[smokie36]

I've only been down there once....the food selection is not that inspiring....the food itself just OK.....certainly cheap.

All for variety though so hope they find a new spot for these night stalls....but nothing there that is wow or makes me crave a return visit.

Thaiger's burger truck?.....well its the kind of burger I'd want after a night out at maybe midnight.....not at 6pm.

[SoiBiker]

You tried all the food in just one visit?

You must have been stuffed.

[smokie36]

You tried all the food in just one visit?

You must have been stuffed.

I know my way around these kind of places as I'm sure you do....noodle dishes don't do much for me....if that's your thing then there is plenty of choice i would agree.

[DLang]

cheap.

And there in a word you have described the sort of people that are actually going to miss this rubbish tip.

[smokie36]

cheap.

And there in a word you have described the sort of people that are actually going to miss this rubbish tip.

Not everyone wants the Marriott buffet on a nightly basis.

[Soi Sauce]

The middle-classasion and destruction of Thai culture continues. Why don't all these remarkably ugly condoms allow street food vendors to set up stall outside them?

The benefits are obvious to land-owners, sellers and customers. Rent, cheap good food, and continued employment to name but a few, or is that to easy to realise?

[MrJohnson]

I don't want to get into the middle of what appears to be a very polarized topic here, however, there are downsides to the whole food vendor phenomena. NEar my place is a strip of about 50 metres of noodle stalls, satay stalls and the like. The vendors wash all their used oil down the drains and when they pack up to leave they leave rubbish strewn all over the sidewalk. It brings rats and other vermin, it stinks and is unsightly. They also block the entire sidewalk. It is 'their' property. Forget about pedestrians. OK, I acknowledge that they provide cheap, affordable and some would say, tasty food. Be that as it may I really think street vendors need to be regulated and they must fit into some system that acknowledges other users of the street and that some form of sanitation is not such a bad thing. There are public health issues at play here. Has anyone read the reports about the bacterial contamination of the popular dish, Kanom Jin, at street stalls in Bangkok? It makes for sobering reading.

Singapore, no thanks but there must be somewhere in the middle. Aside from that, property values go up and land use changes. That is a natural process. the problem for Bangkok is that the BMA has no plan. In an earlier post someone bemoans the actions of the BMA. The BMA has no plan. Bangkok City Planning is an oxymoron. Full stop! What surprises me is that more residents in this fair city do not make a noise about the lack of civic amenity be it green space, pedestrian access, noise pollution and so on. Or maybe that's just the Thai way.

Ask me again in another twenty years.

[samran]

^ 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?

Bit like your posts really...

[rott]

Never seen any rats there, and judging by their numbers neither have the backpackers.

Agree that the mango and sticky rice is good, and so in my experience is the service.

Had not been that way for a while, and last Saturday saw a stall selling baked potatoes at 25 baht. Don't know if he is new or if I just haven't noticed him before.

[fey]

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.

I call it 'prison architecture' charlie.

Got one at south gate cleared for entry roger that you need an escort negative charlie, but his guest will be leaving in 20 minutes i recon. Roger will co that charlie. Over.

Edited June 9, 2015 by fey

[IMA_FARANG]

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.

Thanks for the laugh.

The place is a cr@phole. The quicker it's cleared the better. Cheap 'food' will still be available at many other filthy, rat-invested pavements, so your loss shouldn't be too hard to rectify.

Clear the lot.

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Starting with Soi Nana

[rijit]

yeah will always remember 38 for mango & sticky rice