Amulet Market Gone, City Swivels to Flower Market and Banglamphu

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Amulet Market Gone, City Swivels to Flower Market and Banglamphu
By Sasiwan Mokkhasen
Staff Reporter



BANGKOK — Bangkok’s world famous amulet market became a thing of legend yesterday, as city hall’s campaign to reclaim public space pivoted to its next targets: a renowned flower market (Pak Khlong Talad) and the Banglamphu area near Khao San Road.

In its ongoing mission to carry out junta policy to reclaim public space, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, or BMA, yesterday sent workers to clean the streets after 334 stalls were forced to leave the historic neighborhood near the Grand Palace where visitors and shoppers pored over pile after pile of sacred amulets. Street stalls are now absolutely banned in the area.

A top city official repeated that the campaign would not only make for a tidier Bangkok but also improve road traffic.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1448952721


-- Khaosod English 2015-12-01

[JoePai]

One thing they are doing right

[Genericnic]

Walking around the street vendors of whatever type was always a bit of a hassle, but only a minor one. However, the current trend of removing them is on course to make Bangkok (and eventually Thailand) about as exciting as a trip to Singapore. Does the government really think tourists come to see clean streets? Making the streets safer, now that is a better idea.

David

[HyperRai]

I miss all stalls on Bankoks street. Bangkok changed it`s face to the worth.

[dluek]

It surprises me that so many vendors are giving up so easily. This is now affecting the livelihoods of thousands of people, most of them poor -- if they all organized together they could be a major force to be reckoned with. Some of those hardened street vendors are some of the saltiest people I've encountered in Thailand. Imagine a few thousand of them protesting together?

[impulse]

Does the government really think tourists come to see clean streets? Making the streets safer, now that is a better idea.

At any given time, the vast majority of the people having to walk in traffic to get around the 125th widget vendor they'll pass that day- are the locals. The folks that tourism is supposed to benefit.

I can't think of a single action that would do more to make the city streets safer than to get rid of the vendors who create traffic jams when they push their kiosks up a street, creating a mile long line of cars, scooters and bicycles behind them, and then set up blocking the sidewalks so people have to walk in the streets (around the illegally parked scooters and cars that make it that much more dangerous) And then create the jam again pushing their kiosk back home.

My heart goes out to the folks whose livelihood is affected, but I also have some compassion for the shop owners who pay good money to rent a shop, only to have their competition set up actually blocking access to their place of business.

Interesting in Chinatown since the crackdown- several previously vacant buildings have become inundated with the kiosks that used to block the traffic. I'm sure there's a lot of economic dynamics behind it, but it seems that traffic and safety don't have to suffer for the eclectic shops to thrive. (Though I find the bowels of Khlong Thom market to be impossible to even walk through as it gets more densely packed).

Edited December 1, 2015 by impulse

[Katipo]

The flower market is very popular with tourists and locals alike. Removing it would be a mistake.

[BKKdreaming]

The shop owners will be gone soon as there will be no buyers of any kind going to that area ,

The shop owners need foot traffic so the few new customers might find them ,

the street market brought in foot traffic

Telling them they will be relocated on Rama 2 might as well be Timbukto , no one will be going there ,

The klong Thom sellers went to city meetings and protested but got no where ,

So I guess they will all be gone in a few years.......SAD

[mike324]

If they are really serious about improving traffic they should just start with the taxi and tuk tuk that still line the streets of Bangkok. They did enforce it for a couple of month before they became lax about it again. That would make a bigger impact than removing street stalls.

[kevc]

Walk down Sukhumvit any afternoon there's nothing for the tourist and I bet the shops lining the road have seen a big drop in income.

[millwall_fan]

It surprises me that so many vendors are giving up so easily. This is now affecting the livelihoods of thousands of people, most of them poor -- if they all organized together they could be a major force to be reckoned with. Some of those hardened street vendors are some of the saltiest people I've encountered in Thailand. Imagine a few thousand of them protesting together?

you've hit the nail pretty much on the head here: if the unelected government forced rich landlords to lower their rents so that the little guys could afford to rent shops, they wouldn't need to be on the streets, but as they do need to be, they must try to band together to do something about this disgraceful policy, but who's going to do that in a military dictatorship?