Silom vendors vow not to leave Silom road and petition PM for help

[webfact]

Silom vendors vow not to leave Silom road and petition PM for help



BANGKOK: -- Silom vendors on Monday petitioned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha through the public service centre to scrap the City Hall’s order banning pavement trading on both sides of Silom road during the night.

The defiant vendors also vowed that they would not leave the pavements on June 1 as ordered by the city administration, claiming that the new trading zone arranged by the City Hall is not practical.

Ms Su-amphan Detsrimontri, a leader of the vendors, said that they would like the prime minister to let them carrying on with the pavement trading from 9 pm until 2 am of the following day.

She claimed that the vendors had not received any notification from the City Hall in advance about the meeting scheduled on May 20 with city officials. Instead, she said that the notification was, in fact, a warning for them to move out from Silom road.

The City Hall wants to evict all the pavement vendors from Silom road to reclaim the sidewalks for pedestrians and to beautify the pavements. The vendors were also blamed for worsening traffic on the road.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/164371


-- Thai PBS 2016-05-24

[Thian]

Next to Impact thong thanee is also a new market. They made electric outlets for every stand but something went wrong and now every vendor has extensioncables laying on the walkways.

It's much more fun to shop on a marketplace instead of the pavement. I don't want to be the one blocking the walkway while purchasing something.

[tuanku]

If only the Thai population were as concerned about their democratic and human rights as their (imaginary) commercial rights.

Defiance and a promise to occupy the pavements - way to go!

[marcusd]

I would like to see where the new market is. SILOM is part of Bangkok for tourists. I can see their point and for me and others it is fun and I also understand for others its a pain. But hey this is Thailand

[Redline]

They want people spending in the shopping malls. Poor people don't need money because that's what subsidies and loans are for...

I do agree they need to straighten this stuff out because it causes problems. They need to set up market areas. It is fun, and you do find some deals, but in a more open space.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Redline

[Rumblecat]

They've been given an extension until August 1st now.

Personally I think they should just leave them alone- yeah, it's a pain in the arse if you're trying to navigate through that area (although it's way easier and faster just to walk on the side of the road- and the amount of cars and biked parked means you're shielded from traffic anyway)- but it does seem to bring a lot of people to the area and it's a definite feature.

[WishWashMan]

No sales. How do these vendors keep going?

[james.d]

Meanwhile, the roti vendors on the Asia Highway have had their selling points dismantled,,,(they have sold knuckledusters or pirated dvd's instead)...

Edited June 1, 2016 by james.d