webfact Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 China Town, Khao San Road areas to be transformed into organised street food areas By THE NATION Khao San Road photo via: http://www.expedia.co.th BANGKOK: -- THE GOVERNMENT is planning to transform Bangkok’s China Town and Khao San Road into well-organised areas for street food vendors. “We will allow street stalls, as long as they comply with our regulations on zoning, stall designs, green packaging and hygienic standards,” Second Lieutenant Pornchanok Amphan, a spokeswoman for the Defence Ministry, said at a press conference yesterday. She said the decision had been made by the country’s fifth reform steering committee. For example, she said, stalls in the China Town, or Yaowarat, area should be in the style of Chinese pavilions, while stalls on Khao San Road should be designed as Thai pavilions. Food vendors in the two streets will also be required to receive training to ensure they conduct their businesses appropriately, she said. Since it came to power, the National Council for Peace and Order has pursued a policy to ban street stalls, describing their presence as a violation of pedestrians’ rights. If authorities get rid of all street stalls in Bangkok, more than 10,000 businesses would be affected. However, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) denied reports that all street food in Bangkok would be wiped out. Wanlop Suwandee, chief adviser to the Bangkok governor, said that the earlier report that the BMA would remove all street-food vendors was incorrect. Wanlop said that the BMA did not intend to get rid of all street food and the statement was just a misunderstanding. “We just intend to regulate the footpaths in Yaowarat and Khao San Road. We don’t at all intend to clear all street stalls,” Wanlop said. He added that the BMA would today hold a press conference to clarify the matter at Bangkok City Hall. The Nation reported this week that Yaowarat and Khao San Road would be the next targets for the pavement management operation and that street vendors would be cleared from the area. Street vendors have always been a debated topic in Thai society. While many believe the stalls make cheap food and products easily available, others find street stalls an inconvenience and even a threat to their safety. “When street stalls crowded the footpaths between Pratunam area and CentralWorld in the past, I had to walk on the street and risked my life,” a Bangkok resident said. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30312744 -- © Copyright The Nation 2017-04-20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamukloy Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 And so the back-pedalling begins. I find idiots on motorbikes on the pavement more of an inconvenience and a safety issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven100 Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Now this is a good idea ..... make it organized for folks can walk with relative ease and safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikmar Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 "For example, she said, stalls in the China Town, or Yaowarat, area should be in the style of Chinese pavilions, while stalls on Khao San Road should be designed as Thai pavilions." Are they going to be made of plastic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowboat Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 2 hours ago, webfact said: Wanlop said that the BMA did not intend to get rid of all street food and the statement was just a misunderstanding. Thailand seems to be the hub of "misunderstandings". Most of the juntas actions seems to be rash and poorly thought out. Will be the first to applaud them if they able to strike a balance like other Asian cities. Taipei has good, clean street food as do some cities in China. Singapore has its hawker centers that are good too. Just do not think Thais know much about Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunningstunt Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 "China Town, Khao San Road areas to be transformed into organised street food areas" Problem solved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirat69 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 3 hours ago, nikmar said: " be in the style of Chinese pavilions, ......should be designed as Thai pavilions." Are they going to be made of plastic? More importantly will the added facade be able to be kept clean, dust and grime free??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Sadly, neither location is currently served by the BTS or MRT (though Chinatown is getting close), and the beauty of street food is the convenience of stepping out of your 3 or 4 or 5 star hotel and stumbling across it. Not making a slog halfway across town to slurp up some 40 baht noodles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunningstunt Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Sadly, neither location is currently served by the BTS or MRT (though Chinatown is getting close), and the beauty of street food is the convenience of stepping out of your 3 or 4 or 5 star hotel and stumbling across it. Not making a slog halfway across town to slurp up some 40 baht noodles.Edit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 BMA denies evicting street-food stalls in China Town and Khao San BANGKOK: -- Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) today dismissed a news report that it is prepared to evict all street-food vendors from China Town and Khao San road. Instead it stated it is going to introduce zoning system to make them more orderly, more hygienic, and cleaner with regard to the safety and health of consumers. This was revealed today by Mr Wallop Suwandee, advisor to the Bangkok governor. Wallop’s comment came after a local news report that the city administration planned to evict all street-food vendors from Bangkok’s streets by the end of the year, with target on China Town and Khao San road first. The report triggered public outcry, particularly from business operators as Bangkok was just ranked by CNN as having the best street-food in the world. Mr Wallop dismissed the report as groundless saying the city administration never had such idea. Instead there was a meeting with relevant government agencies on how to put all street-food stalls in order, particularly at China Town and Khao San road. He said the administration intended to make street-food more hygenic, clean and safe for the health of consumers. He said street-food has become the way of life of Bangkok people and it will never deminish. But he stressed that the two places needed zoning. He said Khao San road has boutiques, “Pad Thai” fried noodles, and Khanom Jeen and foot massage stalls. Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/bma-denies-evicting-street-food-stalls-china-town-khao-san/ -- © Copyright Thai PBS 2017-04-20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1Voice Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Kill the street food - You kill Bangkok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksidedog Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Is this clarification of the issue then and not a major back-down by the authorities? It isn't getting removed, just better organized and hygiene focused? That doesn't sound too bad, because the first reports of it all being ripped away would have been utter madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razzler1973 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 1 hour ago, impulse said: Sadly, neither location is currently served by the BTS or MRT (though Chinatown is getting close), and the beauty of street food is the convenience of stepping out of your 3 or 4 or 5 star hotel and stumbling across it. Not making a slog halfway across town to slurp up some 40 baht noodles. There are people that stay in those areas, many, in fact. Street food there is convenient for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 (edited) 55 minutes ago, Razzler1973 said: There are people that stay in those areas, many, in fact. Street food there is convenient for them Sure, great for them, no doubt. But a lot more of them stay in the Suk and Silom areas- and other parts of BKK that aren't convenient to KSR and Chinatown, and with bigger tourist budgets. Chinatown and Khao San Road don't generally cater to those folks. I see so many tourists hop out of the taxi from the airport, dump their bags in their 4 star Suk room and hit the street markets before they're even unpacked. They'll be sorely disappointed. Disappointed tourists generally choose a different destination for their next cash dump holiday adventure. Edited April 20, 2017 by impulse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamyai3 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I was wondering when the word misunderstanding would get rolled out. It usually happens here at the point when nothing other than some furious back pedaling will work, and it has the double benefit of exonerating the person who oversaw the mess by implying the blame lies with the misunderstander. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcarguy Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 there are really no open areas in Chinatown to put these "reformed" street food vendors , well there is the area where the Metro "hole" is being built , but I am sure the big money guys will have their fingers in that, but maybe we need the "way back machine" so this never happened and it was all a bad dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargeezr Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I am glad to see that the street venders situation is being looked into. They are a hazard the way they operate now, and it is dangerous in some of the places they set up. Bangkok will always be Bangkok and it will take a Nuke bomb to change the city. Street venders are a very small cog to Bangkok and other Thai Cities. Geezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLW Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 So now all misunderstanding and backwards.In the end just wait two more weeks and nothing you will ever hear or see about this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronshih2001 Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Haha seem funny in BKK only people can get street food on china town n KhaoSan! Normal BKK citizen don't eat anymore? According to the statistic told 44% of local take street for for 3 meals everyday?Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now