Bangkok 'unique' despite street stall edict: Thai tourism boss

[snoop1130]

Bangkok 'unique' despite street stall edict: Thai tourism boss

By AFP

 

 

BANGKOK - Bangkok's street food culture will survive a crackdown on vendors, Thailand's tourism chief vowed Thursday, assuring travellers that a city renowned for its chaotic charm was not being remodelled into a Singapore-lite.

 

The City Hall stunned Thais and tourists alike this week with plans to bar the capital's world-famous food stalls from all main roads to reclaim pavements for the public.

 

On Thursday the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) pushed back against fears that Bangkok was being gentrified in the image of Singapore -- a city that relishes orderliness but is often characterised as tame compared to its Southeast Asian rivals.

 

 "We will keep our uniqueness. We won't change our Yaowarat (Chinatown) into Orchard (road)," Uthasak Supasorn said, referring to a shopping district in Singapore with wide boulevards devoid of street life. 

 

"(The plan) is not to totally take away street food from Bangkok streets, but there are some reasons and some places that will be reorganised," he added. 

 

Nearly two-thirds of Bangkok's 30,000 street vendors have already been removed or relocated from pavements to open up space for pedestrians, according to city officials. 

 

Vendors will be allowed to set up shop on smaller streets while hawkers based in two top tourist hubs -- Chinatown and Khaosan Road -- will be reorganised but not barred completely.

 

"Bangkok has some of the best street food in the world, you cannot take it away from the people of the world," the tourist governor told reporters, adding that he was meeting with city officials to discuss how the restrictions would be enforced.

 

Many are hoping the crackdown will wither like many of the other clean-up campaigns launched under the ruling junta.

 

Tourism is a major of pillar of Thailand's economy and has boomed despite a decade of political unrest and bad press over its dangerous roads and lax safety regulations. 

 

The kingdom welcomed a record 32 million tourists in 2016, with revenue making up nearly a fifth of an otherwise lagging economy.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30312824

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-4-20

[tracker1]

These officials really try so hard to outdo each other with the crap they come out with !

[SiamBeast]

Predicted timeline:

 

Day 1: We will ban ALL vendors from the streets of Bangkok. No exceptions.

Day 3: Some vendors will be allowed to set-up shop on small streets where they are not blocking anything.

Day 9: Some selected vendors will have the right to have a spot on a main road as long as they follow the rules.

Day 20: We will postpone the enforcement of the rule until September in order to organize places for street vendors to move to.

Day 100: On new year, we will go ahead with the total ban.

Day 120: (they silently pay the media to shut up about the story)

Day 140: (all vendors are back to their original spots, nobody talks about it)

Day 150: The whole situation has been successfully swept under the rug.

 

Let's see if I'm right.

[yellowboat]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

"We will keep our uniqueness. We won't change our Yaowarat (Chinatown) into Orchard (road)," Uthasak Supasorn said, referring to a shopping district in Singapore with wide boulevards devoid of street life. 

You would actually have to roads and areas that are maintained.  There is absolutely no danger of Yaowarat road ever even faintly looking like Orchard Road.  Perhaps they should fix the side walks along Sukhimvit Road ?

[realenglish1]

This was a stupid idea to begin with "banning food vendors "

[elgordo38]

14 hours ago, tracker1 said:

These officials really try so hard to outdo each other with the crap they come out with !

Looks more like chaos to me. We do but we don't.

[elgordo38]

2 hours ago, realenglish1 said:

This was a stupid idea to begin with "banning food vendors "

Yes they definitely are not on a winning streak lately. 

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, yellowboat said:

You would actually have to roads and areas that are maintained.  There is absolutely no danger of Yaowarat road ever even faintly looking like Orchard Road.  Perhaps they should fix the side walks along Sukhimvit Road ?

There you go raining on the governments parade. Maybe after all the relocation is over they should have a parade complete with the press and cameras. My how they love cameras. 

[Sphere]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Nearly two-thirds of Bangkok's 30,000 street vendors have already been removed or relocated from pavements to open up space for pedestrians, according to city officials. 

 

Where is this parallel Bangkok that these city officials are from? 

[Kinnock]

I think it's a unique approach to move the food carts, but leave the drug dealers and prostitutes.  It's sort an 'anti-matter Singapore'

[elgordo38]

25 minutes ago, Sphere said:

 

Where is this parallel Bangkok that these city officials are from? 

Dear Junta

Please do not spread your goodwill to Chiang Mai we like things how they are. 

[Thainess]

Yeah, Bangkok is unique all right. Only city in the world that tolerates literally thousands of hookers every night standing the whole length of the street (lower Sukhumvit) in the heart of its central business district. The only country in the world that truly has no shame as long as there's money to be made. Not a shred of civic pride.

[realenglish1]

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

Yes they definitely are not on a winning streak lately. 

This is what happens when you do not have a duly elected government They think they know what's good for you 

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, realenglish1 said:

This is what happens when you do not have a duly elected government They think they know what's good for you 

In the process they never pass up what they think is good for themselves either in fact it comes first. 

[lamyai3]

It is indeed unique. The only place in the world that's planning to celebrate and promote it's street food at the same time as it's planning to banish it.