Bangkok bans its street food leaving foodies fed up, vendors in a pickle

[webfact]

Bangkok bans its street food leaving foodies fed up, vendors in a pickle

REUTERS

 

People queue to buy their lunch at a street food shop in Bangkok,Thailand April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Authorities in Thailand's capital are banishing its world-famous street-food vendors as part of a clean-up drive by the military government, outraging foodies and threatening the livelihoods of the road-side cooks.

 

Thailand's street-food hawkers whip up tasty delights, from noodles and fried rice to oyster omelettes, in the blink of an eye, often with little more than a gas-cannister kitchen on a cart.

 

Bangkok is often voted the world's best destination for street food in travel polls. Residents and visitors throng to the makeshift restaurants, often with plastic stools and tiny tables strung out on pavements in almost every neighbourhood.

 

But that's soon all going to change under an edict aimed at bringing order to the bustling city of some 12 million people.

 

"We would like the consumers, tourists or even the Thai patrons to be entitled to sanitary food, so far I don't think we have achieved that," Wallop Suwandee, chief adviser to Bangkok's governor, told Reuters.

 

"We have to check the food preparation," he said. "They shouldn't clean and throw away dirty water into the drainage system."

 

He said food stalls would be moved off the pavements and some could be relocated to new sites.

 

The edict has left roadside dessert vendor Chaluay Thongku, 56, wondering how he can re-build a business.

 

"I disagree with this because I'll have to start all over again," he said.

 

Food writer Korakot Punlopruksa said vendors were being unfairly treated.

 

"This is disgraceful and not fair to people ... This is how the city value people? This is how the authorities solve the problem? I don't think so," she wrote in a Facebook post.

 

The clean-up is part of a wider effort by the military government, which came to power after a 2014 coup, to impose order.

 

The junta has cracked down on various issues ranging from taxi gangs at airports to prostitution, which is illegal in Thailand, with mostly mixed results.

 

(Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Jutarat Skulpichetrat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-21

[Chip Allen]

 Bringing misery back to the people.  That's our Junta.

[darksidedog]

I wish these idiots could make up their mind. Over the past three days its being banned, then its just being cleaned up, then its banned again, then rezoned and now the story changes again. More crazy twists to the plot than a Thai soap opera.

[DrTuner]

Whoever it was that managed to convince the world deep fried low grade sausages on a stick are the pinnacle of foodism deserves a Nobel in marketing.

[jaltsc]

 "Authorities in Thailand's capital are banishing its world-famous street-food vendors..."

 

 But they are still going through with their Street Food Festival in June in order to attract more tourists.

 

Only in Thailand.

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/food-drink/kidding-banning-vendors-across-city-bma-co-host-bangkok-street-food-festival-june/

Edited April 21, 2017 by jaltsc

[Deli]

As we have seen it before with these guys, no plan, no idea about real needs and far away from having ( better ) solutions.

 

 

[canuckamuck]

 

The strategy of the government seems to be, to make a radical declaration effective immediately, causing panic and outrage. And then to back down with a different dead line, then to back down with a reinterpretation of the declaration, then bring in some regulation that may or may not be enforced, depending on the probability of tea money.

[the guest]

Are these vendors paying tax?

[baboon]

"Food writer Korakot Punlopruksa said vendors were being unfairly treated.

 

"This is disgraceful and not fair to people ... This is how the city value people? This is how the authorities solve the problem? I don't think so," she wrote in a Facebook post."

 

Pack a toothbrush, fresh clothes and sanitary products. You're going away for a while...

[CGW]

16 minutes ago, the guest said:

Are these vendors paying tax?

No! but, bet they will be in the future when they are operating from approved food centers and paying rent to the landlords, not camping in front of their buildings?

 

[djayz]

I agree that the level of hygene/sanitation neeeds to be improved dramatically but disagree with banning them entirely. 

They provide inexpensive and generally healthier fast food compared to McDonalds, Burger King, etc. AND it provides hundreds of thousands of people with an income. 

Impose better health/hygene standards, conduct regular controls and punish those who don't comply. 

Pretty simple, straight forward solution. 

[yellowboat]

An in depth study would be nice; how many vendors are there in metro Bangkok, how much do they sell, how much do they buy from distributors ?  Knowing the market value and comparing it to positive news reporting would give a junta important market data from which decisions could be made with consideration.  Ah but knee jerk autocracy seems to be the way in today's Thailand.

Edited April 21, 2017 by yellowboat

[djayz]

19 minutes ago, the guest said:

Are these vendors paying tax?

No, they probably don't pay tax but then again they're not sitting in front of the TV waiting for a dole cheque or some other social benefits handout like a lot back in Farangistan do. I complement any man/woman who tries to make a living - irrespective of whether or not they pay tax. 

 

[mtls2005]

I'm often amazed that the relative burgeoning food truck scene hasn't been brought under control by the Junta. 

 

Maybe that's coming next week?

 

 

Edited April 21, 2017 by mtls2005

[binjalin]

'Vendors in a Pickle' who writes that crap?

 

anyway the elite who wrote this banning order will be no doubt be sitting in their air con expensive restaurants applauding themselves for cleaning the peasantry away from the streets but forget, entirely, they also clear away much of the culture and charm.

 

Enforce food hygiene and required a basic food hygiene cert to sell food I get that but this?  this is all about control and flexing the ammarts muscles 'because they can'.  

[mtls2005]

anyway the elite who wrote this banning order will be no doubt be sitting in their air con expensive restaurants applauding themselves for cleaning the peasantry away from the streets 

 

"Let them eat cake, just not on the street."

[CGW]

Singapore has some of the best street food in the world, not sold on the street though but from government controlled food centers, maybe - just maybe????

Win, win for the powers that be! they can tax them, they pay rent to their 'buddies" etc

[webfact]

Is Bangkok really banning street food?

CNN staff

 

Fears that Bangkok plans to ban all street food sparked global outrage this week.

 

(CNN)When news broke this week that Bangkok was reportedly planning to clear the streets of its beloved street food vendors, outrage broke out among fans of the city's famously cheap eats as the story racked up global headlines.

 

Bangkok's governor, Wanlop Suwandee, was quoted by English daily The Nation as saying the city is now "working to get rid of the street vendors from all 50 districts of Bangkok and return the pavements to the pedestrians. Yaowarat and Khao San Road will be our next goal in clearing out illegal vendors."

 

Cue the backtracking.

 

Government officials now say that while some areas will be cleared of street vendors in the name of public safety, they'll impose stricter rules on cleanliness and hygiene in other popular street food areas like Khao San Road and Yaowarat (Chinatown).

 

Full story: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/foodanddrink/bangkok-street-food-ban/

 

-- © Copyright CNN 2017-04-21

[maoro2013]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

prostitution, which is illegal in Thailand

Wrong. Soliciting is illegal and some other laws under public nuisance may be brought into play.

[maoro2013]

42 minutes ago, the guest said:

Are these vendors paying tax?

I mentioned in a previous post that anyone who buys anything here pays VAT and it is inherent in virtually anything that has come from most suppliers. These vendors buy noodles and meatballs and other things, they have paid some tax.

[mtls2005]

1 minute ago, maoro2013 said:

I mentioned in a previous post that anyone who buys anything here pays VAT and it is inherent in virtually anything that has come from most suppliers. These vendors buy noodles and meatballs and other things, they have paid some tax.

 

Most of these street vendors buy fresh meat/veg in (wet) markets where no VAT is charged/collected/paid.

 

The government has long found the cash economy challenging to deal with from a tax perspective, and has made several attempts to insert the tax-man into the equation., like recent epayment schemes.

[cunningstunt]

No, they probably don't pay tax but then again they're not sitting in front of the TV waiting for a dole cheque or some other social benefits handout like a lot back in Farangistan do. I complement any man/woman who tries to make a living - irrespective of whether or not they pay tax. 
 

You simply can not allow squatters selling anything to not pay rent or pay tax.
How would you feel if you were a small resteraunt owner or bar owner and they set up in front of your shop? And you have to pay tax and rent... Yep thought so

[NanLaew]

40 minutes ago, djayz said:

I complement any man/woman who tries to make a living - irrespective of whether or not they pay tax.

Noted, with thanks.

 

Best regards,

(Sir) Philip Green

Edited April 21, 2017 by NanLaew

[maoro2013]

4 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Most of these street vendors buy fresh meat/veg in (wet) markets where no VAT is charged/collected/paid.

 

The government has long found the cash economy challenging to deal with from a tax perspective, and has made several attempts to insert the tax-man into the equation., like recent epayment schemes.

Well people producing the market food have paid VAT on fertilizer and pig food etc. Some tax has been levied. In fact I like the VAT tax, it ensures everyone pays something, approximately in accordance with their consumption. This helps to kill off what used to be a huge 'black market'. The VAT is obviously included as part of the final selling price. OK so the Value Added bit is left out of the street vendors extra value.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, cunningstunt said:

How would you feel if you were a small resteraunt owner or bar owner and they set up in front of your shop? And you have to pay tax and rent... Yep thought so

Do you think that the food carts that pitch up outside so many 7 eleven's do so un-asked and with impunity? The sad franchise holders are so cash-strapped with their 'investment' in the CP empire, they need to rent out that space to make ends meet. I have noted a trend for newer, larger 7 elevens to have a large, designated, signposted 'customers only'  parking area out front and a conspicuous absence of vendors. Maybe CP's newer franchise agreements prohibit owners making any extra money this way?

[mtls2005]

Well people producing the market food have paid VAT on fertilizer and pig food etc. Some tax has been levied.

 

Correct.

 

Some tax has been applied in the production/supply chain. Just not as much as you might think.

 

 

[cunningstunt]

Do you think that the food carts that pitch up outside so many 7 eleven's do so un-asked and with impunity? The sad franchise holders are so cash-strapped with their 'investment' in the CP empire, they need to rent out that space to make ends meet. I have noted a trend for newer, larger 7 elevens to have a large, designated, signposted 'customers only'  parking area out front and a conspicuous absence of vendors. Maybe CP's newer franchise agreements prohibit owners making any extra money this way?

That makes no sense. If your business is suffering you don't rent out your shop front to a business that's competing against you.

 

Maybe rent it to a hat seller but never a food and drink seller

However I was talking about the thousands of mom n pop resteraunts across Thailand . They are hard workers to, why do they have to pay rent and tax?

 

 

 

[adrock212]

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

Whoever it was that managed to convince the world deep fried low grade sausages on a stick are the pinnacle of foodism deserves a Nobel in marketing.

If you think street vendors only sell sausage on a stick then maybe you need to get out more

[djayz]

13 minutes ago, cunningstunt said:

You simply can not allow squatters selling anything to not pay rent or pay tax.
How would you feel if you were a small resteraunt owner or bar owner and they set up in front of your shop? And you have to pay tax and rent... Yep thought so
 

As far as I know, many (most? All?) pay some form of "rent". Sometimes directly to the shop/restaurant owner in front of whose shop they have set up, but more times than not they pay it directly to the dept./office responsible for the streets / street paths.

How do I know this? It came up a few years ago when I was negotiating a rental agreement for a shophouse in Hua Hin. That's how it was explained to me re the stall owners in front of my then potential restaurant. The only way I could have kept them from the space in front of my business would have been to rent that space aswell... 

For various reasons, including the above, I aborted the idea of opening my own place. 

Re tax: I have no problem with them not paying tax. Their profit margins are pretty low I guess. Besides, why should they pay for some politicians Mercedes Benz, state paid trips abroad wining and dining in the best restaurants, nights in presidential suites, etc.? 

Fair play to them if they can get away with it I say. 

[RBOP]

Lunch "sidewalk" venders  become so dense near Sathorn and Naratiwat rd choking the side walk you could only walk single file at some points and  just became so jammed  often had stand for a couple minutes before you could move again. I've not gone back Sara-Janes restaurant  in more than a year because of the chaos these street venders have caused. There is a market for venders but not enough space apparently.