SURVEY: Should Street Food Vendors Be Banned?

[Scott]

Although it appears that the government is doing a rethink on banning street food in Bangkok, do you think that street food should be banned throughout Thailand?

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/978919-bma-bans-all-street-food-across-bangkok-this-year/

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/979494-bangkok-bans-its-street-food-leaving-foodies-fed-up-vendors-in-a-pickle/#comment-11816888

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Not banned completely but the plan to reorganize them into dedicated areas or zones might actually be a good idea, imo.

 

Also having the food vendors conform to some kind of cleanliness/hygiene standards can only be a good thing too. 

[djayz]

Not sure about the whole dedicated zoning concept, but improving hygiene is an absolute must!

[Rumbleg]

The mobile food vendors, those with a push cart or moto-trike, who ply the Soi should be allowed but those with semi permanent  set-ups with chairs and tables blocking the footpath should go. I know of a few who have lock-ups built on the footpath to store their equipment after hours. After all they are street vendors not footpath vendors.

[JAG]

Could really use a fourth option, not banned but some supervision and restrictions?

 

What we have here is a choice between the "cut off their goolies" brigade, or let them do whatever they want.

[Ricardo]

Perhaps better to enforce/strengthen the existing clean-food campaign, instead of generating bad-publicity world-wide, by planning to ban street-food in Bangkok ?

 

Talk about shooting oneself in-the-foot,  while placing the foot firmly in one's mouth !

 

Thailand, Hub of Own-Goals ?

[balo]

No! 

 

[Aj Mick]

3 hours ago, Rumbleg said:

The mobile food vendors, those with a push cart or moto-trike, who ply the Soi should be allowed but those with semi permanent  set-ups with chairs and tables blocking the footpath should go. I know of a few who have lock-ups built on the footpath to store their equipment after hours. After all they are street vendors not footpath vendors.

I concur….. A pity something like this was not among the voting options.

[Roadman]

As a person who actually spends a lot of times walking (granted that will be a surprise to most that think like thais) not only around the streets of Bangkok but also other cities in Isaan I would like to see them gone. Admittedly I no longer bang my head on the little peoples sun covers like 15 to 20 years ago but more the foot path stalls are a pain as you are up and down off the foot path and at the mercy of the street traffic. Put them into areas that dont impede foot and vehicle traffic. Personally I fail to see the need for them as even in the smallest village there are foot courts or the village granny selling anything you could want.

[NoshowJones]

I wanted to vote in this survey, but cannot, so I will give you my opinion.

 

Street food vendors should not be banned, but only if there is plenty of room for pedestrians to walk past with plenty of room on both sides.

 

Street food vendors and any other vendors should not be allowed if they cause any obstruction at all to pedestrians.

 

There you have it.

[IMA_FARANG]

How about closing down walking street in Pattaya instead?

 

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, djayz said:

Not sure about the whole dedicated zoning concept, but improving hygiene is an absolute must!

I've never had any problem with street food as far as health issues are concerned. If you don't think the food is prepared or kept properly, move on to another vendor or go eat in some supposedly hygienic restaurant. 

 

One of the nice thing about food vendors is that they can be found in so many places. Herding them into certain areas would defeat their convenient availability. Over-regulation by government is something being opposed in most countries. Enforcement is rarely consistent, leads to more corruption and benefits no one.  If someone is not providing good food, they'll lose business. Customer feedback will be more effective than hiring people to go around pretending to inspect every vendor. 

 

 

[jaltsc]

 Do you think street food vendors should be banned?

 

Definitely. A ban would force potential tourists to visit other countries.  Who needs millions of foreign tourist coming to Thailand just for street food? Oh Yeah....The Thai economy and all the businesses that depend on them . 

 

The people who mold Thai policies seem to have 20/20 vision....When it comes to shooting themselves in the foot.

[Suradit69]

8 minutes ago, IMA_FARANG said:

How about closing down walking street in Pattaya instead?

 

And then all the idiots who, for some reason, spend their time there would be left to wander everywhere else. 

[Chicken George]

Areas set aside for street food but not on pavements. Its like a free for all at the moment.. Seems like its controlled by the local mafia.

[Andrew Dwyer]

How do you vote in this survey ?

[DrTuner]

Just provide a regulated space and ban hawking outside them. Something like the Thepprasit night market in Pattaya, which is now a pleasure to shop for food in, after they cleaned it up.

[Ceruhe]

Missing the option "Only when it bothers me and then I will flip flop to I don't care when it doesn't"

 

This is just a poll for deaf ears to be listened to.

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

I wanted to vote in this survey, but cannot, so I will give you my opinion.

 

Street food vendors should not be banned, but only if there is plenty of room for pedestrians to walk past with plenty of room on both sides.

 

Street food vendors and any other vendors should not be allowed if they cause any obstruction at all to pedestrians.

 

There you have it.

A great idea if there was any hope in H that it would be set up and enforced by somebody

[dick dasterdly]

*Deleted post edited out*

 

And that's the point - sensible controls are a dream, and even in first world countries people occasionally suffer from food poisoning after eating in restaurants.

 

Back in the real Thailand world - many Thais enjoy street food.  Often picked up on their way to work, so unlikely they'd appreciate having to travel to a designated 'food area'.

[Stray]

Yes, they should be banned from everywhere, EXCEPT from the places wherever I happen to be and I need one when I'm hungry.

 

I'm walking down Sukhumvit, feel like a feed but have to make the trip all the way to Khao Sahn . . . seems like a sensible (not) approach.

[SiamBeast]

There needs to  be controls. Do not ban street food but require hygiene inspections. For example, the vendor leaving meat under the sun for hours should get a heavy fine.

[DrTuner]

20 minutes ago, Stray said:

I'm walking down Sukhumvit, feel like a feed but have to make the trip all the way to Khao Sahn . . . seems like a sensible (not) approach.

That's another major problem in Bangkok. Getting anywhere is a nightmare, so everything has to be replicated every 50 meters. Hawking centers need an effective transport network to enable the herds.

[dick dasterdly]

11 minutes ago, SiamBeast said:

There needs to  be controls. Do not ban street food but require hygiene inspections. For example, the vendor leaving meat under the sun for hours should get a heavy fine.

Never thought I'd say this, but 'its up to you'  whether you choose to eat from a place that has food lying "under the sun for hours".

 

Most of us (?) realise that gravitating towards a popular vendor (Thais as well as foreigners) is probably a good idea when buying street food, and that hygiene will be as bad (or nearly as bad) in the 'restaurants'.

[jimster]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

I've never had any problem with street food as far as health issues are concerned. If you don't think the food is prepared or kept properly, move on to another vendor or go eat in some supposedly hygienic restaurant. 

 

One of the nice thing about food vendors is that they can be found in so many places. Herding them into certain areas would defeat their convenient availability. Over-regulation by government is something being opposed in most countries. Enforcement is rarely consistent, leads to more corruption and benefits no one.  If someone is not providing good food, they'll lose business. Customer feedback will be more effective than hiring people to go around pretending to inspect every vendor. 

 

 

Absolutely. Street food is also a major drawcard for foreign visitors traveling to Thailand. Without them, Bangkok will become little more than a slightly less sanitized and more chaotic version of Singapore.

 

As many people have said and I concur with as my experience has been the same, I've never been sick from eating street food, but I have suffered food poisoning from eating in a supposedly "hygienic" restaurant.

 

This whole shutting down street vendors campaign has nothing to do with beautifying the pavement allowing pedestrians to move more freely or to improve hygiene. It's about getting rid of competition, increasing taxation and it all benefits the government and of course big food conglomerates such as CP. From a personal point of view, if I'm walking on the pavement it means I'm heading to a street vendor or somewhere nearby. Like most other Thais, I don't spend my time walking in Bangkok, I drive. Even without street vendors, the pavements would still be uneven, smelly and congested.

[jimster]

50 minutes ago, Stray said:

Yes, they should be banned from everywhere, EXCEPT from the places wherever I happen to be and I need one when I'm hungry.

 

I'm walking down Sukhumvit, feel like a feed but have to make the trip all the way to Khao Sahn . . . seems like a sensible (not) approach.

Well as it turns out, the original plan was to ban them in Khao San road and Yaowarat (Chinatown) too, which would be just insane. First of all, Khao San road is a pedestrian street anyway, tourists don't go there to walk down an empty street with buildings that can be found anywhere else, street food and street stalls selling clothing etc. are part of the attraction, it's a "one stop service" street, so to speak. And this is coming from someone that is not all that fond of Khao San road himself, but that's mainly because of all the backpackers and their behavior, though I've been known to enjoy the Songkran festivities and an occasional drink there.

 

Yaowarat is similar, the roads there are perennially congested but not because of the street food stalls. More because of terrible traffic management. It's one of the few places in the world where traffic is at a standstill at 3am.

[Moonmoon]

6 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Not banned completely but the plan to reorganize them into dedicated areas or zones might actually be a good idea, imo.

 

Also having the food vendors conform to some kind of cleanliness/hygiene standards can only be a good thing too. 

Yes, most street food vendors should be banned from occupying any public place. thats my choice. 

 

And the comment from Fairfield is exactly what I feel.

[Basil B]

Did not not vote because I could not concur with any of the statements...

 

My thoughts are:

• Strict food hygiene laws 
• Enforced by food inspectors
• Licencing static and mobile vendors on public land such as kerbside & sidewalks, beaches, public parks, etc.
• Laws to enable landowners/tenant to easily evict vendors off their land.

 

From I my experience I would say I have seen worse in many other countries including the USA...

 

 

 

[samsensam]

 

i think you're missing the point here; are you talking about legal or illegal street vendors ?

 

i think illegal ones should be removed, but legal ones should not.

[Moonmoon]

6 minutes ago, jimster said:

 

 

Yaowarat is similar, the roads there are perennially congested but not because of the street food stalls. More because of terrible traffic management. It's one of the few places in the world where traffic is at a standstill at 3am.

have you been to Yaowarat recently? The traffic standstill at night is a result of vehicles parking by the roadside 2 to 3 lanes out. This has been solved by the police wheel clamping any vehicles that does so. all vehicles has been forced to look for parking either inside the temple parking or grand china hotel parking. the midnight traffic has already been solved since mid of last year. I go there almost every month.

 

The day situation is just everyone is there for business and work thats why the traffic situation is bad. even if there are street food vendors, they do not contribute in anyway  to the traffic situation at all.