Nine alternative spots found for 185 street vendors vacated from Sukhumvit road
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has found nine locations to support 185 street vendors who had been told to vacate from along Sukhumvit Road from Soi 1-21, and will this week summon the traders to discuss and register their details for space allocation, Deputy Bangkok Governor Sakolthee Phattiyakul said on Monday.
The nine alternative spots comprise five locations in Watthana district – Rung Arun Market, Sud Khet Market, Ruam Sap Market, Srinakharinwirot University Market, and Liberty Building Market – and four in Khlong Toei district, at Art Narong Night Bazaar, Khlong Toei Market, Plawan Market, and Thanommit Market, he said.
The owners of all nine sites have been told to charge the vendors a fair space-rental fee.
Sakolthee added that the government and the BMA had agreed on a policy not to allow vendors to return to do business at the already-cancelled roadside spots, because doing so would only lead to a repeat of the traffic congestion and disorderly conditions previously experienced in those areas.
Since May 1, 2016, the BMA has cancelled 488 locations – previously designated for street vendors selling their merchandise – across all 50 Bangkok districts, affecting 11,805 vendors, the deputy governor said.
A further 195 locations are currently in the process of being barred from street-merchant activities, which will affect another 8,366 vendors, he said, adding that city officials would this month propose the cancellation of additional street-vending areas in Phra Khanong and Rat Burana districts.