The citywide war on street vendors continues, and Khao San Road has been targeted next. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has said that street vendors on the tourist street will only be allowed to sell Thursday through Sunday from 6pm until midnight.
Currently, they are allowed to ply their elephant pants, Leo tank tops, and annoying wooden frog noisemakers every evening except Monday.
A group of Khao San vendors has banded together to object to the regulations saying that, obviously, it will hurt their income and maybe affect tourism as well. Yada Pornphetrumpha is leading the group of vendors, who held a meeting at Wat Chanasongkhram School yesterday to talk about the new regulations.
The new rules also state that the stalls need to stay on one side of the street as well as restricting their selling days from six to four.
The new rules are part of the BMA clean-up campaign. This initiative was started two years ago and aims to clear streets that have been taken over, sometimes for decades, by vendors.
The program has helped to clear vendors from Khlong Thom, Saphan Lek, and Pak Klong markets but have had trouble with getting the vendors in Siam Square, Yaowarat, and Pratunam to comply. Many of the vendors in these areas have simply ignored the eviction attempts.
Yada said that her group wants the rules relaxed. They want to sell on more days of the week and want a larger plot of street area on which to sell. They have asked for a 1.2-meter area on Khao San for their stalls.
In exchange for giving them what they want, the vendors have offered to keep the area clean and help to watch for criminals, reported Bangkok Post.
Wisut Kittiraweechot, director of the City Cultural Council of Phra Nakhon, said his agency supports the new rules. He disagrees with Yada that regulating the vendors will hurt tourism. He believes that having a cleaner, more organized Khao San will attract more people to the backpacker hangout.
He also made the valid point that limiting vendors to one side of the street will allow police and ambulance to better access the area in the cases of crimes or emergencies.
He did agree that the income of the vendors will suffer, however, and asked authorities to let the vendors help to create new regulations
Yada said her group will submit ideas to the BMA and ask the trade association for help.
If the BMA allows them to have a say, it will be the first time vendors ever take part in creating rules.
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