Bangkok Banning Street Food by 2018

[Rockheart]

Looks like the government is cracking down on street vendors mainly on busy streets and sidewalks.
By next year they will have removed food vendors in many busy places in Bangkok.
We will see how this fares for the character in Bangkok. Many tourists come to Bangkok for the uncontrolled line up of cheap street food.
Will it lead to higher prices and hardship for poorer people?

http://time.com/4743955/bangkok-street-food-ban/

http://www.smh.com.au/world/every-street-vendor-will-have-to-move-out-bangkok-to-cease-being-finest-street-food-destination-20170418-gvms5a.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/18/the-best-street-food-on-the-planet-but-bangkok-bans-its-roadside-stalls

[George Pill]

I do NOT like this at all. One of the fun things I like to do is walk into a restaurant and watch what other people order. Even with their small frames they can eat BIG like the gal in the photo. I always miss the Thai food. From Grand Sukhumvit Bangkok walk straight east until you hit the left turn into Soi 6. Keep walking straight and do no turn left. You will see this smallish wheeled mini-kitchen where people order and walk into a driveway when they can sit down under some shady banyan trees. The fried rice with shrimp, chicken, or beef is super good. Everywhere I go I order this. Watch what others eat and copy them. Same in Chatuchat Market on the weekends. Makes my mouth water to think how far away November is. This business of making Thailand a family-oriented destination is so wrong. Westerners don't want to see the same things we have back home. We want exotic smells, sounds, people, sights. We don't want western prices. The junta is so junk.

[rxpharm]

It's a misguided notion that Singapore tried and realized it was mistake - so they built areas for the street hawkers a few years after banning them. A compromise, but not as good as the original street food vendors.

The irony of this since Thailand was recognized as one of the top street food countries by some travel writing site - the TAT is holding a Street Food Festival for June 2017 - true Thai thinking at its best, after the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority announced the street food ban.

[George Pill]

http://pattayaone.news/en/thonglor-people-interviewed-street-food-ban/

Seriously a lot of Thais depend on these cheap food stalls to save money. I think the problem is crowding the sidewalks and the smelly disposal of foodstuff (liquid and solid) onto the streets and into the storm drains. Some dump them into dumpsters filling them up with water, soups, sauces, etc. then the crud clogs up the pipes and causes floods. Sanitation is the main reason why the stalls are being banned. Can't help it.

[Rockheart]

Sanitation and health standards will eventually go to far like in North America.
Other than the odd hot dog stand, street food was essentially wiped out in Canada and the USA I think.
Due to increasingly strict health standards you pretty much had to have a full restaurant space if you wanted to cook.

Now food trucks are bringing back street food in the west.
However these food trucks are very expensive to purchase and are necessary to meet health standards here.
Plus most can't serve simple food as every nowdays has to be "gourmet".

When I used to stay with my GFs family in Lat Krabang, a guy came by the house every day and had the best soup I've every tried.
Every day I would go and get 1 or two bowls of his soup. You could bring your own bowl too as he came right to the door.
An independant like this peddling soup door to door would not be allowed in North America as he could not afford to meet the standards.
Some things we are missing out on is good cheap street food like this, which can never again exist. A soup truck would struggle.

Many people think eating street food is dangerous due to the lack of standards.
However almost all these street vendors in Thailand are independantly sourcing their food.
Often they are buying it fresh daily and not re-using old food since they have no place to keep it.
So right away they have an advantage over store front restaurants who always re use old food to save money.
Often these restaurants use common food sources which can cause wider problems if the source gets contaminated.
Street food isn't as dangerous as some think, except it may be far too spicey in Thailand.

[rxpharm]

I agree with your assessment 100% Crag - this is a very shortsighted move by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, and will make Thailand a less desirable tourist destination.

[BAM]

I always got a kick out of the street vendors selling cooked bugs... just don't eat the fried scorpions tail !

[kardus]

some say is an effort to emulate the sterilised sheen of Singapore, city authorities have announced that vendors will no longer be allowed to cook up their wares for ?order and hygiene reasons?.

[rxpharm]

Sanitation and hygiene are the reasons given, however more likely is that the government will make more money issuing licenses due to new regulations. The street vendors of the past did not have to get a gov't license to operate - they leased the space used for sales period (mornings, afternoons, nights) from the building owner's sidewalk space (although legally the sidewalk didn't belong to the building owner). The city was missing out on the action and so new regulations have been drafted.

[George Pill]

If you're in Pattaya and on the Beach Road do walk over to that Soi with the post office. From there walk towards the mountains and on the right you will see a restaurant without a front wall. They serve excellent lunches. LOOOOOVE their fried rice. They are very busy but love me when I shout out loudly, "Hey! What's for lunch?" They serve superb friend rice and you can choose chicken, beef, or pork. The meats are very fresh as are the greens and rice. I ate there every day and ordered a take home. Sometimes there's a large wheeled cart full of dishes in front of that eatery. What delicious food that I've never seen before. Such an adventure to take a little plastic spoon and take everything before you choose what you want to eat. I love Thailand. Second best thing to sex. Oh I'm so hungry now!

[joeaf]

I have a split opinion on this ban. I love Thai street food, but in some areas, the street food takes up all the sidewalk space and you have to walk in the street, e.g. the street food w/tables & chairs on Soi 4 between the Sukhumvit Rd gas station and Nana Hotel parking lot. Also, I have heard and seen more rats in Bangkok, where vendors pile up their garbage in plastic bags.

[mozart]

I won't miss it too much, i eat most of my meals at Foodland!