BMA, vendors look for street trade truce

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has ordered district offices to set up a panel to work out a way for vendors and pedestrians to "coexist", a move seen as a compromise in the ongoing dispute over pavement encroachment.

The district panels will present a solution to how the vendors and pedestrians can share space, Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang said after a meeting between the BMA and vendors yesterday.

He has also instructed the panels to work quickly to find a solution. In the meantime, vendors will not be permitted to carry on trading or return to trade on pavements.

High-ranking BMA officials at the meeting insisted that legally, pavements are off-limits to vending or hawking.

The government has banned vending on pavements in many busy areas with the exception being in Khao San and Yaowarat roads which are popular among foreign tourists.

Street food vendors in the two areas will be required to earn a certificate by attending a course on food hygiene and proper sanitation practices, according to Vallop Suwandee, chairman of the advisers to the Bangkok governor.

In yesterday's meeting, Bangkok deputy governor Amnoy Nimmano said the vendors must respect the rights of pedestrians. The government has helped the vendors by finding them alternative trading locations and offering them financial assistance for their businesses.

Meanwhile, Watchara Phetthong, a former Democrat Party MP who represented the vendors at the meeting, said the government should allow vendors to trade in selected areas and tax them to earn extra revenue.

Somboon Banyen, a vendor from Rat Burana district, said many pavements in the district were wide enough to accommodate vendors, many of whom sell food to poor people.

Laksamon Kongsorn, a vendor at Bang Khun Sri market, said most vendors cannot afford the rent in new trading areas.