Op-ed piece...


A determined drive against food stalls

The BMA is being lambasted for shutting down sidewalk vendors, but restrictions are needed

A plan by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to ban sidewalk food stalls throughout the city has met with a huge public outcry. The groans are coming not just from the vendors and lower-income residents who depend on the inexpensive fare for their daily meals, but also from foreign tourists who view street food as a major attraction of this city, part of its innate charm.

The city’s efforts to “return” the pavement space to pedestrians has met with much praise from residents in general, even if it’s caused aggravation and financial harm for the street vendors who have to find new places to do business or shut down altogether. Most Bangkok sidewalks are narrow, particularly in the inner city. It’s entirely the fault of poor urban planning, the result of two centuries of letting residences and shophouses nudge close to footpaths, so that when the roads were inevitably widened to handle more traffic, the buildings were directly abutting.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news...orial/30312761