Earlier media reports of Bangkok banning street food have caused a stir worldwide, but while the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has clarified that its stricter regulations do not equate to a crackdown on sidewalk vendors, trade players still express unease about the impact the changes might have on business.
The regulations will include measures to ensure that street food vendors meet universal hygiene standards and reflect local identities.
Street food vendor and tourist on Khao San road
Kitichai Siraprapanurat, managing director of Bangkok Food Tours, welcomes the idea of putting order into Bangkok street food vendors by applying zoning regulations in Yaowarat (Chinatown) and Khao San roads, both popular areas for foreign visitors.
However, he said misleading foreign reports on the regulations have affected the company’s image as they created doubts among foreign customers on whether its tours would continue. Kitichai assured that it is business as usual for the company.
Benchawan Pholpituke, manager of Mama Travel and Tour, worries that BMA’s strict regulations may have some impact on tour operators, citing the example of the authorities preventing street vendors from selling food or products on Khao San Road every Monday for the last few years, resulting in reduced visitor traffic and loss of potential business from tourists on Mondays.
Meanwhile, BMA and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will jointly organise a Bangkok Street Food Festival in June 2017 to promote the country’s street food, considered a big tourist draw for Bangkok.
