Facing New Regulations, Khao San Road Street Vendors March on City Hall
Khao San Road’s famous street vendors, known for selling everything under the sun, plan to march on City Hall today to protest new strict regulations that will go into effect on August 1st.
The new requirements are part of Bangkok’s four-year cleanliness and order campaign targeting street sellers, which–up until a two weeks ago–had exempted vendors operating in the Khao San Road area.
According to the street vendors, Bangkok officials have routinely failed to explain how the new regulations would go into effect and what they would mean for their pop-up businesses.
Just three days before the new rules came into effect, vendors learned what would vaguely be required of them. The plan requires that all street vendors and food carts stay off the sidewalk and go into designated areas along one side of the road. The other side of the road would function as an emergency lane.
On top of that, street vendors will only be allowed to operate from 6 pm to midnight.
“A market with charm is a market formed naturally, not one carefully constructed. The liveliness of this market is what the tourists come to experience,” said Natcha Aree, a stall owner at Khao San.
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