Welcome to Thailandblog.nl
With 275.000 visits per month, Thailandblog is the largest Thailand community in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Sign up for our free e-mail newsletter and stay informed!
Newsletter
Language setting
Rate Thai Baht
Sponsor
Latest comments
- RonnyLatYa: Yes, I say that Kanchanaburi is just an example and that you can change that. You can also do this on the web page itself and then see
- william-korat: In the dry period the line is bottom of Bangkok and lower and east of that to just above Khao Yai National Park usually we
- Eric Kuypers: If you change the command line, such as https://www.iqair.com/thailand/nong-khai, you will get a different city or region. But you
- Cornelis: Well, GeertP, I am absolutely not a 'Brussels sprouts supporter' or THE Red Brand addict, but that does not mean that I don't like the Thai cuisine.
- Rudolf: It depends on what you are looking for in Thailand, but to be honest you don't have much choice in my opinion. The big cities are falling apart
- RonnyLatYa: Also take a look at this. https://www.iqair.com/thailand/kanchanaburi Also scroll down a bit and they will also give you some explanation
- Peter (editor): I also enjoy the Thai food and yes, the price is very attractive. But it's just a fact that Thai farmers are unbelievable
- Jacks: It is best to go in the period November to February. Someone with asthma should absolutely not come here from March to May
- GeertP: Dear Ronald, I completely agree with your story, I also enjoy Thai cuisine every day and even after 45 years of Thai
- Eric Kuypers: Wilma, bad air is not in all of Thailand. Thailand is more than 12x the Netherlands! These are the big cities (traffic) and some
- Pjotter: kopi luwak regularly bought and drunk in the Netherlands. Usually only available some time before Christmas. You get the best coffee taste
- Jack S: Oh dear…. Except for the fact that I also start the day with a coffee, everything is different for me... my coffee is just a
- hans: Tastes differ, but this just looks beautiful.
- Lenaerts: Dear, I went to immigration yesterday to apply for a retirement visa, very friendly people and they helped quickly
- Aad: I buy my coffee at Lotus. Add a teaspoon of that coffee to warm water and enjoy
Sponsor
Bangkok again
Menu
Arrivals Bangkok Airport
DOSSIERS
Learning objectives and topics
- Background
- Activities
- Advertorial
- Agenda
- Tax question
- Belgium question
- Sights
- Bizarre
- Buddhism
- Book reviews
- Column
- Corona crisis
- The Culture
- Diary
- Dating
- The week of
- Dossier
- To dive
- Economy
- A day in the life of…..
- Islands
- Food and drink
- Events and festivals
- Balloon Festival
- Bo Sang Umbrella Festival
- Buffalo races
- Chiang Mai Flower Festival
- Chinese New Year
- Full Moon Party
- Christmas
- Lotus Festival – Rub Bua
- Loy Krathong
- Naga Fireball Festival
- New Years Eve celebration
- Phi ta khon
- Phuket Vegetarian Festival
- Rocket festival – Bun Bang Fai
- Songkran – Thai New Year
- Fireworks Festival Pattaya
- Expats and retirees
- state pension
- Car insurance
- Banking
- Tax in the Netherlands
- Thailand tax
- Belgian Embassy
- Belgian tax authorities
- Proof of life
- DigiD
- emigrate
- To rent a house
- Buy a house
- In memoriam
- Income statement
- King's day
- Cost of living
- Dutch embassy
- Dutch government
- Dutch Association
- News
- Passing away
- Passport
- Retirement
- Drivers license
- Distributions
- Elections
- Insurance in general
- Visa
- work
- Hospital
- Health insurance
- Flora and fauna
- Photo of the week
- Gadgets
- Money and finance
- History
- Health
- Charities
- Hotels
- Looking at houses
- Isaan
- Khan Peter
- Koh Mook
- King Bhumibol
- Living in Thailand
- Reader Submission
- Reader call
- Reader tips
- Reader question
- Society
- marketplace
- Medical tourism
- Environment
- Nightlife
- News from the Netherlands and Belgium
- News from Thailand
- Entrepreneurs and companies
- Education
- Research
- Discover Thailand
- Opinions
- Remarkable
- Calls
- Floods 2011
- Floods 2012
- Floods 2013
- Floods 2014
- Winter prices
- Politics
- Poll
- Travel stories
- Travel
- Organizations
- Shopping
- Social media
- Spa & wellness
- Sport
- Cities
- Position of the week
- The beach
- Language
- For sale
- TEV procedure
- Thailand in general
- Thailand with children
- thai tips
- Thai massage
- Tourism
- Going out
- Currency – Thai Baht
- From the editors
- Real estate law; and
- Traffic and transport
- Visa Short Stay
- Long stay visa
- Visa question
- Flight tickets
- Question of the week
- Weather and climate
Sponsor
Disclaimer translations
Thailandblog uses machine translations in multiple languages. Use of translated information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for errors in translations.
Read our full here disclaimer.
Royalty
© Copyright Thailandblog 2024. All rights reserved. Unless stated otherwise, all rights to information (text, image, sound, video, etc.) that you find on this site rest with Thailandblog.nl and its authors (bloggers).
Whole or partial takeover, placement on other sites, reproduction in any other way and/or commercial use of this information is not permitted, unless express written permission has been granted by Thailandblog.
Linking and referring to the pages on this website is permitted.
Home » News from Thailand » Food stalls in Bangkok are going to disappear by order of the city government
Another icon in Bangkok that has to clear the field: The popular food stalls must have disappeared from the streets of Bangkok before the end of the year. The city council wants to make the capital cleaner and safer and give the footpath back to pedestrians.
Previously, three popular districts were banned: Thong Lor, Ekkamai and Phra Khanong. Soon the famous backpacker street 'Khao San Road' will follow.
In time, the new measure will apply to all 50 districts of the city, said Wanlop Suwandee, a spokesman for the governor of Bangkok. According to him, the city must become cleaner and safer, two priorities of the city council. “The footpath must be returned to pedestrians. The street vendors are offered an alternative space,” says Wanlop.
Bangkok is famous for its many food stalls. In March, CNN named Bangkok the go-to destination for street food lovers for the second year in a row.
Source: The Nation
I am for and against banning street food stalls.
For means a safer and more pleasant passage for pedestrians.
Against no longer means entering a street food stall and losing this charm of Bangkok.
If care is taken that these stalls get a new place together, then banning them does not have to be a problem, small food courts are also fine, there are already many in Bangkok.
I wonder whether the shops will not immediately take up the space that has become available on the sidewalks or whether they will. those who already do this will also be banned.
Nico B
A very unwise decision to ban one of Bangkok's most distinctive and image-defining 'features'. Do they want to turn Bangkok into a kind of uniformity? The many stalls provide a great sense of security, even in the evening and at night. Stupid!
Very stupid and a shame, yes. Far fewer tourists go to Bangkok because this makes it so different from other cities.
I fear that the center of Bangkok will soon consist only of hotels, condos, offices and shopping centers. You can eat at Subway, McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut.
SIN SIN!! This is how charm of Bangkok and Thailand disappears
I think it is also nice with those food stalls and easy for a small bite.
Shouldn't they be checking traffic more in terms of safety, some drive like crazy
with too many hours and booze behind the wheel.
The actual reason is not mentioned. All those food stalls do not pay tax (IB). Undeclared workers. So uncontrollable for the state. And you know, just like the Dutch state/officials, the Thai love money. So get rid of it. What remains is controllable.
What happens to all those unemployed people from those stalls is unimportant.
Fortunately, this is only in Bangkok, perhaps intended to please a certain kind of holidaymaker.
These stalls belong to Thailand, just like the fresh herring stalls to the Netherlands and the, unfortunately disappearing, fries stalls to Belgium.
Been to Bangkok last year. Nice. Atmosphere with all the stalls. I can imagine organizing something. But ban. Shame.
Part of the fun disappears. Or is this an excuse to make more money. To start with food control. Some flout everything and throw junk in their food, resulting in an unpleasant visit to the toilet. And I don't understand what this has to do with security. I've never seen a car drive recklessly by. Or are they looking ahead to possible trucks
It is clear that the gentlemen and ladies at the top of the common tree do not eat at such stalls nor know what kind of atmosphere there is. An atmosphere that attracts many people and tourists. And affordability is also a big factor.
Not everyone can or wants to pay for restaurants with air conditioning and 'modern' cuisine (whether Burger King or Shabu Shabu). I like to eat at a stall on the street or a simple restaurant with 'primitive' means. Costs little for us, the atmosphere is great, etc.
Of course it is a matter of deliberation so that the passage for pedestrians, cyclists, etc. is also in order, but look at that on a case-by-case basis. Ditto with things like (food) safety etc. A complete ban on food stalls in Krungthep is really the wrong decision.
Bangkokians have been asking for decades that the food stalls would disappear, and there are more than enough alternatives. The only ones against it are the local mafia, the local police who charge the money to the illegal foreign food stall owners. In fact, there is only a commotion about their disappearance among foreign tourists and long-stayers who do not live in Bangkok. As a Bangkokian I find them a nuisance.
Nonsense! Day in, day out, the food stalls are packed with Bangkokians. Or are you claiming that these are all local mafia, local police and foreign tourists eating here?
Of course there are Bangkokians who would rather see the food stalls leave today than tomorrow, but there are also many Bangkokians who would like to keep them.
Me as a Bangkokian find them a delight.
I can still understand if the city council will take action against the disorder and the occasionally questionable hygiene around some food stalls. Only a complete ban is also the destruction of jobs, and mostly for the Thai affordable eateries. Moreover, it has a certain charm for many tourists, which makes Bangkok attractive, among other things, in addition to the other existing attractions. Moreover, due to the demolition of original buildings, the cityscape is increasingly in the hands of big capital, where only large department stores, hotels, and more expensive restaurants take place, which are unaffordable for the majority of the Thai population.
Fewer rats and cockroaches. Less food mixed with diesel and soot. Less old cooking fat, pesticide-rich vegetables and chickens that never saw the day. Is that so charming?
I agree with you.
I don't understand at all what all those people on the blog are talking about here.
Indeed, what is charming about it or what special “atmosphere” is associated with it? I do not understand it either.
For example, in Thong Lo, footpaths of 3 meters wide are reduced to narrow corridors of barely 50 cm insofar as you don't even have to step onto the roadway.
Sometimes with boiling fat a few centimeters from where you walk past.
Not to mention the nasty gunk on the sidewalks and in the drainage ditches.
Vermin, plastic and other residues fill the picture.
If there are tourists who come to Bangkok for that…. then they better save themselves the trouble and eat in the pigsty in the Netherlands or Belgium. In many cases that will be even better than in the streets of Bangkok.
But hey, to each his own isn't it....
I understand you and there is no one who turns those food stalls into a real tourist attraction, or sees a reason to definitely visit Thailand.
However, it is part of the long list of typical pleasant non-Western features of Thailand, and if these things are thrown out, all countries will eventually become uniform.
The disadvantages you list of those food stalls apply perfectly to our highly organized legally driven Western countries, in countries like Thailand you tolerate those things and they suddenly become pleasant aspects of a country...
Just like I go completely crazy in Antwerp when a driver doesn't let me cross at a zebra crossing!!!
In Thailand they almost run over my legs in traffic, and it doesn't bother me because it's Thailand...
Stupid, stupid, stupid, and this measure is very bad!
If they start banning all the typical (and innocent) features of Thailand/Bangkok, the charm and characteristic culture of this country will soon be over.
I'm really worried about several decisions that have already been made and will be made, and I never did that until a while ago...
If Thailand did not have other and often much greater problems and abuses, I would be the first to applaud this ban.
However, as long as nothing is done about corruption, about road safety, about the fire safety of many buildings, about the protection of many criminals, about the street mafia, about litter and household waste, about the rats in the cities, about the protection of the environment, water purification, etc., one should stay away from these atmospheric activities.
A few more of these measures and the country will collapse in terms of charm and appeal.
Well,
Personally I don't know what to do with it, in some places it's fine, but when I see how raw meat is in some places, I've been eating for months. In others, all the waste is simply thrown into the klong.
With me in Lak-Si is Soi 14 (diagonally opposite the Government Complex) This is originally a wide street with a sidewalk of about 2 meters wide, then 2 x 2 lanes and another sidewalk of about 2 meters wide. Today; no more sidewalks (everything taken over by shops and restaurants, the first lane taken over by tables, cones, scooters and rubbish. Suppliers are unloading on the 2nd lane and the traffic? During rush hour there is a traffic jam from everyone's house until Chiang Watthana Road.
Such situations abound in Bangkok, so if they are going to tackle something like this, I agree.
Greetings Nico
It is now starting to take on very nasty forms to the disadvantage of the poor Thai
and the foreigner.
For the Thai, eating at stalls is a must and they can buy their isaan foot.
Many of these new rules kick the shins of the poor Thai.
I can imagine that security could and should be improved, but in this way
you put your own population aside and a large number of foreigners who do this
especially come to Thailand to soak up the outdoor life.
If this continues, tourism will fall quickly and prices will skyrocket.
Thailand is now changing rapidly, but whether this is good for the economy remains to be seen.
Yours faithfully,
Erwin
Too bad it could be a reason for me not to go anymore.
I always find it so nice that you can buy some fruit, drinks, etc. wherever you are, which determines the atmosphere in the city. and I find it really nice to always have something to do. The flower market is no longer what it used to be and I loved going there. But yes, they can do that in Amsterdam as well. If something they have no control over, they just close it and that's it. pity .
I am in favor of abolishing street vendors, who offer their goods for sale at any time. It has been a chaotic mess for years and control is impossible with so few inspectors and so many stalls. Environmental requirements, knowledge, food safety and applicability versus sales income often does not go well. Where the stuff comes from also gives you food for thought. Take a look at how food transport works and compare this with the Netherlands. You don't know where to start when you take everything into account. The fact that a large number of street vendors are being relocated is a good thing, because quite a few Thai people live on this kind of income. Registration and inspection are possible at these types of designated locations. I regularly eat at our market and my wife has a market stall herself, so I know what I'm talking about. My wife is registered and also pays taxes as she should. On average, three times a year I have a number of days when I suffer from food poisoning from eating at these types of unregistered stalls. My intention is not to eat there anymore, it is better for my health, because I do not have a Thai stomach. So I am going to be consistent in this and advise everyone to do the same. There are plenty of alternatives available where you can enjoy a delicious meal for little. After all, Thailand is a country of food and there is plenty of it.
Sitting on rickety “chairs” on an overpressured footpath, with your feet in the gunk and rubbish, with the sight of cockroaches skittishly flashing past, in the sweltering heat and the stench of exhaust fumes and the deafening noise around you….. what can are you comfortable or attractive about it?
But for those who like it, don't worry. As with so many newly announced measures in Thailand, not much will come into the house afterwards.
Lots of blabla but few deeds see the light of day here.
As for me…. Shame.
It indeed has its charm. For me they shouldn't disappear, but I don't eat meat that has been in the heat for 8 hours.
I wonder if she will do that in China Town too!!!!
A while ago, this forum asked what you liked, or didn't like at all in Thailand. However, this measure is sliding, but with a dot on the not fun side. If the intention is to make Bangkok as clinically clean as Singapore, well, without me. Regrettably.
it's a pity to stop those eateries, fortunately in the suburbs, without tourism, they continue to exist,
debt to tourism? black workers? pedestrian benefit………
how do they do something in the suburbs then? plenty of food stalls etc. there are no problems
with undeclared workers and sidewalks……
where money is..
regarding health, I agree that street food should be banned. Hygiene often leaves much to be desired. Eating exhaust fumes in the middle of the car can't be healthy. The Thai government is also concerned about the image of the street scene in Bangkok. Little or no safe accommodation is provided for eating on the street. For those who like it cheap, that will cause some resentment.
you can eat well in the many restaurants within the shopping centers of the capital.
totally agree with the decision to ban the unsafe food outlets. Discipline is sometimes allowed for the Thai.
That mess must disappear, the sidewalk must be given back to the pedestrian. But not too drastic from one day to the next; you can't brutally take people's trade.
That whining about the atmosphere and all that is misplaced.
This way Bangkok becomes a dead city on the street, especially in the evening and night. Crime will also increase considerably during this time because social control is gone. A food stall is more than just food. It also has a great social function in Thai culture.
But folks, that won't disappear, certainly not for the next 25 years.
You know how it is in Thailand, right? Just look at all the previous things that were promised and planned, how much has been delivered?
Well, that will be just the same now. I want to place a bet on it and evaluate the case within one year…. you will not notice any difference in the daily street scene.
If you talk to the Thais about it, they sometimes laugh and shrug their shoulders, so of naive farang that you still think about.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted to get rid of all those obstructive situations, it's just an illusion to want to believe that.
These food stalls are what make Krung Thep so much fun. By the way, a large part of the footpaths, where there are no stalls, cannot be used by pedestrians because you will break your legs in the dark due to the potholes and sometimes deep holes. I would first say that the sidewalks should be renovated and made wheelchair friendly.