New rules issued for Bangkok street vendors

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has drawn up new rules for street vendors across the capital, with activities set to be limited to certain areas of the capital.
The rules are in line with an existing policy on managing public spaces, said Jakkapan Phiewngam, a deputy Bangkok governor.
City Hall had said earlier that only “poor Thais” would be allowed to be street vendors, and they would be barred from employing migrants, among many other requirements.
To receive permission to work as a vendor for one year, an applicant must be a Thai citizen who meets at least one of three requirements: they hold a state welfare card, they are buying a house under the Baan Mankong scheme, and/or they receive welfare aid from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
In the second year, vendors must show that their annual income does not exceed 300,000 baht, as shown by their income tax filings.
Those who have never filed taxes — expected to be the vast majority of vendors — before will be granted a one-year grace period before they have to begin doing so.
Vendors exceeding the 300,000-baht income threshold will lose the right to run a stall on the streets. However, Mr Jakkapan said the BMA would review the threshold annually, taking into account economic conditions, inflation and the poverty line.
District offices will be responsible for approving vendors, with priority given to those who are already registered in the tax system, he said.
In areas where demand exceeds available space, vendors will be selected through a lottery system.
The BMA will also review the suitability of designated vending areas every one or two years, taking into account their impact on the street layout and traffic flow, to ensure pedestrians have enough space to walk safely.
Specific guidelines have been put in place to ensure that stalls do not obstruct public areas such as bus stops, footbridges, or entrances to public facilities.
Vendors must ensure pedestrians have a space 1.5 to 2 metres wide to walk in depending on street widths. The area of each stall is limited to three square metres. Stalls must occupy only the side of the pavement adjacent to a road surface but must be at least 50cm from the road for safety.
There must also be a space at least 3 metres long at an interval of every 10 stalls to function as an emergency exit.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt had previously said BMA’s ultimate goal is to reduce the number of vendors on the streets by moving them to designated areas, similar to Singapore’s approach to hawker centres, in a bid to provide cleaner and more organised spaces for vendors to operate.
The BMA has no plans to expand vending zones at the moment, but will review existing areas for compliance with the new regulations.
Mr Chadchart said that over the past two years, around 10,000 vendors had been removed from Bangkok’s streets, and efforts to establish hawker centres are ongoing.