Bangkok to ban street food stalls in clean-up crusade

Bangkok : Street food stalls will be banned from all of Bangkok's main roads in a sweeping clean-up crusade, a city hall official said Tuesday, prompting outcry and anguish in a food-obsessed capital famed for its spicy roadside cuisine.

For months city officials have hemmed in hawkers of all kinds across the metropolis, where hitting the pavement for everything from late-night noodles to fried insects is the closest Thailand has to a national pastime. 

"All types of stalls including clothes, counterfeit goods and food stalls will be banned from main city roads," Wanlop Suwandee, a chief advisor to Bangkok's governor, told AFP. 

"They will not be allowed for order and hygiene reasons," he said, justifying the ongoing crackdown after complaints from the public. 

Officials say nearly two-thirds of the city's 30,000 street vendors of all kinds have already been removed or relocated for clogging the pavements, leaving little space for pedestrians and aggravating traffic. 

"I don't think there will be any stalls on major roads... we have nullified their permission (to operate)," he added, without giving a deadline for the sellers to clear out. 

Yet many Bangkokians say this curbside chaos is part of the capital's charm and an affordable food option for all in a city where other costs of living are surging -- a stick of grilled pork goes for 10 baht (30 cents) while a bowl of chicken noodles costs as little as 35 baht ($1).

"If you want to clean out all the vendors it's like you are cleaning out our culture itself," said Chiwan Suwannapak, who works for a Bangkok tour agency. 

"You can see the people who cook, you can interact with them... you can see what the ingredients are," she added.