Controlling Street Vending in a Rapidly Modernizing City

Consequences and Implications of the Policy of Returning Walkways to the Public in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

Perceptions of grassroots economies during the modernizing process can fluctuate between the view that they should be reduced as they are less productive and too informal, and that they should be maintained in an effort to realize an inclusive society. This paper focuses on the ‘Policy of Returning Walkways to the Public’ (PRWP), implemented in Bangkok, Thailand, which is a strict policy to control street vending businesses, a typical informal grassroots economy. We analyze the consequences of the policy, and clarify how a government should best address the issue.

The PRWP was initiated in 2014, drastically reducing the Temporary Permitted Areas (TPAs) for street vending in Bangkok, and resulting in a huge decrease from 683 TPAs with 20,275 vendors to 205 TPAs with 6,069 vendors in 2018. The strict clearing of street food vendors (SFVs) from the main streets caused tri-polarization of SFV businesses as follows: (1) relocating to backstreets if businesses were small with low costs (majority); (2) moving to private areas if their business was good and high rent affordable; and (3) giving up the SFV business and changing jobs. However, SFVs that upgraded to permanent restaurants, shops, or stalls in shopping malls were a minority. Although the PRWP achieved smooth pedestrian traffic in Bangkok main streets, it has destroyed economic and living opportunities, especially among vulnerable groups (lower educated female workers from poor regions), and they have become more marginalized by relocating to backstreets.