Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha stressed the need to strictly regulate illegal parking, road and pavement vending to ensure fairness in the use of public space for all stakeholders in the society.
Addressing the nation in his weekly TV programme on Friday, the prime minister said that selling goods and food on pavements or streets are not a Thai traditional way of life or Thai culture as wrongly perceived.
Instead the practice stems from ignorance of the problem from officials concerned until it has become a habit for traders to occupy sidewalks or roads to do their business, resulting in bribe-taking by unscrupulous officials and causing inconvenience to pedestrians, he added.
The prime minister said that he didn’t want the vendors to claim that they are poor and so they should be allowed to trade on pavements or roads.
The government has sympathy for the vendors and promises to find new locations for them to carry on with their business while, at the same time, has to observe the law to ensure order and to protect the interests of the public at large, he added.
Vendors will have to adapt to their new trading venues which may not attract customer, but eventually the situation will improve steadily, the prime minister explained.
