Over 200 municipal police were deployed at and around Siam Square shopping district on Thursday as a group of pavement vendors tried to negotiate with city officials to return to the pavements to carry on with their trading practice.
The city administration has demanded all the vendors to move out by October 3 failing that they will be arrested and fined.
Since October, the pavements at the famous shopping district have been cleared of vendors. But several of them showed up today with placards asking for sympathy and demanding talks with officials concerned to give them a reprieve so that they can dispose their remaining stocks of goods.
One of the vendors told Thai PBS that they didn’t intend to stay on for good, but just for a short period of time to clear their remaining stocks.
Others said that the alternative site arranged by the city administration for them to carry on with their business does not work because there are no customers.
Before the crackdown, there were about 600 vendors occupying pavements in Siam Square to sell a great variety of products from 7 pm until 11 pm.
