Poor management of City Hall's proposal to move traders from Bangkok's historic flower market, Pak Khlong Talat, may end up prolonging the market's life -- albeit temporarily.
The deadline to ban over 1,000 street vendors from Pak Khlong Talat is today. No formal announcement on an extension has been made, and no traders have moved to the three alternate sites earlier flagged by City Hall.
But a source at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said there is a strong chance City Hall may extend the deadline for vendors, at least for now. Firstly, vendors are not confident the new locations will be offered at a fair rate. They do not want to be charged an extra fee.
Secondly, inadequate parking for the loading and unloading of goods is a concern, and thirdly, the stalls provided are too small, providing insufficient space to display and store their products.
"The BMA's pledge that vendors won't have to pay additional charges or rent for the first month after they move in is unlikely to be honoured," said the source. The additional charges are usually expected from new vendors and it's the BMA's responsibility to negotiate the waiver.
The source also said Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda has emphasised a new arrangement must be put in place before the relocation.
Since the launch of its clean-up campaign in mid-2014, backed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the BMA has reclaimed public space from landmark markets including Klong Thom, Saphan Lek, Tha Phrachan and Tha Chang.
Pak Khlong Talat is next, despite opposition mounted by traders who want to keep the market's unique identity. It has also been promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand as a must-visit location.
The city complains vendors are obstructing pedestrian walkways and traffic flows, and leave behind a huge amount of rubbish. A team led by Bangkok deputy governor Aswin Kwanmuang and Vallop Suwandee, chief adviser to the Bangkok governor, began working on the operation to remove vendors from pavements near Pak Khlong Talat on Dec 3.
After a series of meetings, the team eventually came up with a plan to move the vendors to three markets nearby: A market owned by the Interior Ministry, Talat Songsoem Kasettakon Thai (Thai farmer promotion market), and the privately-owned Yodpiman market.
But most vendors refused to move. "The market's identity will disappear if vendors are banned," said Sujitra Traisaksri, a representative of the vendors. Krisada Chobprathumma, another representative, argued the relocation would not only erase the charm and history of the century-old Pak Khlong Talat, but also hit many farmers who supply the flowers.
The vendors proposed the BMA revise its relocation plan by stepping up crackdowns on those who occupy the pavement. Phirom Chitakorn, another representative, said they asked the BMA to designate certain parts of Pak Khlong Talat as flower trading zones so they could manage the area themselves, under a temporary arrangement which was to hold until today's relocation deadline.
The vendors promised to keep the trade zones clean. If any zone was later found to be left untidy or dirty, the BMA could throw them out and if any traders were later found to obstruct traffic, the BMA could penalise vendors.
On Feb 16, Pol Gen Aswin and 15 representatives of the traders agreed on the self-regulation proposal, which has been in place until today. Under the measure, vendors were free to use the pavement and parts of the road to load or unload goods between 8.30pm and 4.30am. Outside these hours, they were told to stay in a temporarily designated zone and parking was prohibited.
Wasant Boonmuenwai, head of the Phra Nakhon Municipal Office, rated the vendors' compliance efforts as satisfactory, except for a minority of vendors and shoppers who had taxis or tuk-tuks waiting for them on the road, which obstructs traffic.
Despite Pol Gen Aswin's softer stance, some vendors have found it hard to implement the agreed self-control measures, said the source. In addition, doubts have arisen as to whether the 15 representatives really speak for the more than 1,163 vendors at the site and if they were actually capable of ensuring cooperation from all vendors.
The BMA is likely to decide today whether the vendors should be allowed to stay and if so for how long.
"If the vendors eventually fail to honour their self-regulation promise, Pol Gen Aswin could say he has given them a chance but they failed," the source said. In that case they would have to move.