City Hall will close Silom Road on Dec 21 to turn it into a walking street under a pilot project to help vendors evicted from footpaths of Bangkok have a venue to sell their goods.
Wallop Suwandee, (left) chief adviser to the Bangkok governor, and Pol Maj Gen Wichain Sangprapai (left), advisor to the governor, inspect the area around the Victory Monument for the footpath management plan. The two advisers recently announced the launch of a walking street project on Silom Road on Dec 21. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Wallop Suwandee, chief adviser to the Bangkok governor Sukhumband Paribatra, said Wednesday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has agreed to launch a walking-street project to ease the hardships of vendors evicted from their former trading sites, Thai media reported.
Under a pilot project, a section of Silom Road from Dusit Thani Hotel to Narathiwat Ratchanarakhind in Bang Rak district, covering the distance of 800 metres, will be closed to traffic from noon to midnight on Dec 21, said Mr Wallop.
The closed section could accommodate all vendors affected by the BMA's 'Return footpaths to pedestrians' campaign, said the Bangkok governor chief advisor.
So far, about 1,000 vendors have shown interest in the project. To trade their goods at the walking street, applicants are required to register with the Bang Rak district office, he said.
Former deputy police inspector-general Wichai Sangprapai, who currently serves as the adviser to the Bangkok governor, said the walking street would allow affected street vendors to sell their goods and people to shop.
If this pilot project on Silom Road proves successful, more roads will be turned into walking streets, said Pol Maj Gen Wichai.