City Hall is vowing to carry on with its street clean-up despite a clash between a street vendor and a city inspector which left the official with stab wounds.
City inspector Sakol Suansomboon, also known as a tessakit officer, was attempting to clear a pavement Sunday near Tha Chang when he was attacked.
Mr Sakol was trying to persuade two people vending illegally on the pavement near Tha Chang and Tha Tian to stop trading there when he was assaulted, said Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) adviser Vichai Sangparpai.
While one relented and began packing, the other, Phansak Thanapat, attacked the officer, Mr Vichai said.
Mr Phansak, a 57-year-old amulet seller, first hit the officer in the head with a pestle and then stabbed the officer's left arm twice with a pocket knife, he said.
City inspector Sakol Suansomboon was assaulted, hit on the head and stabbed in the arm during the Sunday footpath confrontation.
Bystanders moved in to help the officer and took Mr Phansak to the Phra Ratchawang police station.
He was charged with assault and with obstructing an officer on duty.
Since the launch of the footpath clean-up campaign in July last year, vendors have been banned from running their businesses in many areas in the capital.
Tha Tian and Tha Chang were cleared by City Hall in November last year, the third spot to be cleaned since the campaign began.
In December, the BMA said it would begin dismantling Khlong Thom market, a popular spot for cheap electronic goods.
Mr Vichai said the episode stemmed from a vendor disgruntled over the clean-up campaign.
He said the fight shows that tessakit officers perform their duty while the vendors are the ones who flout the rules. "No one should live above the law," he said.
The attack would not disrupt last night's deadline for the relocation of unauthorised vendors in Khlong Thom market, Mr Vichai said.
After failing to relocate them in December last year, the BMA told all vendors to move out by midnight last night.
The tessakit officers will press on with inspecting vending operations, Mr Vichai said. He said every officer has been trained for the job.