The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is urgently clearing abandoned vehicles on roads and cancelling temporary permitted street vending areas that are against new city regulations.
Deputy Bangkok governor Sakoltee Phattiyakul on Thursday chaired a meeting between executives of the BMA. The meeting signed off on the removal of abandoned vehicles from roads or other public grounds.
A total of 362 out of 526 vehicles had been removed by their owners and 11 by the BMA. The rest of the 153 vehicles remaining in the same spots will soon be cleared.
The Department of Law Enforcement informed the meeting that it had cancelled 512 temporary permitted locations for street vendors from the total of 683 locations across Bangkok. A total of 171 locations in 18 districts are being considered by the BMA.
The deputy governor said he had instructed city law enforcement officers to survey the 171 locations to see which of them are not qualified to be areas where street vendors are allowed to operate.
New locations for street vending approved by the BMA will be announced by the end of November this year.
A committee on the cleanliness and orderliness of Bangkok will soon consider allowing street vendors to operate in three locations, including the pavements at Soi 69 of Rama II Road in Bang Khun Thian district, Soi Ari in Phayathai district and Soi On Nut 71 in Prawet district.
The deputy governor instructed three district offices to urgently consider three new locations for street vendors, including Kamphaeng Phet 4 Road in Chatuchak district, Soi Sukhumvit 18 in Klong Toey district and Talat Bang Kho Laem in Bang Kho Laem district.
As for the department's project to prevent running and parked vehicles on pavements, more than 35,000 people were arrested for such offences from July 9 to Sept 13. It took legal action against 29,453 people and issued fines worth more than 36.7 million baht in total.