Street food to remain a fixture of Bangkok streets

Reports that Bangkok is banning street food vendors from its streets are false, says Thailand's tourism minister.

An announcement yesterday that the city was planning to sweep away the famous stalls was met with anger and confusion in the country and abroad.

Especially as the Thai capital was recently voted the world's best street food destination by CNN.

Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, minister for tourism and sports, has now clarified Bangkok's position in a Facebook post and meeting with reporters.

The city is "striving for the sustainability of this significant feature of tourist attraction", she said, mentioning Khao San and Yaowaraj – both popular areas for locals and visitors.

A list of measures are currently under consideration, she added, including the strict observance of hygiene standards by vendors, food stalls which are uniform and have a "local identity", mandatory training programmess for all personnel dealing with street food, a mandatory test which vendors must pass, and special attention paid to dish cleaning and waste management.

"In short, street food vendors would not banned."

Solutions will be now be discussed between the governor of Bangkok and the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

In contrast to yesterday, social media users approved of the news that street food will stay part of Bangkok.

@MsKarynNoble @BenParker90 Thank goodness. When I was younger + backpacking solo I lost all my £. I had to beg on the Koh San Rd and lived off 65 baht pad thai!

— Jo O'Connell (@JellyRockPR) April 20, 2017