Bobae Underground Market

[GWR]

Pretty strange idea in an area next to a Bangkok khlong! Or does the idea actually entail something more like an elevated sidewalk above a tunnel-like street-level market?:

Busy Bo Bae market may go underground

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is considering a plan to relocate the Bo Bae market underground.

The market had long been spread out along the footpaths on Padung Krungkasem Canal in the heart of Bangkok, but its stall vendors were earlier this year forced to stop their business as the BMA believed the vendors should no longer occupy public walkways.

That decision led to a clash between police officers and vendors and an ongoing dispute.

In a bid to resolve the conflict, the BMA and relevant authorities including the Metropolitan Police Bureau, the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, the Association of Siam Architects and Association of Siamese Architects under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King have met to explore possible solutions.

"From various alternatives, we believe the proposal to bring the Bo Bae market underground is the most feasible," Deputy Bangkok City Clerk Anan Siripassaraporn said yesterday.

He said this proposal was about digging a tunnel in the area where the Bo Bae market was once located and allow the vendors to place their stalls in the tunnel.

"The Association of Siam Architects has said this proposal is possible," Anan said.

Anan said it would take about one or two years to conduct a full feasibility study of the project to dig a tunnel along the Padung Krung Kasem Canal taking into account all environmental implications and safety concerns.

"Aside, this project will cost about Bt1 billion," he added, "We have to proceed carefully".

According to Anan, the vendors will be allowed to run their stalls temporarily on the footpath along the Padung Krung Kasem Canal opposite the Social Development and Human Security Ministry pending the results of the feasibility study.

However, Anan said they could only open their stalls between 9am and 3pm, and from midnight to 4am.

"The vendors who will be allowed to resume their trade must have registered with the Pom Prab District Office before and they must be a member of Bo Bae Cooperative," Anan said.

He had already informed the representatives of the Bo Bae vendors, who asked for one week to discuss the matter.

"If they agree with the proposal, we will inform Prime Minister Surayud Chulalont of our plan and allow the vendors to resume their business right away," Anan added.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/12/03/national/national_30058134.php

[mdechgan]

Only in Thailand where squatters and mob rule win over time and time again.
Honest working individuals actually have to pay rent or lease for business. These people in Bobae just put up shops on the sidewalk and expect the government to respect their space?

[Yappofloyd]

THE SAGA GOES ON An expected return to trading at Bo Bae market has stalled again Story by SUPOJ WANCHAROEN and Photos by THITI WANNAMONTHA Bkk Post 11/01/08

The lengthy and at times violent battle between vendors at the Bo Bae street market and Bangkok authorities seemed to have reached a happy ending as traders were set to return to their stalls next week under a new cooperative. But the drawn-out Bo Bae market saga is not yet over, as the reopening of the street stalls has been postponed yet again due to disagreements over the eligibility of some prospective traders. Wina Suban, Pomprap Sattruphai district chief, confirmed the postponement yesterday, which he said was indefinite.

This is the third time the vendors have had to put on hold plans to return to the site along Phadung Krung Kasem. They were first set to return to trading there on Dec 9 last year after spending almost a year fighting with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), which evicted the traders they claimed were causing a disturbance. The plan to return to the old market site developed after His Majesty the King granted a nine-million-baht fund to the vendors. The eviction, which began in January last year, dealt a heavy blow to the vendors, who then appealed to the King for assistance.

It was in early December 2007 that the King granted the money for the vendors to set up a cooperative under the name "Bo Bae Chalerm Prakiat Cooperatives", which paved the way for the vendors to resume trading. However, only traders registered as cooperative members will be eligible to set up stalls in the area. The Pomprap Sattruphai District Office limits the eligibility to those who registered with the agency two years ago. Under the conditions, each vendor is allowed to own one stall and they are not permitted to sell or sub-lease it. Eligible vendors are also obligated to keep the area around their stalls and the market clean. Any vendors who fail to follow the guidelines will lose their stall.

Under the new system, the authorities will issue two vendor identification cards. One is carried by the vendor while the other is placed at the stall for regular checks. Initially, trading hours will be restricted to 8am to 3pm and 12pm to 5am at two specific locations. Anant Siripassaporn, a BMA deputy clerk, said it was the first time that street vendors in the capital will be operating under a cooperative. Mr Anant believes the cooperative system will help protect the vendors from mafia gangs that prey on other markets across the country, provided they stay unified and all work together to help each other.

The BMA is studying the possibility of also building a tunnel market for vendors in the area, he said. But despite the hope of a happy ending to the drawn-out Bo Bae saga brought by the setting up of the cooperative and the BMA's agreement to allow the vendors to return to trading in the area, M.L. Wina said there was still a lot of disagreements and questions that needed to be sorted out before the market would be up and running again.

One of the key problems is the disparity in the number of eligible vendors. The district office has 629 eligible vendors on its list, he said. However, the vendors have urged the agency to accommodate another 200, insisting that they are eligible to run stalls under the requirements stated by the local authorities. Those wishing to trade at the new Bo Bae market have to prove they had been vendors at the market for some time.

M.L. Wina said he hoped the matter would be settled at a meeting of a panel overseeing the Bo Bae issue. He didn't say when the meeting was scheduled, but Sodsri Sompan, the chairwoman of the cooperative, said at least 500 eligible vendors had been left out of the deal. She said there were nearly 1,200 stalls at the market when the BMA evicted the traders last year but the local authority only had just over 600 on its list. However, she said she was still optimistic that all the problems would be solved, adding that the vendors felt deeply grateful to the King for his help. The cooperative deposited the nine-million-baht fund in a bank and is determined not to use it, she said. "It is auspicious money for us," she said.