Bangkok set to impose income limits on street vendors

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt announced last week that only street vendors earning less than 25,000 baht per month were allowed to sell goods on sidewalks and public spaces, as the city strives to improve the city's landscape and reorganize order on the sidewalks.

Vendors earning more than that sum need to move from sidewalks and public spaces and find rented stalls to trade at designated locations.

City authorities said they would call on businesses to cooperate, offering low-rent areas to small traders, the Bangkok Post reported.

He also said regulations governing vending on the streets and other public areas would soon be implemented.

According to the National News Bureau of Thailand, under the proposed regulations all vendors are required to enroll in the national income and tax system to continue their trading activities.

Additionally, the rules also require vendors to strictly limit their operations to assigned zones and keep their areas clean. Failure to comply may result in a ban.

Since Chadchart Sittipunt became the Bangkok governor in 2022, city authorities have been striving to make the city's sidewalks more accommodating for pedestrians.

This initiative was among the 216 commitments he promised a month before his election.

Bangkok estimates that there were 20,000 street vendors last year. The city has so far established 125 centers for 10,000 vendors.