The military government’s ultimate plan is to ban street hawkers in all 683 areas of Bangkok. Street vending makes living in Bangkok possible for grassroots and the middle class, said Narumol Nirathron of the Social Administration department of Thammasat University. Street vending is illegal according to public order and traffic laws. The ban puts many hawkers in extreme stress, said Raywat Chobtom, the leader of the street vendors network for sustainable development, which represents about 10,000 vendors across 25 districts of Bangkok. Twelve street vendors at Klong Thom market, who have been banned since early 2015,had committed suicide, he said, adding that one of them had shot his wife and two children before shooting himself.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 29, 2018 12:56 UTC