Protesting vendors meet with Deputy Mayor
Ronakit Ekasingh and municipal police chief Maj. Col. Jirawat Sukholzup.
Boonlua Chatree
Despite recruiting a ruling party official to help them, about
150 angry street vendors wilted against unbending city regulators in
their battle against repeated fines and arrests.
With the help of Chaiwat Hengtrakul, representing Pheu Thai Party local
official Chanyuth Hengtrakul, the food vendors met with Deputy Mayor
Ronakit Ekasingh and municipal police chief Maj. Col. Jirawat Sukholzup
March 19, but found city officials unapologetic for fines and
imprisonment for the vendors’ chronic violation of city regulations and
traffic laws.
The vendors, led by a committee of five local residents, complained to
Chaiwat that regulatory-enforcement officers were fining them up to
1,500 per day and imprisoning them for up to three days for blocking
traffic and creating a nuisance on Pattaya’s streets. The vendors argued
they were poor, only trying to make a living and that they were helping
Pattaya’s tourist image by serving tourists.
Jirawat, however, remained unfazed by the pleas of
innocence. He defended the police actions, saying that if left
un-policed, the vendors would create havoc. As such, he said, the fines
and arrests will continue until the vendors either heed the law or
operate in a proper venue.
Ronakit took a more conciliatory tack with the vendors, promising them
that the city is planning to construct a market where street merchants
can “sell their food in an orderly and clean environment.”
No estimate was given on when such a market would be completed.
The vendors politely thanked the police and politicians, putting on a
brave face for the media by saying they got a satisfactory solution.
