Bo Bae market vendors threaten to hold marathon rally
Clothing vendors have threatened to hold a marathon rally outside the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) office to demand the withdrawal of municipal police who have been harassing them at Bo Bae market.
Around 100 vendors gathered on Tuesday along Krung Kasem Road outside the office and shouted slogans condemning Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin.They were held at bay by around 150 municipal police officers. About 500 other vendors camped in the market area overnight to guard it against 300 local and municipal policemen. Nearby is a phalanx of heavy machinery rented by the Pom Prab district office which is getting ready to demolish the stalls when the vendors agree to leave the market and move to a nearby disused cinema building. A group of vendors met with Apirak earlier Tuesday to demand he have the police officers withdraw from the market or they would stage an indefinite rally outside the BMA compound. Apirak said later the municipal police would remain but they were under instruction to use only nonviolent measures against vendors in case of a clash. Kowit Tharana, an advisor to Apirak, questioned a policy by deputy governor Wallop Suwandee to allow SaphanSabsin Phatthana Co Ltd, a private company, to manage vending space inside the Ambassador cinema, saying the BMA should manage the space itself. The Nation
|
