Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday started clearing Sanam Luang as part of a 300day campaign to beautify the site, an operation that involves the capturing of pigeons, keeping cars off the site and cracking down on street hawkers and homeless people.
However, the plan to move the 10,000 or so pigeons to Ratchaburi has been met with opposition from birdfeed vendors and Ratchaburi residents.
The vendors booed and jeered, while some set off firecrackers nearby, as BMA workers fed the birds near a large cage as they prepared to capture them.
A middleaged birdfeed vendor said this was like an assault on poor people because it hurt their livelihoods. She added that she had borrowed from a loan shark to invest in the business, but since she had only been given a twoweek notice, she had no time to find other work.
"No matter what they say, I'll continue to sell birdfeed here. If they can arrest me if they want, but this work helps me support my family and raise my kids. What else would I do if I can't do this? Such a short notice leaves no room for the 100 or so vendors to find other jobs. They never ask the public whether or not a project like this would affect them," she said.
Another 52yearold vendor, who has been earning Bt200 to Bt300 a day by selling birdfeed over the past two decades, said she would keep selling her wares until she can figure out what to do next.
"If they really want to put order to the area, they should clean it and set clear zones for parking, selling goods and public activities, instead of sealing it off and affecting people," she said.
Meanwhile, BMA Deputy Governor Theerachon Manomaipiboon said the pigeons should be captured in two weeks and will be moved to boot camps in Ratchaburi and Prachin Buri.
President of the Friendship Association for Pigeon Racing, Neti Tantimontri, said officials would feed the birds every afternoon for about 10 days before capturing and screening them for disease, and then sending them off to the camps. He said vendors setting off firecrackers blocked the task.
BMA Deputy Governor Pornthep Techapaibul said that BMA did not wish to bully any groups or stop any crowdgathering activities.
The redshirt protesters' tents could remain in Sanam Luang until an army of workers takes over the area on March 1 for the landscaping, he said.
The BMA will move the affected vendors to an area in Khlong Lot, which will be run by the Phra Nakhon District Office. The BMA has also set the area under the Rama VIII Bridge, the Southern Bus Terminal and the Buddhamonthol 12 for the parking of tourist buses and cars, he said.
BMA Deputy Governor Thaya Theepasuwan said the city was also working with related agencies to find temporary shelters for the homeless within 28 days and is offering vocational training for those wishing to find jobs.
Meanwhile, Ratchaburi Governor Suthep Komonporn said that he had not yet been told about the decision to move Sanam Luang's pigeons to the province, but had learned that the residents were not happy about it. Residents are concerned that the birds will bring disease to the area and that they will have an adverse impact on the environment. The governor said there should be a discussion about the pros and cons of the plan, and the BMA should offer explanations as to why it thinks Ratchaburi would be a suitable home for the birds.
Ratchaburi MP Samart Piriyapanyaporn said residents had also complained to him about the plans. "The province has its own problems, and things should not be worsened by moving the birds here," he said, adding that the concerns had been conveyed to the BMA.
Ratchaburi MP Pareena Kraikub told a press conference yesterday that Ratchaburi residents objected to the birds being moved there because they would ruin the rice fields and spread avian flu. She added that if the concerns were not acted upon, the residents would start staging protests.
In related news, the Four Regions Slum Network adviser Prathin Vegavakayanon criticised the project, saying it was like "sweeping dirt under the rug" and adding a second blow to the homeless people. She said that some 100 people used Sanam Luang as a shelter every night.
She said BMA had not differentiated between the three types of homeless people: those who were in Bangkok to find work but hadn't yet; city residents who lived outside because of family problems or earned their livelihood through scavenging; and slackers who preferred to do odd jobs for food. While the first group would fit the proposed solution, it won't work for the second and third groups. She urged the city to find proper solutions rather than proceeding the project which would only "sweep dirt under the rug".
