Asia street food

WE DON’T WANT TO SAY THE ONLY WAY TO EXPERIENCE THAI FOOD IS TO EXPERIENCE THE OLD WAY IT EXISTED. WE WANT TO LOOK FORWARD Leela Punyaratabandhu “Other countries have the right to live in such a way that their urban residents can enjoy the public infrastructure, but Bangkok can’t have that because it has to keep its charm for visitors?” says Thai food expert Punyaratabandhu. “There has to be a balance we can strike somehow.”

Panon Leelamanit, the business development manager at a Bangkok-based real estate firm, agrees. “A lot of people argue for street food because it’s what sells Bangkok to tourists, but we are left with the chaos, we have to live with it,” he says. “Is it worth the money we are getting from the tourists to be stuck in a chaotic city with very little order? Developers, who have advocated for the ban amid concerns over the effect of hawkers on property prices, are themselves playing a major part in the shift to eating indoors.

“There is high pressure on building owners and real estate developers to be responsible for access to food – if we develop an office building where the neighbourhood food vendors used to be, we make allowances in the building to replace what we built on,” Leelamanit says. Leelamanit says food courts are becoming popular among landlords of new developments as a way to attract tenants, suggesting a model in which the landlord or owner receives a percentage of a vendor’s revenue in exchange for space in the building.

City officials have confirmed that clearing the pavements is motivated in some locations by real estate developers concerned about vendors’ presence affecting property values. The BMA is reportedly considering incentivising developers by allowing them to build higher on the condition they include a food court in the complex which incorporates local vendors. “It would help immensely if the government would choose to intervene at the city planning level,” says Leelamanit. He suggested the government allow real estate developers to change parking space to food court space.

‘WE LIKE IT THIS WAY’ In 2018, Michelin’s first guide for the city awarded a star to the shophouse of 72-year-old Jay Fai, who had been slinging fluffy omelettes bursting with fresh crabmeat for years before the little red book took notice. Dishes at Jay Fai’s shophouse typically cost no more than US$12 to US$25. The recognition means that locals who could previously stop in for a bite while they were in the neighbourhood now find themselves needing an online reservation. Luxury vehicles often pull up across the street to roll down their tinted windows and order from the veteran proprietress, instantly recognisable for wearing ski goggles to protect her eyes from hot frying oil.

“We’re in a transition period,” says Leelamanit. “The tourists will inevitably have to change their expectations of what the Bangkok food scene is like. People need to accept that things will move indoors.” Punyaratabandhu is adamant that there is no turning back the clock, as much as Thais love their heritage. “We don’t want to say the only way to experience Thai food is to experience the old way it existed. We want to look forward.

What makes street food clutter in Thailand, heritage in Singapore? “If we’re stuck in the past, we’re doomed, man. We have to take what we have and move with the times.” Change is already happening, she continues. The biggest transformation in the dining scene – for now still overlooked by tourists – has been the expansion of mid-priced restaurants serving homestyle Thai food . This is neither shophouse nor white-tablecloth fare, but still caters to the everyday experience of Bangkok residents. Independent and family-run restaurants, often run out of shophouses, can grow quickly if they get noticed on the internet. Often, the younger generation will leverage their family’s recipes in a new format like a casual dining restaurant in a mall or shopping centre