living in BKK

[gregvc]

The new govt seems to be taking action in various areas such as enforcing the wearing of helmets on motorbikes, arresting taxi mafia in Phuket and yesterday I saw that all the small shops (20+) on the sky walk from Chit Lom BTS to Central have gone. Does anyone know why? Is BKK going to be a pedestrian paradise?

[Smiles]

" ... and yesterday I saw that all the small shops (20+) on the sky walk from Chit Lom BTS to Central have gone. Does anyone know why? Is BKK going to be a pedestrian paradise? ... "The sky walk (soon to be more of them I have heard) underneath the SkyTrain runs from Chit Lom Station to Siam Station. It's a pleasure to use and we often get off at Chit Lom and walk it.
Not quite sure about your information Greg: last time we used that particular sky walk ~ last March ~ there were no small shops at all there, and in fact there have always been signs up along that walkway specifically stating that no one is allowed to set up shop there.
In fact it's probably one of the very few places in Bangkok where prohibitive signs like that are not ignored. In March of course there were all sorts of stalls below the skywalk down in the street but that was because of the protests being held in that busy area every day.

There is a possibility that since the coup folks may well have taken advantage of the general chaos and set up stalls there? Perhaps that small window of time is what Greg witnessed recently.

The couple of photos provided in this link represent pretty much what I see every time when walking along the SkyWalk, and have from the get-go . . . although the one showing only 2 people is a bit of a stretch :D http://www.thebangkokshoppingguide.com/skywalk_bangkok

[gregvc]

Smiles, the other way from chit lom bts to central chitlom. I walked that way for 2 yrs when living at swissotel (courtesy of my bf job). There were many stalls which are now all gone.

[Smiles]

Smiles, the other way from chit lom bts to central chitlom. I walked that way for 2 yrs when living at swissotel (courtesy of my bf job). There were many stalls which are now all gone.
Not trying to be argumentative here Greg, but I'm still trying to figure out where you are writing about.

There is no other way to walk the skywalk as it begins at the Chit Lom station and ends at Siam. The 'other way' from Chit Lom is the station (Ploen Chit) before it, but it is not (yet?) connected to the skywalk.

Central Chit Lom shopping centre can be accessed directly from the Chit Lom station platform, so in a sense that they are connected. So your comment above, " ... the other way from chit lom bts to central chitlom ... " doesn't seem to make much sense.

As I said above, I am unaware of any selling stalls on the Chit Lom / Siam skywalk now ... and in my experience, there never was.

The new govt seems to be taking action in various areas such as enforcing the wearing of helmets on motorbikes ...From what I read this is an annual event by the Thai police and has nothing to do with the junta.

[Patanawet]

I saw that all the small shops (20+) on the sky walk from Chit Lom BTS to Central have gone. Does anyone know why? Is BKK going to be a pedestrian paradise?
All the small shops on the Soi 33 entrance to Phrom Phong skytrain station have been closed for a couple of months now.
I noticed yesterday that many of them have been physically removed now.
I had assumed that it was to make room for a skybridge to the 2 buildings being constructed there -- but maybe not.
The post office has moved to the other entrance to the station, Superrich has moved to Asoke skytrain station but no idea where the bread shop and the other have gone.

[gregvc]

Patanawet and smiles- I guess the walkway I was referring to was the walkway going to central chi lom fro the bts station. This may not be part of the skyway but until jan/feb when I moved home there were 20 or so stalls as I passed them everday. But more recently as you said P. About phrom pong, there must have been a decision to have a pedestrian walkway only. Wonder if that will happen to the walkway at victory monument . Where there are sellers beneath the signs that say "no selling" !
Nt

[Smiles]

OK, thanks for the clarification.
I read somewhere some time ago that more skywalks under skytrain tracks would be added over time, and I don't doubt that each time a new one opens there will be a bit of a tug-of-war between folks who want to sell stuff just by showing up and taking over, and the Skytrain bureaucracy who want to keep them clean and easy to use by the strollers.