Bangkok cracks down on its famous street food

The authorities of Bangkok in Thailand have banned street food from the capital's major roads, causing an outcry in a city famous for its affordable roadside cuisine. In a move criticised by locals and culinary enthusiasts, thousands of vendors selling dishes such as spicy prawn soup and papaya salad will disappear by the end of the year in the interests of "order and hygiene", according to city hall, reports the Guardian.

Bangkok food tour after the street stall ban. My favourite chicken noodle soup spot: pic.twitter.com/Lb7jP07oIl

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Wanlop Suwandee, chief adviser to Bangkok's governor, said officials are "now working to get rid of stalls from all 50 districts of Bangkok" and return the pavements to pedestrians. "There will be no let-up in this operation. Every street vendor will have to move out," he said in comments reported by the local Nation news portal. For decades Bangkok, the most visited city in the world, has promoted itself as a key destination for the food-obsessed. Locals and foreigners dine on plastic chairs at folding tables, slurping steaming noodles at street food eateries that stay open until dawn. Such move came as a part of Thailand junta's campaign to "clean up" and "return happiness" to the country, focusing on issues such as late night drinking, corruption and the sex trade.