Thailand protests: meet the street food vendors cashing in on the front lines

Protesters are calling for the PM to resign, the constitution to be rewritten and democratic reforms to curtail the influence of the monarchy

Business has been booming since the protest movement kicked off in July, with the vendors now a regular feature

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A street food vendor during an anti-government protest in Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00am, 23 Oct 2020Updated: 9:33pm, 25 Nov 2020

With an intelligence network so good they have been compared to the CIA, Thai street vendors are often first on the scene at “guerilla” democracy protests in Bangkok, where they hawk sour pork and fishballs to a democracy-hungry crowd.

After a government crackdown last week, protest groups have begun keeping the venues for their demonstrations demanding the resignation of Premier Prayuth Chan-ocha secret until the last minute, in a bid to outsmart authorities.

But protesters have quickly noticed that they are often second on the scene, behind food vendors setting up their carts and readying themselves for a busy night of brisk sales.

Meatball seller Rattapol Sukpa says he stays ahead of the curve by monitoring Facebook for hints of the latest locations, and is in constant contact with other vendors who tip each other off.

“My earnings were good before, but selling at the protest sites, you’d sell out faster than usual,” the 19-year-old said as he set up near Victory Monument.

Business has been booming since the protest movement kicked off in July, with the vendors now a regular feature on the sidelines.

A post calling on people to come and rally at a new protest venue on Tuesday carried a picture of a food cart with the caption “Let’s send the CIA there first”.

The bonanza has also given Rattapol a better work-life balance, he said, enabling him to sell out his entire cart by 8pm instead of the usual midnight closing time.