Bangkok to ban street food stalls in clean-up crusade

A man prepares food at a street stall in the Phrakanong district of Bangkok.-AFP

Bangkok (AFP) - Street food stalls will be banned from all of Bangkok’s main roads under a clean-up crusade, a city hall official said Tuesday, prompting outcry and anguish in a food-obsessed capital famed for its spicy roadside cuisine.'

For months city officials have hemmed in hawkers of all kinds across the metropolis, where hitting the pavement for everything from late-night noodles to fried insects is the closest Thailand has to a national pastime.