Bangkok’s famous street food scene is about to get a facelift, as the city races to complete its first official hawker centre next to Lumpini Park.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) confirmed that the Lumpini Park Hawker Centre, currently under construction on Ratchadamri Road, is set to open early next year. It’s designed to tidy up footpaths, raise hygiene standards, and give displaced vendors a stable place to trade.
BMA spokesperson Aekvarunyoo Amrapala said the centre is part of an initiative to relocate street food vendors from surrounding footpaths into a proper facility.
“This hawker centre will not only raise Bangkok’s street food standards in terms of cleanliness and safety, but also help ease the burden on low-income vendors.
“Priority will be given to those affected by footpath reorganisation efforts along Sarasin Road.”
The open-air building will house up to 88 vendors per shift, each operating from 2×2 metre stalls. Shifts are split between morning (5am–4pm) and evening (4pm–12am), allowing for 176 daily vendors serving everything from local breakfast favourites to late-night noodle dishes.
To ensure comfort without impacting the environment, the centre features natural ventilation, no air conditioning, and a dark-coloured, low-reflective roof designed to minimise glare toward King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.
The construction team also temporarily relocated mature trees during the build, with plans to replant them once the centre opens.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Wisanu Subsompon added that the hawker centre complements the city’s broader effort to upgrade pavements and access routes around BTS stations. The BMA aims to create a walkable one-kilometre radius around each station and finish upgrades to 1,000 kilometres of footpaths by next year. So far, 963km have been completed, according to Urban Creature and Bangkok Post.
Inspired by Singapore’s renowned hawker centres, Bangkok’s version will preserve the charm and affordability of Thai street food while offering cleaner, more organised surroundings.
With its central location, long hours, and vendor-friendly design, the Lumpini Park Hawker Centre promises to become a new culinary landmark and a model for future food hubs across the city.
The story Lumpini Park’s new street food hub to open next year as seen on Thaiger News.
