Bangkok's first Hawker Center opens this May

So, remember all that talk about the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) building a Hawker Center beside Lumpini Park? Now, the BMA confirms the project's nearly done and set to open this May.

The Lumphini Park Hawker Center sits at Gate 5 along Ratchadamri Road, just opposite Chulalongkorn Hospital. It comes as two semi-outdoor buildings with gable roofs, connected by a green space running through the middle. There's room for up to 88 vendors, each with a compact two-by-two metre stall that includes water, electricity and sanitation. Waste zones stay separate from dining areas, which makes keeping everything clean much easier and more organised.

This whole thing is part of the BMA's effort to 'organise street food' – raising standards around cleanliness, safety and how public spaces get used. Lumpini Park serves as the trial run before they consider rolling it out to other districts later on.

Opening hours run from 5am to midnight in two shifts – mornings cover 5am till 2pm, evenings go from 4pm to midnight. The BMA reckons this setup works for everyone, from dawn joggers to midnight snackers, whatever your schedule looks like.